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New
Attorney General Will Help Shape National Policy |
Posted:
11.15.04
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Now that President Bush has won a second term, he is making changes
to his Cabinet, including nominating White House lawyer Alberto
Gonzalez to replace Attorney General John Ashcroft as the head
of the Justice Department -- the top law enforcement office in
the federal government.
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Gonzalez, a former Texas
Supreme Court judge and secretary of state, has been hailed by the
Bush administration as a trusted friend in times of crisis and someone
with an "unwavering principle of respect for the law."
 But
civil liberty groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union
and People for the American Way, question Gonzalez's respect for
civil liberties, a major area of law in the Justice Department.
They accuse Gonzalez of authoring a memo giving the U.S. administration
the green light to disregard anti-torture laws and international
treaties that protect prisoners during times of war.
At the time of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, when it
was found that U.S. soldiers had tortured Iraqi prisoners, Gonzalez's
memo was criticized as providing justification for the abuse.
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The role
of the attorney general |
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The din surrounding Gonzalez's nomination is not unique. In general,
the nomination of a candidate for the attorney general's post
is controversial because the position wields a lot of power. As
head of the Justice Department, the attorney general represents
the government in Supreme Court cases and presides over cases
of federal crimes such as corporate fraud, drug trafficking, gun
crimes, and child exploitation and Internet fraud crimes such
as Internet child pornography.
And, though the attorney general is the only member of the president's
Cabinet not given the title secretary, whoever fills the post
often is one of the president's closest advisors.
"This is a role that is traditionally filled or often filled
with people who are, if not the president's brother -- which has
happened -- close friends," said political analyst David
Brooks, referring to John F. Kennedy's appointment of his brother
Robert to the post.
"And there is a certain style of person, I would say, if
you look at various parts of the administration, the president
likes," Brooks added. "A quiet person, [who's] maybe
not going to create independent policies, attract independent
attentions, but [be] quietly competent and loyal."
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Attorneys
general in history |
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The attorney general is often thrust into the national limelight.
In 1919, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer rounded up and arrested
more than 10,000 foreign nationals accused of being part of a
possible Communist revolution and held them without trial. The
raids, criticized as an abuse of the attorney general's power,
became known as the Palmer raids.
In 1993, newly appointed Attorney General Janet Reno, the country's
first woman attorney general, faced her first crisis when 76 members
of a religious sect known as the Branch Davidians died in a fire
at their Waco, Texas, compound during a 51-day standoff with federal
officers.
 An
investigation found that federal agents under Reno's watch had
used pyrotechnic, or fire-starting, devices as part of a raid
to end the standoff.
Reno again faced criticism when she ordered the forceful removal
of 6-year-old Cuban immigrant Elian Gonzalez from his family's
home in Miami. Gonzalez had been taken in by relatives in Miami
after an accident killed his mother. But when Cuban leader Fidel
Castro joined Gonzalez's father in demanding the boy's return
to Cuba, Reno sent armed guards to storm the family's home in
a highly publicized raid.
During Ashcroft's four years in office, the former senator from
Missouri was at the center of a national debate over the controversial
USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law passed in 2002 that gave
federal officers more power to gather information about individuals.
Opponents of the law said it ate away at civil liberties.
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A new successor |
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Gonzalez must now face a series of questions as part of a Senate
confirmation hearing. As Ashcroft's successor, Gonzalez will face
scrutiny over his ability to fight terrorism while maintaining
American civil liberties.
 "John
Ashcroft's tenure has made clear that the post of attorney general
holds the key to our most fundamental freedoms," said a statement
from the ACLU after Ashcroft's resignation. "It is not enough
for the White House to simply put a fresh face on the same old
policies of violating civil liberties and human rights."
At the nomination press conference, Gonzalez said "the American
people expect and deserve a Department of Justice guided by the
rule of law, and there should be no question regarding the department's
commitment to justice for every American."
--
Compiled by Kristina Nwazota for NewsHour Extra
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