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Jan. 17th, 2007
Attorney general says federal jurists should defer to president's will
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says federal judges are unqualified to make rulings affecting national security policy, ramping up his criticism of how they handle terrorism cases.
In remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday, Gonzales says judges generally should defer to the will of the president and Congress when deciding national security cases. He also raps jurists who “apply an activist philosophy that stretches the law to suit policy preferences.”
The text of the speech, scheduled for delivery at the American Enterprise Institute, was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. It outlines, in part, what qualities the Bush administration looks for when selecting candidates for the federal bench.
“We want to determine whether he understands the inherent limits that make an unelected judiciary inferior to Congress or the president in making policy judgments,” Gonzales says in the prepared speech. “That, for example, a judge will never be in the best position to know what is in the national security interests of our country.”
Challenges to Bush policies
Gonzales did not cite any specific activist jurists, or give examples of national security cases, in his prepared text. The Justice Department is appealing an August decision by U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit, who ruled the government’s warrantless surveillance program unconstitutional and ordered it stopped immediately.
The Justice Department appealed her decision and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has ruled that the administration can keep the program in place during the appeal.
Attorneys representing terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay are challenging the legality of a law, signed by President Bush in October, that authorizes military trials. Those challenges raise the possibility that trials will be struck down by a federal appeals court or the Supreme Court.
Gonzales, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, has in the past warned about judges who inject their personal beliefs in cases. But his prepared remarks Wednesday mark his sharpest words over concerns about the federal judiciary — the third, and equal, branch of government.
Judges who “apply an activist philosophy that stretches the law to suit policy preferences, they actually reduce the credibility and authority of the judiciary,” Gonzales says. “In so doing, they undermine the rule of law that strengthens our democracy.”
Even so, Gonzales characterized efforts to retaliate against unpopular rulings as misguided, noting a failed South Dakota proposal to sue or jail judges for making unpopular court decisions. He also called for Congress to consider increasing the number of federal judges to handle heavy workloads, and to offer them higher salaries to lure and keep the best jurists on the bench.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says federal judges are unqualified to make rulings affecting national security policy, ramping up his criticism of how they handle terrorism cases.
In remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday, Gonzales says judges generally should defer to the will of the president and Congress when deciding national security cases. He also raps jurists who “apply an activist philosophy that stretches the law to suit policy preferences.”
The text of the speech, scheduled for delivery at the American Enterprise Institute, was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. It outlines, in part, what qualities the Bush administration looks for when selecting candidates for the federal bench.
“We want to determine whether he understands the inherent limits that make an unelected judiciary inferior to Congress or the president in making policy judgments,” Gonzales says in the prepared speech. “That, for example, a judge will never be in the best position to know what is in the national security interests of our country.”
Challenges to Bush policies
Gonzales did not cite any specific activist jurists, or give examples of national security cases, in his prepared text. The Justice Department is appealing an August decision by U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit, who ruled the government’s warrantless surveillance program unconstitutional and ordered it stopped immediately.
The Justice Department appealed her decision and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has ruled that the administration can keep the program in place during the appeal.
Attorneys representing terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay are challenging the legality of a law, signed by President Bush in October, that authorizes military trials. Those challenges raise the possibility that trials will be struck down by a federal appeals court or the Supreme Court.
Gonzales, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, has in the past warned about judges who inject their personal beliefs in cases. But his prepared remarks Wednesday mark his sharpest words over concerns about the federal judiciary — the third, and equal, branch of government.
Judges who “apply an activist philosophy that stretches the law to suit policy preferences, they actually reduce the credibility and authority of the judiciary,” Gonzales says. “In so doing, they undermine the rule of law that strengthens our democracy.”
Even so, Gonzales characterized efforts to retaliate against unpopular rulings as misguided, noting a failed South Dakota proposal to sue or jail judges for making unpopular court decisions. He also called for Congress to consider increasing the number of federal judges to handle heavy workloads, and to offer them higher salaries to lure and keep the best jurists on the bench.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Well the remodeling is complete and we are open for business again.
We added torture deck for the truly sadistic bastards. This deck overlooks the lake of fire. (For those of you that remember where the old bay windows were, they are now glass doors leading to the deck). From this deck people can grab buckets of water and pour them over to the attorneys and politicians that are writhing and burning below. The deck is just high enough for the water to turn to steam just before it reaches the wailing mouths of the eternally thirsty. It is beauty in motion to see them almost smile through their pain as the water leaves the bucket, only to watch that smile evaporate in synchronization with the water.
Last night was our first night open. The crowd was exceptionally early. I guess we were missed after all. Yes I am still insecure even in the afterlife. I constantly wonder if people really like my club or just come because it is convenient.
I never really announced the closing for remodeling, so a few of the old regulars were pissed off. It is amazing how fast tequila can cure that. Within an hour of opening, the time off had been erased and the masses were mingling as though they had all been here the night before.
At the end of the bar sat the only regular to never miss a day even while we were closed. I shouldn’t be surprised by that since he has taken me on as his regular therapist, chatting away about all the woes of the world and how the world still blames him for every last one of them. This night was no different, except for the clockwork interruptions of the paying masses. I am convinced that he really thinks of the bar as intrusion into his personal time on my couch.
Sitting at the other end of the bar last night was a face I had remembered vaguely from my living days, but could not place. He was obviously a recent arrival into our beloved Hell. You can always tell the newbies by the look of shock at the lack of torture for the majority of us in Hell. Several times during the night he would ask me questions about how long I have been here and other things that I had no way of answering. It is hard to explain time when you first arrive, but that is a tirade for a different blog. He was a very young and handsome man, though all of us looked pretty damn good if I do say so myself. A flock of my usual ladies spotted him and every now and then one of the vultures would swoop in to try to capture the meat, but this prey was adept at dodging the predators. Maybe too adept… gay perhaps? No, probably just in culture shock. None of the gay men were chasing him, and I trust their GADAR a lot better than my own.
Well all in all it was a pretty uneventful night, but I am quite sure that Friday will bring tales…
We added torture deck for the truly sadistic bastards. This deck overlooks the lake of fire. (For those of you that remember where the old bay windows were, they are now glass doors leading to the deck). From this deck people can grab buckets of water and pour them over to the attorneys and politicians that are writhing and burning below. The deck is just high enough for the water to turn to steam just before it reaches the wailing mouths of the eternally thirsty. It is beauty in motion to see them almost smile through their pain as the water leaves the bucket, only to watch that smile evaporate in synchronization with the water.
Last night was our first night open. The crowd was exceptionally early. I guess we were missed after all. Yes I am still insecure even in the afterlife. I constantly wonder if people really like my club or just come because it is convenient.
I never really announced the closing for remodeling, so a few of the old regulars were pissed off. It is amazing how fast tequila can cure that. Within an hour of opening, the time off had been erased and the masses were mingling as though they had all been here the night before.
At the end of the bar sat the only regular to never miss a day even while we were closed. I shouldn’t be surprised by that since he has taken me on as his regular therapist, chatting away about all the woes of the world and how the world still blames him for every last one of them. This night was no different, except for the clockwork interruptions of the paying masses. I am convinced that he really thinks of the bar as intrusion into his personal time on my couch.
Sitting at the other end of the bar last night was a face I had remembered vaguely from my living days, but could not place. He was obviously a recent arrival into our beloved Hell. You can always tell the newbies by the look of shock at the lack of torture for the majority of us in Hell. Several times during the night he would ask me questions about how long I have been here and other things that I had no way of answering. It is hard to explain time when you first arrive, but that is a tirade for a different blog. He was a very young and handsome man, though all of us looked pretty damn good if I do say so myself. A flock of my usual ladies spotted him and every now and then one of the vultures would swoop in to try to capture the meat, but this prey was adept at dodging the predators. Maybe too adept… gay perhaps? No, probably just in culture shock. None of the gay men were chasing him, and I trust their GADAR a lot better than my own.
Well all in all it was a pretty uneventful night, but I am quite sure that Friday will bring tales…