Update: See what Judge Mukasey has to say about the US torturing prisoners. (H/T to Volokh)
Retired United States District Court Judge Michael Mukasey goes before the Senate today. Man, would I like to be him. Freed from the muzzle of judicial constraint and looking forward to a terminal position, the Department of Justice is his oyster.
Rarely does an opportunity present itself so clearly to do the right thing. He will be immune from the ugly politics, as he has no future beyond the Bush term in the position and can neither be pressured nor fired without bringing massive political damage to the President and the Republican Party, Judge Mukasey has the chance to clean out the decades of misguided approach to the criminalization of America that has characterized Justice. Finally, someone is positioned to return the DOJ to a place of integrity.
If the DOJ is perceived to be the honest arm of the executive branch, limiting its war onterrorists, criminals, CEOs, everyone and demonstrating a deep respect for the Constitution, the contribution this will make toward restoring a nation’s respect for itself. Michael Mukasey can be the greatest Attorney General that America has ever seen.
Get rid of all the secret memos that redefine torture to whatever goes beyond what pain we already inflict. Put an end to the lying and violence of government agents that we all pretend doesn’t happen but know it does. Draw a line in the sand that the government will remain on the side of right, no matter how convenient and facile it is to get the job done if we just stick our heads in that sand and pretend we just don’t notice.
Is Michael Mukasey the right man for this job. I believe he can be. I hope he is. But ultimately, it will prove a matter of will. Every force in Washington will push against him. To clean up the mess, he will endure the wrath of every politician from both sides of the aisle who want to make their bones on the crime-toughness and their inventing some new way to protect their constituents from some as-yet unrecognized enemy. Fear is the politicians friend. Fear is used to do the unthinkable. Michael Mukasey will have to stare this manufactured fear in the eye and say, NO.
Ironically, my dear friends at Overlawyered posted A Nation of Lawbreakers. It relates a Slate story about a game played by prosecutors:
Retired United States District Court Judge Michael Mukasey goes before the Senate today. Man, would I like to be him. Freed from the muzzle of judicial constraint and looking forward to a terminal position, the Department of Justice is his oyster.
Rarely does an opportunity present itself so clearly to do the right thing. He will be immune from the ugly politics, as he has no future beyond the Bush term in the position and can neither be pressured nor fired without bringing massive political damage to the President and the Republican Party, Judge Mukasey has the chance to clean out the decades of misguided approach to the criminalization of America that has characterized Justice. Finally, someone is positioned to return the DOJ to a place of integrity.
If the DOJ is perceived to be the honest arm of the executive branch, limiting its war on
Get rid of all the secret memos that redefine torture to whatever goes beyond what pain we already inflict. Put an end to the lying and violence of government agents that we all pretend doesn’t happen but know it does. Draw a line in the sand that the government will remain on the side of right, no matter how convenient and facile it is to get the job done if we just stick our heads in that sand and pretend we just don’t notice.
Is Michael Mukasey the right man for this job. I believe he can be. I hope he is. But ultimately, it will prove a matter of will. Every force in Washington will push against him. To clean up the mess, he will endure the wrath of every politician from both sides of the aisle who want to make their bones on the crime-toughness and their inventing some new way to protect their constituents from some as-yet unrecognized enemy. Fear is the politicians friend. Fear is used to do the unthinkable. Michael Mukasey will have to stare this manufactured fear in the eye and say, NO.
Ironically, my dear friends at Overlawyered posted A Nation of Lawbreakers. It relates a Slate story about a game played by prosecutors:
At the federal prosecutor’s office in the Southern District of New York, the staff, over beer and pretzels, used to play a darkly humorous game. Junior and senior prosecutors would sit around, and someone would name a random celebrity—say, Mother Theresa or John Lennon.
It would then be up to the junior prosecutors to figure out a plausible crime for which to indict him or her.
This is the America that results from decades of inventing new crimes. For all of you who sit there, content in the knowledge that you could never be on the bad end of an indictment, are you less of a lawbreaker than Mother Theresa? Michael Mukasey can put an end to this. I hope he will.
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