Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Politicizing Justice:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_02-2009_08_08.shtml#1249270336
On Friday, the [1]Washington Post reported on new evidence documenting
Karl Rove's influence on the decision to remove several U.S.
Attorneys. Rove now acknowledges being a "conduit" for complaints from
home-state politicians about some of the fired prosecutors and copies
of e-mails obtained by the Post suggest he and White House counsel
Harriett Miers were both more involved than either has publicly
acknowledged. This is but one example of alleged politicization of the
Justice Department under the Bush Administration.
President Obama promised to end the politicization of the Justice
Department. Responding to criticism of his [2]involvement in
controversial pardons during the Clinton Administration, Attorney
General Eric Holder promised Congress he would "work to restore the
credibility of a department badly shaken by allegations of improper
political interference." [3]Writing in The Weekly Standard, Jennifer
Rubin suggests this promise has yet to be fulfilled
in the first seven months of the Obama administration, a series of
hyper-partisan decisions, questionable appointments, and the
inexplicable dismissal of a high-profile voter intimidation case
against the New Black Panther party have once again fanned
suspicions that the Justice Department is a pawn in partisan
political battles.
Orin Kerr and I [4]posted extensively on Holder's treatment of OLC,
yet this is just one of the many episodes detailed in Rubin's piece.
If her account is accurate, it's quite troubling.
References
1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073002023_pf.html
2. http://volokh.com/posts/chain_1227491111.shtml
3.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=16799&R=162B21B223
4. http://volokh.com/posts/chain_1238603087.shtml
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