Attack Update: January 17, 2007

• The Radical: U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
• The Attack: In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales attacks the judiciary as being “activist” and states that the judiciary is unqualified to rule on issues of national security.
• Gonzales stated that judges are unqualified to rule on issues of national security and should therefore defer to the will of the President.
• Gonzales states that members of the judiciary who “apply an activist philosophy that stretches the law to suit policy preferences…actually reduce the credibility and authority of the judiciary. In so doing, they undermine the rule of law that strengthens our democracy.”
• The Justice Department is appealing an August 2006 decision by a U.S. district court, which ruled that the government’s warrantless surveillance program was unconstitutional. The Justice Department appealed and the 6th Circuit has allowed the administration to keep the program in place during the appeal. In addition, attorneys representing terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay are challenging the legality of a law, signed by President Bush in October 2006, which authorizes military trials for detainees. The military trials omit many of the due process components present in civilian courts
• UPDATE (May 2007): Gonzales continues to be embroiled in controversy over allegations of politically-motivated firings of Dept. of Justice federal prosecutors. In addition, testimony has revealed that Gonzales, as White House Counsel, urged former Attorney General John Ashcroft to approve an unconstitutional wiretapping program while Ashcroft was in intensive care following surgery.
• The Significance: The Bush administration’s newest approach to strong arm the judiciary came in the form of the Attorney General effectively saying that the judiciary is too ignorant to do its job. In this context, Gonzales appears to be stating his general preference that the judicial branch rubber-stamp the Bush Administration’s policies, regardless of their constitutionality. In essence, Gonzales is asking the judiciary to forego their constitutional duty to protect and preserve the law and the Constitution of the United States, turning the world’s greatest system of justice into nothing more than one of the President’s “yes men.”