[Mb-civic] Ashcroft condemns Judges who criticize Bush

[Michael Butler]

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    Ashcroft Condemns Judges Who Question Bush
    By Curt Anderson
    The Associated Press

     Saturday 13 November 2004

     Washington - Federal judges are jeopardizing national security by
issuing rulings contradictory to President Bush's decisions on America's
obligations under international treaties and agreements, Attorney General
John Ashcroft said Friday.

     In his first remarks since his resignation was announced Tuesday,
Ashcroft forcefully denounced what he called ``a profoundly disturbing
trend'' among some judges to interfere in the president's constitutional
authority to make decisions during war.

     ``The danger I see here is that intrusive judicial oversight and
second-guessing of presidential determinations in these critical areas can
put at risk the very security of our nation in a time of war,'' Ashcroft
said in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative lawyers group.

     The Justice Department announced this week it would seek to overturn a
ruling by U.S. District Judge James Robertson in the case of Salim Ahmed
Hamdan, who the government contends was Osama bin Laden's driver.

     Robertson halted Hamdan's trial by military commission in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, rejecting the Bush administration's position that the Geneva
Conventions governing prisoners of war do not apply to al-Qaida members
because they are not soldiers of a true state and do not fight by
international norms.

     Without mentioning that case specifically, Ashcroft criticized rulings
he said found ``expansive private rights in treaties where they never
existed'' that run counter to the broad discretionary powers given the
president by the Constitution.

     ``Courts are not equipped to execute the law. They are not accountable
to the people,'' Ashcroft said.

     Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union, compared Ashcroft's remarks to those the attorney general previously
made indicating that opponents of administration counterterrorism policies
were assisting terrorists.

     ``It's entirely in line with his overt hostility to dissent, debate and
judicial review,'' Romero said. ``That further underscores the need for a
wholesale review of Mr. Ashcroft's policies and a new direction in the
Justice Department.''

     Bush during his re-election campaign repeatedly promised to appoint
judges who would adhere to strict interpretations of the Constitution. In
addition to numerous lower courts, Bush is likely to appoint at least one
and perhaps several justices to the Supreme Court during the next four
years.

     The administration lost a crucial legal battle this year when a divided
Supreme Court determined the president lacks the authority to hold terror
suspects classified as enemy combatants indefinitely with no access to
lawyers or the ability to challenge their detention.

     Ashcroft intends to remain as attorney general until his nominated
successor, Alberto Gonzales, is confirmed by the Senate.

 

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