John Schwartz with The New York Times has an article highlighting a rift among “conservative legal scholars” over the ad released last week by Keep America Safe which targeted the U.S. Department of Justice’s hiring of seven lawyers who “worked in the past on behalf of detained terrorism suspects.”
“. . . Beyond The Expected Liberal Outrage, The Tactics Of The Group, Which Is Run By Liz Cheney, The Daughter Of The Former Vice President, Have Also Split The Tightly Knit World Of Conservative Legal Scholars.” (John Schwartz, “Attacks On Detainee Lawyers Split Conservatives,” The New York Times, 3/9/10)
“Many Conservatives . . . Have Vehemently Criticized Ms. Cheney’s Video, And Say It Violates The American Legal Principle That Even Unpopular Defendants Deserve A Lawyer.” (John Schwartz, “Attacks On Detainee Lawyers Split Conservatives,” The New York Times, 3/9/10)
The conservative legal scholars are missing the point. The line of attack here has more to do with President Barack Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, than it does with the actual lawyers.
John Yoo, former member of the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel, said “the Constitution makes the president the chief law enforcement officer. We had an election. President Obama has softer policies on terror than his predecessor,” he said, “He can and should put people into office who share his views.” Once the American people know who the policy makers are, he said, “they can decide whether they agree with him or not.”
Yoo’s assessment is much closer to the point. The ad isn’t really about the lawyers themselves and who they represented and in what capacity. The point is the lawyers were appointed to these positions in Obama’s DOJ because they hold beliefs and values closer to his own. And those beliefs and values are to treat the War on Terror as a law enforcement issue, not a military one. It is to coddle terrorists and afford them the full array legal protection that common criminals enjoy. It is to naively conceive that if the world witnesses on television the humane treatment of terrorist suspects and detainees that America will be safe.
And that is why Keep America Safe ran the ad.
For previous coverage of the lawyers in the DOJ and White House, click here.
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