Abstract

Gonzales: Wrong Choice

The author comments on the nomination of White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to Attorney General in the United States. A review of Alberto Gonzales' record suggests that he has not shown any particular fealty to the rule of law, and has, in fact, been at the forefront of Administration efforts to subvert it. Start with the internal Administration debates over how to try terrorists. According to a detailed behind-the-scenes account by Tim Golden for the New York Times, John Ashcroft advocated trying terrorists in the criminal justice system and warned that the procedures for military tribunals would be seen as "draconian". Gonzales urged military tribunals, disfavored any civilian participation and even opposed giving defendants a presumption of innocence. In January 2002 Gonzales wrote a memo to the President arguing that Geneva Convention protections should not extend to the prisoners at Guantánamo. The reasons to question Gonzales's commitment to the rule of law do not stop at his role in combating terror. Gonzales previously served as counsel to then-Governor Bush in Texas, and in that capacity had the unenviable task of advising the governor on whether to exercise his pardon power with respect to upcoming executions. Alan Berlow obtained and reviewed Gonzales's memos, which served as the basis for Bush's decisions, and wrote for The Atlantic Monthly that they "repeatedly failed to apprise the governor of crucial issues in the cases at hand: ineffective counsel, conflict of interest, mitigating evidence, even actual evidence of innocence." Much as he did during the formulation of the tribunal policy, Gonzales screened out dissenting views.