Judicial

Since Operation Fast and Furious came to light, it is apparent that the Department of Justice (DOJ) could benefit from institutional change. All government bureaucracies have silos of authority and individuals that reject the thought of outside oversight. But, every agency also understands that the federal government is a glass house with millions of taxpayers gathered around the windows to evaluate our performance and second-guess every decision. The American people trust when they can verify and lose trust when accountability and oversight are delayed or deflected.

Last week the Inspector General of the Department of Justice released an exhaustive 471 page report on the Fast and Furious gunwalking operation. In preparing the report the inspector general reviewed more than 100,000 pages of documents and interviewed 130 witnesses.
 
In a Congress marked by unnecessary and counterproductive partisanship, the hearings held by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Fast and Furious stood out for the degree of partisanship and for the level of rhetoric attacking the executive branch of our government. In particular, Attorney General Holder has been unjustly singled out for attacks without any evidence or reason to believe he was responsible. As a result of the hyper-partisan tenor of the hearings they become fodder for an array of partisan blogs which sought to use them for a variety of inflammatory campaigns.

The House of Representatives recently signed off on another five years of sweeping warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency, voting by a wide margin to extend the controversial FISA Amendments Act of 2008. But the debate on the House floor showed that the law’s staunchest supporters either don’t understand what the law really says and does—or don’t care.

Speaking at the U.S. Cyber Command Inter-Agency Legal Conference last week, U.S. State Department Legal Advisor Harold Koh confirmed the U.S. position that international law is applicable to the cyber environment.

On September 10, the 112th “Do Nothing” Senate returned to the nation’s capital following the lengthy August recess. The upper chamber recessed that Friday after learning the House of Representatives had chosen to do very little except adopt the Continuing Resolution which allows the government to continue operating.

The Senate came back this Wednesday to consider the Continuing Resolution. Before chamber members leave town, senators must finish one essential piece of business. The chamber needs to consider all 17 highly qualified district court nominees whom President Barack Obama carefully submitted and the Judiciary Committee reported before the Senate departed for the summer recess. Each of these nominees is excellent and has received enthusiastic support of home state senators, especially Republicans, 14 won approval without any negative votes on their candidacies’ substance and 12 will occupy vacancies designated “judicial emergencies” due to their length or substantial dockets.

One would think the traditional “values-based” arguments would be sufficient to end mass incarceration. But the facts are plain: the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world - higher than that of Russia, China or Iran. And of those who are behind bars, a disproportionate number are of people of color. Of the 1.6 million people serving sentences of longer than a year, 60 percent are black or Latino. African Americans are 13 percent of the U.S. population, but comprise 37 percent of the prison population. One in three black men can expect to spend time behind bars.

This past Monday marked the 225th anniversary of when our Founding Fathers signed the Constitution.

This document represents our Founder’s great hope for the United States – Hope that it could be a place free of tyranny and oppression, and a place where the law protects our liberty, not dictates our lives.

On Constitution Day, the United States pays homage to the document which has bound the nation together for 225 years. Many facets of the Constitution reflect the Framers’ genius. One is requiring interbranch cooperation, so that no branch accumulates too much power. Illustrative is Article II’s provision for judicial appointments. The Constitution states that the President nominates, and with Senate advice and consent appoints, federal judges. On Constitution Day, it is fitting to scrutinize that responsibility’s discharge and ascertain whether selection is functioning as intended. Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Today, on Constitution Day, it is alarming that the fundamental right to a vote - the one that generations fought so hard to expand and protect, first with Amendment 15’s Race No Bar to Vote, Amendment 19’s Women’s Suffrage, and Amendment 26’s Voting Age – is now under attack by the Republican Party.  This is ironic given the Republican Party’s constitution-centric platform.

During the Democratic National Convention, Benita Veliz made history during her prime time appearance by being the first undocumented immigrant, or DREAMer, to speak before a national party convention. Her speech was short but graceful: an American story illustrating perseverance and well-deserved academic accomplishments. She praised President Obama’s executive action to lift the shadow of deportation from young undocumented immigrants. The atmosphere of inclusion in Charlotte contrasted sharply with the rhetoric in Tampa at the Republican National Convention. Whether that translates into a substantial bump with the Latino electorate, the polls will soon tell. What is clear, however, is that the DREAM Act and Dreamers, like Benita, are heavily influencing policy positions and party platforms.