John Ashcroft resigned earlier today, submitting a five page hand-written letter, in which he says that “[t]he objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved.”
WHAT?! Under Ashcroft, thousands of men of Middle Eastern descent have been held for years without trial. Despite all of these arrests, detentions, and deportation, Ashcroft has managed zero, zip, nada, successful prosecutions of any of these men.
His legacy will be, like his record, unremarkable.
Alberto Gonzales was named his successor on Wednesday. Gonzales is known for authoring a February 2002 memo in which the President claimed the right to waive anti-torture laws and international treaties. I guess this is part of the mandate.
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I was told yesterday that I basically shouldn’t be upset if Ashcroft is deporting illegal aliens. Well here are some of Ashcrofts “low” lights.
In 2003, Ashcroft issued a directive to federal prosecutors in New York and Connecticut to seek the death penalty in cases where the prosecutors recommended against them.
He raised serious medical privacy issues earlier this year when he issued subpoenas to Planned Parenthood clinics seeking medical records claiming that they were needed to defend a law on late term abortion.
And let’s not forget this year when the Supreme Court ruled against them in the Jose Padilla case ruling that he must be given the right to challenge his detention.
Maybe his record will be infamous instead of unremarkable.