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A Nomination to Oppose
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Despite promises to be a "healer," the first president since Rutherford
B. Hayes to enter the Oval Office with a minority of the popular vote
has acted as if he'd received a huge mandate with at least one of his
early cabinet choices. Although two African Americans with impressive
credentials, were in his first wave of nominations, their duties will
give them little direct effect on domestic policy.
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The same can't be said of John Ashcroft, the nominee for Attorney
General and member of the religious right with a blatant record of
supporting racist policies and institutions. His nomination can only be
seen as a direct affront to African Americans- the very group Bush was
so clearly trying to placate with his appointment of Colin Powell and
Condeleeza Rice to top foreign policy jobs.
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In addition to his well-known racist sympathies, Ashcroft is an
indefatigable drug warrior, a point not given prominent attention by
the black and other civil rights groups opposing his nomination- even
though it should be. It's been made crystal clear by a cascade of
recent studies that drug law enforcement policies play a major role in
determining the size and composition of U.S. prison populations;
therefore it's likely that the trends already so painfully evident
during the Clinton Administration could become significantly worse
after four years of Bush and this Attorney General.
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It's also likely that civilian review of police practices- an area
where the U.S. already compares very unfavorably with the rest of the
world- will receive predictably little attention from a Department of
Justice run by Ashcroft. His advice of appointment of federal judges- a
little-known function of the AG's office, can be expected to favor
hardliners in the mold of Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. As the
nation's chief law enforcement officer below the President, the
Attorney General also controls the federal police bureaucracy including
the DEA, FBI and Bureau of Prisons. He thus sets priorities in choosing
which laws to enforce and how vigorously to enforce them.
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Many drug reformers have been primarily concerned with the identity of
the next drug czar; the truth is that while the drug czar is the most
visible icon representing the drug war- and while McCaffrey has played
a malign role in facilitating drug arrests- the Attorney General has
far more control of law enforcement mechanisms and much greater
immediate impact on the intensity with which the drug war is waged.
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At a time when the public has clearly signalled severe misgivings about
the fairness and results of our punitive drug policy, the appointment
of Ashcroft is more than disturbing. Is the new administration simply
out of touch with the public? Or is it in touch and determined to ram a
punitive policy down the nation's throat, come what may?
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In either event, there seems ample reason for our increasingly visible
reform movement to draw the line at this nomination and work to either
defeat it or make it as politically expensive as possible. That will
mean making common cause with those already in opposition- while taking
care to clearly define our reasons for joining them.
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Tom O'Connell
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About the author
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