Nothing Rhymes with Mukasey
Rumors are that by morning the former Chief Judge of the Southern District of NY will be nominated to be the new AG. This is an interesting choice.
1. I don't think very many people will question Judge Mukasey's legal acumen. But then again, the same can be said of Roberts.
2. He presided over the trial of the blind sheikh following the 93 WTC bombing, and he was the first judge to hear Jose Padilla's habeas petition. In that case he held that Padilla had a right to a lawyer, but the Executive had a right to detain citizens as enemy combatants.
3. Relatedly, he has written this op/ed for the WSJ. In the Sheikh trial, Mukasey got burned. Prosecutors turned over the list of 200 or so co-conspirators. Mukasey warned the defense that the names are to be used only for the preparation of the defense of the accused. Apparently within 10 days, the names were in Al Qaeda hands, informing them of the agents we had made. He's still pissed off about this, which might explain his view that terror trials are a bad idea.
4. No matter how badly he got burned, the AG position does not need yet another person who thinks our laws and legal system should be trampled over in the name of a "War" on Terror. I have little doubt this is the reason why the loyal Bushies find him an appropriate candidate. But then again, those guys found a way to make Aschroft look like a civil libertarian.
5. Relevant citations: Padilla v. Bush, 233 F. Supp. 2d 564 (S.D.N.Y. 2002); Padilla v. Rumsfeld, 2003 WL 1057319 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (smacking down Paul Clement's motion to reconsider).
Discuss.
1. I don't think very many people will question Judge Mukasey's legal acumen. But then again, the same can be said of Roberts.
2. He presided over the trial of the blind sheikh following the 93 WTC bombing, and he was the first judge to hear Jose Padilla's habeas petition. In that case he held that Padilla had a right to a lawyer, but the Executive had a right to detain citizens as enemy combatants.
3. Relatedly, he has written this op/ed for the WSJ. In the Sheikh trial, Mukasey got burned. Prosecutors turned over the list of 200 or so co-conspirators. Mukasey warned the defense that the names are to be used only for the preparation of the defense of the accused. Apparently within 10 days, the names were in Al Qaeda hands, informing them of the agents we had made. He's still pissed off about this, which might explain his view that terror trials are a bad idea.
4. No matter how badly he got burned, the AG position does not need yet another person who thinks our laws and legal system should be trampled over in the name of a "War" on Terror. I have little doubt this is the reason why the loyal Bushies find him an appropriate candidate. But then again, those guys found a way to make Aschroft look like a civil libertarian.
5. Relevant citations: Padilla v. Bush, 233 F. Supp. 2d 564 (S.D.N.Y. 2002); Padilla v. Rumsfeld, 2003 WL 1057319 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (smacking down Paul Clement's motion to reconsider).
Discuss.
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 11:34 PM
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