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ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 01:25:32 PM EST
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The ACLU has issued a report on Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales. We encourage all Senate staffers to read it. In a press release today, the civil liberties group urges Senators to conduct probing and firm questioning of Gonzales.

The ACLU lists the primary areas of concern about Gonzales, and includes the Texas Clemency Memos:

The now infamous Texas "clemency memos" drafted by Gonzales for then-Governor Bush, which almost uniformly fail to mention key factors in each case, including evidence of innocence, that supported granting clemency to death row inmates.

An additional area not mentioned by too many other groups:

Whether the White House Counsel's office supported the Musgrave-Allard version of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have banned not only same-sex marriage rights, but civil union status as well.

The ACLU does not take a position on political appointees--only Supreme Court justices. It does, however, analyze their civil liberties records. As to Gonzales, the organization notes:

There are too many questions swirling around Mr. Gonzales’s role in developing the legal framework that may have led to the torture and abuse we all saw in those Abu Ghraib photographs," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "The Senate has a duty not to soft-pedal in its questioning."

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    • ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 02:11:40 PM EST
    Interesting information. Just note that for many people, opposition from the ACLU is seen as a good thing, not a death knell.

    Re: ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 02:29:38 PM EST
    RE: "We encourage all Senate staffers to read it." Pathetic. I'm sick of this "write to your Democratic senator and tell him torture is bad." These worthless money grubbing corporate whores are just fine with torture and just fine with all the other Bush policies. I'm through with the Democrats.

    Re: ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 02:36:53 PM EST
    Just out of curiosity, what do the "many people" see as positive about opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union? Are anti ACLU folks anti-civil liberties (What do you need those pesky things for anyway)? I thought conservatives are pro-civil/individual liberties (as in guns, taxes, etc.). Are civil liberties anti-Christian? I would imagine that Jesus would have benefited greatly had he recourse to a Roman Civil Liberties Union. Being from Mass., I remember Mike Dukakis being reviled by Regan supporters as a "card-carrying member of the ACLU", implying what seemed like a "Red threat" Are civil liberties Communist propoganda? Please enlighten me. I thought the Freedom of Information act is a good thing???

    Re: ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 02:59:18 PM EST
    Just note that for many people, opposition from the ACLU is seen as a good thing, not a death knell. Yes, these people revile the ACLU until the ACLU comes to their aid, like it did for Rush Limbaugh. ; )

    Re: ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 03:02:48 PM EST
    "Posted by Gegee: "These worthless money grubbing corporate whores are just fine with torture and just fine with all the other Bush policies. I'm through with the Democrats." And we are supposed to believe that you are a disgruntled Democrat? HILARIOUS. Pull my other finger. Or else get back to work. What a lazy bones...wants it all handed on a platter. MUST be a $Republican. --

    Re: ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 03:42:48 PM EST
    The people I was referring to are those that see that ACLU as yet another previously noble organization that has become just another shill for every liberal wet dream to come down the pike. I didn't say these people were necessarily reasonable, but some of them are in the Senate.

    Re: ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#7)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Jan 03, 2005 at 11:10:57 PM EST
    ...another previously noble organization that has become just another shill for every liberal wet dream to come down the pike. Oh that is so lame.

    ACLU Issues Report on Alberto Gonzales | 7 comments (7 topical)