A group headed by former Vice President Dick CheneyÕs daughter, Liz, has been attacking the Justice Department. In an Internet ad that has gained wide notice, Keep America Safe questions the loyalty of nine lawyers working for the Obama administration because they represented detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The ad is part of the groupÕs attempt to paint the administration and Attorney General Eric Holder as being soft on terrorism. Some members of Congress have been pursuing a similar tack. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa has pressed Holder to turn over the names of anyone in the Justice Department who represented detainees, questioning the departmentÕs judgment in hiring them.
The ad shows a picture of Osama bin Laden while questioning the lawyersÕ values and prominently uses a newspaper headline reading ÒDOJ: Department of Jihad?Ó to try to make the link between the lawyers and terrorism. Talk about a malicious smear.
Lawyers arguing for clients donÕt necessarily agree with them. They are merely doing their jobs as advocates of the accused, which is a key element of the American justice system.
Many conservatives understand that. In an open letter released last week, a group of 19 conservative attorneys and leaders denounced the Keep America Safe ad. The group included Matthew Waxman and Charles ÒCullyÓ Stimson, who both served in the Bush Defense Department overseeing detainee affairs. Former Bush administration Attorney General Michael Mukasey wrote a piece in The Wall Street Journal calling the logic behind the attacks Òshoddy and dangerous.Ó Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who serves as a military attorney, blasted the ad, calling it Òshameful.Ó
Indeed. The adÕs critics said such attacks could undermine both the military and civilian justice systems if attorneys shy away from representing the accused. Mukasey told National Public Radio that the ad could hurt the departmentÕs efforts to hire good attorneys who want to avoid scrutiny. ÒAnd I think that will carve out a large number of intelligent, capable people, and all youÕll get is people whoÕve devoted their careers to avoiding risk, and we donÕt want that,Ó he said.
In a letter to Grassley, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich noted that at least 34 of the nationÕs 50 largest law firms have either represented detainees or filed friend-of-the-court briefs on detaineesÕ behalf. Should the government disqualify them as unpatriotic or label them as conspirators to the terrorists?
Of course not. The ability to make those arguments — vigorously — is not just the hallmark of a good attorney but of the American legal system.
Considering that conservative groups love to quote the Founding Fathers, we would think Keep America Safe would be proud that there are attorneys willing to serve in unpopular cases.
Before becoming one of the nationÕs Founding Fathers and the second president of the United States, John Adams was an attorney who represented British soldiers accused of crimes during the Boston Massacre in 1770. He called his defense of the soldiers Òone of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country.Ó
Does that make Adams a terrorist in Liz CheneyÕs eyes, too?
Copyright 2010  Las Vegas Sun
