Civil Rights Monitor
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The CIVIL RIGHTS MONITOR is a quarterly publication that reports on civil rights issues pending before the three branches of government. The Monitor also provides a historical context within which to assess current civil rights issues. Back issues of the Monitor are available through this site. Browse or search the archives
Alberto Gonzales Confirmed as U.S. Attorney General The Senate voted February 3 (60 to 36) to confirm Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General.
Unconvinced that Gonzales "would independently enforce the law, rather than continue to simply rationalize it, as he did while serving then-Governor and now President Bush," the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) had called on senators to oppose confirmation of Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General.
The Senate Judiciary Committee had voted along party lines (10 to 8) to endorse Gonzales' nomination.
Skeptical lawmakers and advocates had asked for another Committee hearing on the nominee, saying that some of Gonzales' answers to Committee members were not sufficient to allay doubts about his record on torture and human rights.
"LCCR cannot ignore Mr. Gonzales' questionable commitment to the rule of law, his refusal to answer key questions, and his failure during the confirmation process to clearly explain his positions on critical civil and human rights issues," said Wade Henderson, LCCR's Executive Director.
Dozens of civil and human rights groups, including religious leaders, military veterans, lawyers, and former judges, had expressed their concerns over Gonzales' nomination, citing his role in setting the current administration's policy on detention, interrogation, and torture.
Several groups had opposed Gonzales' nomination, and then his confirmation.
LCCR had pointed out that Gonzales had refused to address concerns about his role, as Counsel to then-Governor George W. Bush, in advising the Governor in death penalty cases. In addition, LCCR said, Gonzales had failed to fully answer many questions regarding civil rights and liberties issues.
Other reasons for opposing Gonzales' confirmation cited by LCCR included his failure to make clear his position on the vital role of judicial review of executive actions; and his failure to release important requested documents related to the administration's policy on torture and interrogation that "appear to have paved the way for the recent horrific incidents at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo."
For some, the most troubling issue was Gonzales' record on torture.
"We want American service members who are captured to be protected from torture under international and U.S. laws," said Charles Sheehan Miles, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. "Under the arguments put forth by Alberto Gonzales, our own servicemen and women would be subject to torture and we would have no recourse to the Geneva conventions."
"As a human rights organization committed to protecting the rule of law, we are compelled to take what is, for us, this unusual step. This is the second time in 27 years that Human Rights First has opposed a presidential nominee, and the first such action since 1981," the organization stated. "But in a nation committed to observing the rule of law as it is, not as power finds it convenient to be, we cannot accept the President's decision here. We urge the Senate to reject Mr. Gonzales' nomination."
The civil rights community also addressed the importance of diversity in the President's administration.
"The Leadership Conference recognizes the historic significance of Mr. Gonzales' appointment as the first Hispanic American to serve as Attorney General," Henderson said.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund expressed concerns about Gonzales' record, while the National Council of La Raza endorsed the nomination.
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