Recent Justice Commentaries

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The Mueller Report, Part 2
On the Sunday CBS News show, Face the Nation, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called Democrats talk about  President Trump’s attempts to obstruct justice when the President ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, “absurd.” “It doesn’t matter what [Trump] said to Don McGahn — it is what he did,” Graham said. I’ll come back to this.  » Read...
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April 29, 2019
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The Trouble with Barr
“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have right to do and what is right to do.” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart When Attorney General William Barr issued a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, the first thought I had was, “why not just release the report and let Congress and the public read it...
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April 24, 2019
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Crooks, Liars and Polls
Special Sunday Edition U.S. Attorney General William Barr is working with top Department of Justice Officials to compile “principal conclusions” from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. While everyone is speculating what those conclusions will reveal, it’s important to remember what has already happened, as reported by Vox (Mar. 22). Michael Flynn: Trump’s national security adviser, on one count of lying...
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March 24, 2019
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“…to make ourselves better”
“Individual faults and fragilities are no excuse to give in, and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves. Today, more than ever before, I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too….” – Senator Edward M. Kennedy, speech at JFK School of Government,...
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December 28, 2018
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Will The Federalists Help Save the Union?
The Federalist Society is a group of conservatives and libertarians who believe in a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Often referred to as “originalists,” the Society’s central argument for judicial restraint can be found in Federalist Paper 78, authored by Alexander Hamilton: “It can be of no weight to say that the courts, on the pretense of a repugnancy,...
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November 19, 2018
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“Is This the Country that American Women Must Live In?”
At the 1991 confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, law professor and former co-worker of Thomas, Anita Hill, gave graphic testimony regarding allegations of sexual harassment. As reported by CBS News (Sept.19), here’s some of what Hill had to sit through. Republican Senator Arlen Specter: “You testified this morning that the most embarrassing question involved — this is...
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September 21, 2018
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Impeachment: Bluff or Worse?
In an unprecedented move against the second-highest-ranking official at The Department of Justice, two House conservatives, Representatives Mark Meadows (N.C.) and Jim Jordan (OH), have filed articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. I wrote about the incivility demonstrated by Mr. Jordan in his relentless questioning of Mr. Rosenstein last month, (This is Not Who We Are –...
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July 26, 2018
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No Place for Haters
“We must never remain silent in the face of bigotry. We must condemn those who seek to divide us. In all quarters and at all times, we must teach tolerance and denounce racism, anti-Semitism, and all ethnic or religious bigotry wherever they exist as unacceptable evils. We have no place for haters in America — none, whatsoever.” – Ronald Reagan,...
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July 25, 2018
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Now for Some Good News
If you think that civility in America has disappeared. If you think that kindness and decency are lost in a sea of cynicism, then this commentary is for you. Two documentaries – RBG, an “affectionate look” at U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? about PBS superstar Fred Rogers – are making the rounds...
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July 13, 2018
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This is Not Who We Are – Part 2
This is what passes for civil discourse in the current House Judiciary Committee. Ohio representative and House Freedom Caucus founder, Jim Jordan (R), accused Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of hiding information and documents requested by the committee regarding the FBI’s Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation. Rosenstein politely but firmly responded, “I’m not trying to hide anything.” Rosenstein and FBI Director...
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June 29, 2018