Jamie Gorelick, who was the Deputy Attorney General during the Clinton Administration and a member of the 9-11 Commission, queues in on the future of America’s National Security under a demoralized Justice Department and what will soon be a new presidency. Jamie Gorelick also chairs the United Technologies Corporation.
A New Agenda for Justice
By Jamie S. Gorelick
Tuesday, August 28, 2007; Page A13The next attorney general will inherit a demoralized Justice Department that has been cut adrift from its historical values and well-honored traditions. New leadership offers an opportunity for Justice to return to its best traditions under both Democrats and Republicans. Here are 10 priorities that would help the next attorney general guide the department back on course:
# Restore credibility and comity with Congress. Having the backing and support of Congress is critical. Lawmakers will give Justice the room it needs if they believe that the attorney general and his or her subordinates are straightforward in their dealings and open to legitimate oversight.
“Take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Every president promises to ensure that the government adheres to the law and the Constitution. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has historically been — and needs to be — the voice for the rule of law in the president’s deliberations, providing an honest appraisal of applicable law, even if that advice will constrain the administration’s pursuit of desired policies. This mandate applies with special force where the office’s advice is unlikely to be subject to review by the courts. Where an opinion is so widely ridiculed that the department has to withdraw it, as was the case with the first “torture memo,” confidence in the department’s fealty to the law is undermined.
Read the rest of Jamie Gorelick’s A New Agenda for Justice.
Jamie Gorelick is a lawyer at Wilmer Hale.
Jamie Gorelick reflects on 9-11.
View a question an answer session with Jamie Gorelick who was formally Vice Chairman of Fannie Mae.
Jamie Gorelick’s career history can be found at http://www.jamie-gorelick.com.
Read the 9-11 commission of which Jamie Gorelick was a part.