MICHAEL RATNER
President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ratner said today: “Until we get rid of the entire cabal, which includes Bush and Cheney, that has engaged in torture, off-shore prisons such as Guantanamo, violations of the Geneva Conventions and warrantless wiretapping, there is little to celebrate in Gonzales’ resignation. Guantanamo continues, as does torture, wiretapping, secret CIA sites, rendition, and illegal trials. Impeachment and prosecution of the authors and facilitators of these violations of fundamental rights is imperative and our Democratic Congress has fallen down on the job.”
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MARJORIE COHN
Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and president of the National Lawyers Guild. She is the author of the book Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law and the article “The Gonzales Indictment.” She said today: “Alberto Gonzales should not only be prosecuted for perjury for the false statements he made to Congress about the U.S. attorneys firing scandal; he should also be tried under the U.S. War Crimes Act for spearheading a common plan by the Bush administration to violate the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture.”
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JONATHAN TURLEY
Turley is a professor of Constitutional law at George Washington University. He said today: “It is a sad end to what should have been a historic term for the first Hispanic to hold that office. As one of the critics of Gonzales, it is hard not to feel a sense of relief but that is also tempered by a feeling of tremendous waste. I expect that Gonzales may look back at his controversial tenure in a few years and wonder whether he would have better served the president, the country, and indeed himself by being a voice of independence in the government. Instead, Gonzales made a career as the enabler for George W. Bush. When they wanted to strip citizens of all of the constitutional rights at the whim of the president, Gonzales was there to say it was fine. When they wanted to engage in torture, Gonzales was there with a pen in hand. One can only wonder how much better this president would have fared if he had a lawyer prepared to tell him that he did not have such Caesar-like qualities.”
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For more information, contact the Institute for Public Accuracy at (202) 347-0020.