The Potential Nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Supreme Court
Human Rights First is deeply concerned about the potential nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court. Based on a review of Gonzales’ record as White House Counsel and his oral and written testimony during his Attorney General confirmation hearing, Human Rights First believes Mr. Gonzales’ views on Presidential power and his role in setting improper detention and interrogation policy make him a troubling choice for the Supreme Court.
“Mr. Gonzales offered a view of executive power so expansive that it would allow the President to ignore laws passed by Congress. His recommendations as White House Counsel also opened the door to the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody,” said Michael Posner, Executive Director of Human Rights First. “This is a troubling record for a possible Supreme Court Justice.” Read HRF statement.
As part of the Attorney General confirmation process, Human Rights First prepared a series of materials, below, including a report, Background Papers on Alberto Gonzales, that outlined and analyzed Gonzales’ views on torture, the Geneva Conventions, military commissions, and executive power and role of the courts. The report outlines that as White House Counsel to President Bush, Gonzales:
Approved a legal memo defining torture so narrowly so as to authorize practices such as “waterboarding,” denial of pain killer medication, simulated drowning, and threatening to transfer detainees to other countries’ interrogators.
Advocated the position that the President has power as Commander-in-Chief to ignore laws passed by Congress, specifically arguing that applying a congressional prohibition against an act of torture ordered by the President would be unconstitutional.
Advised the President that the “war on terror” rendered provisions of the Geneva Conventions “obsolete” and recommended that the Geneva Conventions not be applied to the conflict in Afghanistan, contradicting the recommendations of senior military advisors.
The following are the materials HRF prepared about Alberto Gonzales’ rights record.
As part of the Attorney General confirmation process, Gonzales provided answers to written questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee. This document provides an analysis of those answers.
During the confirmation process, a group of 12 retired Admirals and Generals – including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili (Ret. USA) – wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging Members to closely examine Alberto Gonzales' role in setting U.S. policy on torture.
Specifically, the Admirals and Generals expressed concern about Gonzales' recommendation that the Geneva Conventions not be applied to the conflict in Afghanistan.
February 7, 2002: Directive by President Bush In this memorandum from the President to his national security, President Bush says that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to the conflict with al Qaeda, and that Taliban detainees are not Prisoners of War. (PDF- 130KB)
December 30, 2004: Daniel Levin memo to Deputy Attorney General James Comey
In this memo, Acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin repudiates the August 2002 memorandum’s parsing of the phrase "severe pain" in the federal anti-torture statute and revises other aspects of the analysis that Gonzales had supported for nearly two and a half years.
(PDF - 1.0MB)
Flow Chart Showing Gonzales Role in Setting Torture Policy
