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LATINOS FOR TEXAS OPPOSES THE CONFIRMATION OF ALBERTO GONZALES AS U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL
Latinos for Texas opposes the nomination and confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as the next U.S. Attorney General. As an organization committed to strengthening the prosperity, opportunity and freedom of Latino communities through the advancement of progressive policies and candidates, we cannot offer him our support.
Although Mr. Gonzales has a poignant life story and several noteworthy achievements, it is the conclusion of our executive committee that his confirmation as Attorney General could be detrimental to the civil liberties and civil rights of Americans and other communities abroad. Furthermore, several aspects of Mr. Gonzales’ past record raise significant questions concerning his judgment in accepting campaign contributions, his judgment in the life-and-death situations on Texas’ Death Row and his judgment of the prisoners of America’s wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.
Latinos for Texas points to Mr. Gonzales’ past record at Vinson and Elkins LLP, where early in his tenure he provided legal services to Enron. Two years later, while serving as a Texas Supreme Court Justice, he accepted donations from Enron’s PAC and employees. Additionally, in 2000, both Enron and Vinson and Elkins were named by the Center for Responsive Politics on George W. Bush’s top ten corporate contributions list[1]. This creates a clear conflict of interest. Furthermore, before Enron’s implosion and its catastrophic effect on Enron’s employees, Alberto Gonzales pandered to energy companies – penning the majority ruling of the state Supreme Court which dismantled certain class-action lawsuits[2] and later helping the Bush Administration conceal its closed-door Energy Task Force meetings between Vice President Richard Cheney and Enron’s own officers[3]. Moreover, while on the state Supreme Court he accepted donations from future litigants including Texas Farm Bureau and Royal Insurance[4].
Latinos for Texas believes that Mr. Gonzales blatantly violated the civil rights of Texas Death Row inmates by failing to provide complete assessments of pertinent issues concerning clemency cases to then Governor George Bush. This failure violates the responsibility of the state’s executive branch imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Herrera vs. Collins [5]. In his memoranda to the Governor in relation to these cases, Mr. Gonzales methodically undermined the fairness of the clemency process by his exclusion of significant and sometimes expurgatory evidence. He ineffectively protected the last fail-safe for victims of a flawed justice system and innocent or mentally impaired death row prisoners and in doing so, rendered the possibility for rehabilitation meaningless. In particular, Latinos for Texas points to Mr. Gonzales' failure in Terry Washington v. Gary L. Johnson, Director of Texas Department of Criminal Justice, David Wayne Stoker v. Gary L. Johnson, Director of Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Carl Johnson v. The State of Texas and Kevin James Byrd v. The State of Texas [6].
Further substantiating our opposition to this nomination is Mr. Gonzales' interpretation of the Geneva Convention and the treatment of prisoners of war. In a January memo to the President, Mr. Gonzales rendered parts of the Geneva Convention "quaint” and "obsolete," concluding that those detainees considered "armed militants" and not "regular foreign armed forces” were exempt from treatment as prisoners of war [7]. His decision condoned the highly questionable behavior of the U.S. Military witnessed at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons. Additionally, Mr. Gonzales ignored recommendations from the State Department that this judgment could "reverse over a century of U.S. policy," generate a "high cost in terms of negative international reaction" and "undermine the protections of the law of war for our troops and public support from our allies.” [8]
Latinos for Texas believes that America cannot simultaneously declare war on various regions of the world and circumvent the rules of war. We question the civility and justice in Mr. Gonzales' legalistic, rules-based decision and concur that his determination disregards the inherent right of all people to fair and humane treatment, which is surely the intent of the Geneva Convention. Latinos for Texas denounces Mr. Gonzales' creation of a legal class not worthy of being treated as people.
While Latinos for Texas acknowledges the historical significance of the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General, we cannot ignore his systematic subversion of the law and the inherent conflict of interest created by his loyalty to long-time, personal friend and employer George W. Bush. Moreover, it is our belief that his apparently rigid, rules-based decision-making process could lead to the further destruction of individual civil liberties and civil rights.
Consequently, Latinos for Texas does not support the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General.
Sincerely,
LFT Executive Committee
Crystal Viagran, Kevin Hodges, Lila Valencia, Mario Champion, Federico Subervi
general questions, comments, ideas:
info@latinosfortexas.com
http://www.LatinosForTexas.com
Sources:
[1] Ivanovich, David, “U.S. attorney general nominee’s work for Enron at issue,” The Houston Chronicle, November 20, 2004.
[2]Martin, Gary, “White House counsel cites 'judicial emergencies',” The San Antonio Express-News, May 3, 2002.
[3]Natta, Don Van, Schwartz, J. and Yardley, J., “Enron’s Collapse: Backdrop; In Houston, the Lines Dividing Politics, Business and Society Are Especially Blurry,” The New York Times, January 20, 2002.
[4] Feldman, Chris, “Opinion: Rulings Limit Class Actions,” Texas Lawyer, August 28, 2000.
Flood, Mary, “Court's year one of discord,” The Houston Chronicle, July 7, 2000.
[5] Krugman, Paul, “Evils of Access,” The New York Times, June 7, 2002.
[6] Savage, Charlie, “As Texas Judge, Gonzales heard donors’ cases practice legal, but still faces criticism,” The Boston Globe, January 27, 2005.
[7] Hentoff, Nat, “When Guilt or Innocence 'Doesn't Matter',” The Washington Post, February 13, 1993.
[8] Berlow, Alan. "The Texas Clemency Memos," The Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2003.
Jackson. Derrick Z., "Bush's 'Blind' Justice in Texas Executions." The Boston Globe, July 2, 2003.
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