Alberto Gonzales in Wikipedia.org political website
On Abortion:
Perceived as supporting abortion because of judicial rulings
Speculation over a possible Supreme Court nomination caused conservative stalwarts such as National Review magazine and Focus on the Family, among other socially conservative groups, to state they would oppose a Gonzales nomination. Much of their
opposition to Gonzales was based on his perceived support of abortion rights; typically, they cited his place in the majority opinions of various Texas Supreme Court rulings in a series of In re Jane Doe cases from 2000 that ordered lower courts to
reconsider minor women’s requests for a “judicial bypass” provided in a provision of Texas’ parental notification law, and in one case (43 Tex. Sup. J. 910), granted the bypass that allowed the girl to obtain an abortion without notifying her parents.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article (Bush Cabinet)
Jul 31, 2007
On Civil Rights:
No express grant of habeas corpus in the Constitution
On January 18 2007, Gonzales was invited to speak to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he shocked the committee’s ranking member, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, by stating that there was no guarantee to the right of habeas corpus in the Constitution.
An excerpt of the exchange follows:GONZALES: There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. There is a prohibition against taking it away.
SPECTER: Now, wait a minute. The Constitution says you can’t take it away, except in the case of
rebellion or invasion. Doesn’t that mean you have the right of habeas corpus, unless there is an invasion or rebellion?
Senator Specter was referring to Article One of the Constitution which reads: “The Privilege of the Writ of
Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” This passage has been historically interpreted to mean that the right of habeas corpus is inherently established.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article (Bush Cabinet)
Jul 31, 2007
On Energy & Oil:
Kept Cheney’s Energy task force documents secret
[Prior to his nomination as Attorney General], Gonzales fought with Congress to keep
Vice President Dick Cheney’s Energy task force documents from being reviewed.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article (Bush Cabinet)
Jul 31, 2007
On Foreign Policy:
Parts of Geneva Convention are “quaint” and outdated
Gonzales authored a controversial memo in January of 2002 that explored whether Article III of the Geneva Convention applied to Al Qaeda & Taliban fighters captured in Afghanistan and held in detention facilities around the world, including Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. The memo made several arguments both for and against providing Article III protection to Al Qaeda fighters. He concluded that Article III was outdated and ill-suited for dealing with captured Al Qaeda fighters. He described as “quaint” the
provisions that require providing captured Al Qaeda fighters “commissary privileges, scrip, athletic uniforms, and scientific instruments”. He also argued that existing military regulations and instructions from the President were more than adequate to
ensure that the principles of the Geneva Convention would be applied. He also argued that undefined language in the Geneva Convention could make officials and military leaders subject to the War Crimes Act of 1996 if mistreatment was discovered.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article (Bush Cabinet)
Jul 31, 2007
On Immigration:
3 out of 4 of his grandparents were illegal immigrants
Gonzales was born in San Antonio, Texas, and raised in Humble, near Houston. He was the second of eight children born to Pablo and Maria Gonzales. His father, who died in 1982, was a construction worker. In a television interview,
Gonzales told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that no immigration documentation exists for three of his grandparents and thus probably entered and resided in the United States illegally.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article (Bush Cabinet)
Jul 31, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Served as general counsel when Bush was Texas Governor
Alberto Gonzales (born August 4, 1955), is the 80th and current Attorney General of the United States. Gonzales was appointed to the post in February 2005 by President George W. Bush. While Bush was Governor of Texas, Gonzales had served as his general
counsel (1994-1997). Subsequently he served as Secretary of State of Texas (1997-1999) and then on the Texas Supreme Court (1999-2000). From 2001 to 2005, Gonzales served in the Bush Administration as White House Counsel.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article (Bush Cabinet)
Jul 31, 2007
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