Obama's impressive new OLC chief- by Glenn Greenwald

[Ichingcarpenter]

If Glenn likes her then I do too.


The Office of Legal Counsel, inside the Justice Department, is probably the most consequential federal government office that remains relatively obscure. The legal opinions which it issues become, more or less automatically, the official legal position of the Executive Branch. It was from that office that John Yoo, Jay Bybee and others did so much damage, issuing now-infamous memoranda that established the regime of lawlessness that has dominated our political institutions over the last eight years. Other than Attorney General-designate Eric Holder and Obama himself, there is probably no official who will have a more significant role in determining the extent to which the Obama administration really does reverse the lawlessness and legal radicalism of the Bush years.

Today, as The Boston Globe just reported, Barack Obama announced several new appointments to key DOJ posts, including Dawn Johnsen to head the OLC. Johnsen is a Professor of Law at Indiana University, a former OLC official in the Clinton administration (as well as a former ACLU counsel), and a graduate of Yale Law School. She's become a true expert on executive power and, specifically, the role and obligation of the OLC in restricting presidential decisions to their lawful scope.

There are several striking pieces of evidence that suggest this appointment may be Obama's best yet, perhaps by far. Consider, first, this rather emphatic Slate article authored by Johnsen in the wake of the disclosure, last April, of the 81-page John Yoo Memo which declared that the President's power to torture detainees is virtually limitless. Her article is notable at least as much for its tone as for its substance (emphasis added):

>>>>>>snip


http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/05/olc/index.html

[Bolo Boffin]

1. OLC is a great stepping stone to the Supreme Court

Several current justices used to be in the OLC.

[slipslidingaway]

2. Thanks K&R n/t

[Cha]

3. Great! Dawn Johnsen sounds

like an amazing choice for The Office of Legal Council!

I hope lots of progressives will show their support for this.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Her bio and work from Maur School of Law at the Univ. of Indiana

Biography

Professor Johnsen joined the faculty in 1998, following a distinguished career in Washington, D.C. She served in the U.S. Department of Justice under President Bill Clinton (1993-1998), including as Acting Assistant Attorney General heading the Office of Legal Counsel where she provided constitutional and other legal advice to the Attorney General, the Counsel to the President, and the general counsels of the various executive branch agencies. From 1988-1993, she was the Legal Director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (now NARAL Pro-Choice America). She also worked at the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project and clerked for Judge Richard D. Cudahy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.


Johnsen serves on the national board of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and as co-chair of the ACS Issue Group on Separation of Powers and Federalism. Her research interests include issues of separation of powers (especially presidential power) and civil liberties (especially reproductive rights).She has testified before Congress and appeared on many national television and radio news programs as an expert on these issues.

Her courses include Constitutional Law, the First Amendment, and Seminars in the Separation of Powers and Sexuality, Reproduction and the Constitution.






http://info.law.indiana.edu/sb/page/normal/1419.html

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Legal Director for NARAL and ACLU? .... come on this is a fantastic pick

This could be the next supreme court nominee

[glitch]

6. K & R for CHANGE! nt

:applause: