Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

Kennedy: Thumbs Down on Gonzales, Torture

As you know, despite the opposition by all Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Gonzales was confirmed to be Attorney General by a vote of 60-36.

I strongly opposed the nomination. In his years as White House Counsel to President Bush, Mr. Gonzales was deeply involved in the Administration's decision to authorize harsh methods of interrogation that led to the notorious scandal of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, involving torture of detainees in gross violation of our laws and international treaties.

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The scandal has seriously stained America's respect for the rule of law and human rights, endangered our troops and made the war on terrorism harder to win. In light of his central role in the scandal, there was no justification for the promotion of Mr. Gonzales to Attorney General, the nation's chief law enforcement officer.

America is a nation of laws. Our country is strong and our constitutional system has endured because it enables us to do great things, and to do them in accord with the rule of law and the fundamental values that are the foundation of our democracy and the source of our respect in the world.

I intend to continue to do all I can to see that our government abides by these basic values. I greatly appreciate your support in this all-important battle.

Edward Kennedy
US Senator (D-Massachusetts)
Washington, DC

Deep in the Heart of Texas...

Publication Denial Notification: A specific factual determination has been made that the publication [The Guide, March 2005] is detrimental to the prisoner's rehabilitation because it would encourage deviate [sic] criminal sexual behavior.

Mail Systems Coordinators Panel
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Huntsville, Texas

Well, at least you're reading our magazine! We do indeed encourage behavior that would be illegal under Texas's absurd sex statutes-- remember, it was Texas that asserted the right for sex police to bust into citizens' bedrooms and arrest anyone found engaging in (thoroughly consensual) homosex in the infamous Lawrence vs. Texas sodomy case. And though the present Supreme Court struck that law down, future Bush mullahs are likely to enforce the laws of Deuteronomy, not the Constitution....