When speaking of justice and American politics, we often focus on the bigger issues of financial news and the foreclosure crisis. Today I want to highlight a story which may seem to affect only a few, but has social repercussions which reach out to affect all of us. And like many of these stories, it took one high profile incident to bring the entire issue to light.
The country may be divided on the guilt and subsequent punishment of Michael Vick. One thing we can all agree on, however, is that he brought dogfighting to the public spotlight. Today, animal advocates are asking President Obama to urge state governors to end dog fighting forever.
Dogfighting is much more than a cruel sport which results in the abuse of animals. It is a subculture which is involved in a whole host of criminal activities; drugs, firearms, gambling, interstate trafficking and more. It subverts inner city youth and escalates violence. It reaches across this country affecting all of us. It hits the pocket of taxpayers who foot the bill for fighting dogs in shelters and legal actions. It redirects resources for animals. It endangers the public who can become victims of abused fighting dogs and other criminal activity.
Dogfighting is not an animal issue. It is a human issue. It is an accepted precept that animal abuse leads to human abuse. A subculture which advocates for animal abuse contributes to a disregard for the sanctity of all life.
I hope you take a few moments to view a stunning photo-essay series by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, Carol Guzy, in the Washington Post. Chapter by chapter, images and commentary capture a story which brought the secret world of dogfighting to light, Shelter for the Scarred.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/galleries/vickdogs/
Issues Daily Staff Article
Holder expected to review, change Bush policies
Date: 2/3/2009
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eric Holder has won confirmation as the first black attorney general, but he’ll have little time to consider his role in history as he decides which Bush administration counterterrorism policies to reverse.
Holder was confirmed 75-21 Monday, with all the opposition coming from Republicans. He will be sworn in Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden.
For starters, the new attorney general will learn the secrets of the Office of Legal Counsel, whose lawyers justified the use of controversial interrogation tactics and even declined to provide Bush administration documents to internal Justice Department investigators.
Holder will inherit a Justice Department wracked by Bush administration scandals over politically inspired hirings and firings. He has pledged to restore its reputation.
Holder also will play a major role in the future of terrorism detainees.
President Barack Obama, in a major policy shift, signed an executive order to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. He also created a special task force to review detainee policy; Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will serve as co-chairs.
That panel will look at options for apprehension, detention, trial, transfer or release of detainees and report to the president within 180 days.
Holder promised senators he would review why career prosecutors in Washington decided not to prosecute the former head of the department’s Civil Rights Division. An inspector general’s report last month found that Bradley Schlozman, the former head of the division, misled lawmakers about whether he politicized hiring decisions.
Another key question facing Holder is whether to reverse former President George W. Bush’s order that three of his former top aides — Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten — should not testify before Congress about firings of U.S. attorneys. Rove and Miers were former aides when Bush gave his order.
If Obama reverses Bush’s policy, it would create a new legal issue: whether a former president’s order against testifying would still be valid.
The Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program is certain to come under Holder’s scrutiny.
After a lengthy and heated debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks, Congress last year eased the rules under which the government could wiretap American phone and computer lines to listen for terrorists and spies.
Holder promised one senator that he would re-examine a ruling by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey that immigrants facing deportation do not have a right to government-provided lawyers. Holder said he understands the desire to expedite immigration court proceedings, but added that the Constitution also requires that proceedings be fair.
There also could be changes in conducting warrantless surveillance.
Holder’s chief supporter, Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said the confirmation was a fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s dream that everyone would be judged by the content of their character.
“Come on the right side of history,” said Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eric Holder has won confirmation as the first black attorney general, but he’ll have little time to consider his role in history as he decides which Bush administration counterterrorism policies to reverse.
Holder was confirmed 75-21 Monday, with all the opposition coming from Republicans. He will be sworn in Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden.
For starters, the new attorney general will learn the secrets of the Office of Legal Counsel, whose lawyers justified the use of controversial interrogation tactics and even declined to provide Bush administration documents to internal Justice Department investigators.
Holder will inherit a Justice Department wracked by Bush administration scandals over politically inspired hirings and firings. He has pledged to restore its reputation.
Holder also will play a major role in the future of terrorism detainees.
President Barack Obama, in a major policy shift, signed an executive order to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. He also created a special task force to review detainee policy; Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will serve as co-chairs.
That panel will look at options for apprehension, detention, trial, transfer or release of detainees and report to the president within 180 days.
Holder promised senators he would review why career prosecutors in Washington decided not to prosecute the former head of the department’s Civil Rights Division. An inspector general’s report last month found that Bradley Schlozman, the former head of the division, misled lawmakers about whether he politicized hiring decisions.
Another key question facing Holder is whether to reverse former President George W. Bush’s order that three of his former top aides — Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten — should not testify before Congress about firings of U.S. attorneys. Rove and Miers were former aides when Bush gave his order.
If Obama reverses Bush’s policy, it would create a new legal issue: whether a former president’s order against testifying would still be valid.
The Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program is certain to come under Holder’s scrutiny.
After a lengthy and heated debate that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks, Congress last year eased the rules under which the government could wiretap American phone and computer lines to listen for terrorists and spies.
Holder promised one senator that he would re-examine a ruling by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey that immigrants facing deportation do not have a right to government-provided lawyers. Holder said he understands the desire to expedite immigration court proceedings, but added that the Constitution also requires that proceedings be fair.
There also could be changes in conducting warrantless surveillance.
Holder’s chief supporter, Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said the confirmation was a fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s dream that everyone would be judged by the content of their character.
“Come on the right side of history,” said Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
