Looking at Gonzales (to Succeed Ashcroft) & Bush's Death Row Secrets

[G_j]

RE: BREAKING: Gonzales to Succeed Ashcroft
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111104Y.shtml
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http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-07-11/pols_naked9.html

The Guv's Death Row Secrets
Naked City
BY JORDAN SMITH

July 11, 2003:


In the current edition of The Atlantic magazine, Alan Berlow writes about the content of the 57 executive clemency summaries of death row cases prepared by then-Gov. George W. Bush's general counsel, Alberto Gonzales, which Berlow obtained through Texas' open-records laws -- memos the state is now seemingly trying to keep out of the public's hands.

Gonzales -- the former Vinson and Elkins partner whom Bush subsequently appointed secretary of state and then a Texas Supreme Court justice, before asking him to come to Washington as his White House counsel -- is considered to be on Bush's short list of U.S. Supreme Court nominees. Back in Texas, as the guv's general counsel, Gonzales prepared clemency memos regarding Texas' death row cases for Bush to review prior to an inmate's execution -- memos that were, as Berlow writes, "Bush's primary source of information in deciding whether someone would live or die." In reviewing the memos, Berlow discovered that they contained a paltry amount of information "repeatedly to apprise the governor of the crucial issues in the cases at hand," such as "ineffective counsel, conflict of interest, mitigating evidence, even actual evidence of innocence." And so it went; Bush refused to stay executions in 56 of the 57 cases for which Berlow obtained memos.

Berlow wrote that although Gonzales intended the memos to remain confidential, he got them under the Texas Public Information Act. The governor's office fought disclosure, appealing Berlow's request to then-Attorney General John Cornyn for review -- an appeal Gov. Bush lost on June 23, 2000. In a letter to Assistant General Counsel Jack Hines, the AG's opinion read in part: "We have reviewed the submitted memorandum and find that it consists entirely of factual information," Assistant AG E. Joanna Fitzgerald wrote. "The memorandum contains no opinion or advice from the General Counsel, nor does it contain client confidences. Accordingly, the office may not withhold the memorandum."
<snip>

Berlow's article can be found online at www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/07/berlow.htm, and copies of three of the clemency memos in question can be found at www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/07/berlow-documents.htm...
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ALSO
Within months of the Sept. 11 attacks, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales reportedly wrote President Bush a memo about the terrorism fight and prisoners' rights under the Geneva Conventions.

"In my judgment, this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions," Gonzales wrote, according to the report in Newsweek magazine. Secretary of State Colin Powell "hit the roof" when he read the memo, according to the account.

[Kid_A]

1. Thanks for posting this.

Only these guys could replace John "Calico Cats Are Evil" Ashcroft with Alberto "Geneva Conventions Are For Sissies" Gonzales, and not expect anyone to call them on it...

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I'd laugh if I didn't feel so nauseous about the whole thing.

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Have you secured your town and state voting systems yet?
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm

[G_j]

3. cold blooded.

an important quality to Bush.
A conscience would disqualify anyone from being part of the administration.

[Stone_Spirits]

4. he and Goss should be quite a team

he believes in torture and Goss wants the CIA to spy on Americans.

[DemoTex]

5. Don't forget that Bu$h executed 152 men and women during his governorship.

Although he said he was anguished by the decision, in an interview in Talk magazine, writer Tucker Carlson described Bush mimicking the woman's final plea for her life. "'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me.'" Time Magazine

http://www.bushkills.com/

[G_j]

6. but he is a "Christian"

executioner and war criminal. It seems the ordinary "moral" standards do not apply.

[salin]

11. and given the rate of exonerations in Illinois

some due to independent investigations (law students, reporters, etc.) - chances are that at least one of those executed, was innocent. A state of affairs that, I believe, Scalia said is okay - though I can't recall the odd explanation that he gave...

[lil-petunia]

12. Being in Illinois and tasting Texas law, let me tell you this

Illinois law is one hell of a lot fairer. SO if we found more than 1/2 of death row inmates (After ALL appeals) to be innocent of the crimes, just imagine how bad Texas is.

[G_j]

13. exactly

Texas "injustice" is the absolute worst.

[salin]

17. kick

[SouthStar]

14. As Gov. of Texas

Bush (or any Texas Gov.) did NOT have the power to commute sentences or give clemency. It is NOT a power the Gov. of Texas has. All the Gov. can do is provide a 30 day stay, 1 time. Bush did it once in at years. Gov. Richards also only exercised this option once.

[Bridget Burke]

15. Wrong. Bush had one "stay of execution" & one "commutation"

He granted a stay to Ricky Nolen McGinn, who was later executed.

He commuted one death sentence to life imprisonment in June 1998. The lucky fellow? Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, who eventually died in prison of natural causes.

www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id419/pg1/

[G_j]

7. kick

[RevolutionStartsNow]

8. Thank you

This bothers me every bit as much as the torture memo. It's actually the same thing, if you think about it.

[G_j]

10. it is the same

No wonder he gets along well with Bush.
I don't think you can last in the Bush admin. unless you are cold blooded, cruel and sadisitic.
In truth these are the "values" the Bushbots hold so dear.

[Must_B_Free]

9. sounds like the Hispanic Inquisition

[starroute]

16. Vinson & Elkins has close ties to Bush as well

http://www.utwatch.org/utimco/vinson.html

Vinson and Elkins has donated to many campaigns such as Bush, Cornyn, and many other politicians in the state. Twenty-three donors from Vinson and Elkins donated $133,000 to Bush for his 1998 gubernatorial race. In addition to UTIMCO, the law firm has also served counsel to former Texas Rangers partners Mercer Reynolds, William DeWitt, Rusty Rose, and Roland Betts. These four men also happen to be big Bush donors.

They have familiarized themselves with some of the big spenders in the state. They were on board with Enron until the end, and they are still trying to help the company. They claim the Enron never did anything illegal; maybe that's because they handled $150 million of the companies business. They have also received big bucks from companies like Alcoa, Inc. by assuring that the Rockdale plant maintain its absurd levels of pollution. In the 1999 legislative session, while Bush was running for President, Vinson and Elkins poured $201,3501 into Bush's campaign. Three of the company's attorneys also pledged $300,000 to Bush. This happened at the same time Texas was meeting to discuss the Texas grandfathered laws; naturally they were overlooked.

Some other notable facts about Vinson and Elkins is that they are "the firm helped craft the law that protects lawyers from lawsuits a major source of referrals for the very lawyers who might sue them and knows every legal tactic that could slow or sidetrack the lawsuits."