Jonathan Turley writing for the Los Angeles Times on Under Ashcroft, Justice Is Blind and Handcuffed:
In matters of faith and law, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft generally distrusts the role of discretion — it is uniformity, if not rigidity, that defines his vision. Over the last two years, Ashcroft has radically reshaped the Justice Department, pushing aside suspected moderates and promoting young extremists who will not hesitate in carrying out his orders. He now has turned to the federal courts to compel uniformity, ordering prosecutors, in a July 28 memo, to report any judge who imposes a criminal sentence lighter than what is called for by federal guidelines.
Okay, the idea of a list is offensive enough, if only because we've no idea how this loose cannon jackboot is going to use the information on this list.
…Ashcroft believes that federal judges who lower sentences are violating the intent of the federal law. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that such decisions are the very essence of independent judicial review and has held that the sentencing guidelines anticipate such departures. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative on criminal matters, held that this country had a long "tradition for the sentencing judge to consider every convicted person as an individual and every case as a unique study in human failings that sometimes mitigated, sometimes magnify, the crime and punishment."
Ashcroft worries me more than Bush, if only because I believe that the Attorney General is exercising a bit of restraint towards his more overt fascist tendencies until after the re-election campaign. I'm afraid to see what will be coming out of the Justice Department once Ashcroft's boss isn't worried about re-election.
Link courtesy of David Whettstone via the In Defense of Freedom mailing list.