Release From the American Constitution Society
FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER BLASTS ADMINISTRATION'S “WAR ON TERROR”
In Speech To American Constitution Society Holder Outlines Steps To Make Nation More Secure
Washington, D.C. -- Eric H. Holder Jr., Deputy Attorney General during the Clinton administration, asserted in a speech to the American Constitution Society (ACS) that the United States must reverse “the disastrous course” set by the Bush administration in the struggle against terrorism by closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, declaring without qualification that the U.S. does not torture people, ending the practice of transferring individuals involuntarily to countries that engage in torture and ceasing warrantless domestic surveillance.
“Our needlessly abusive and unlawful practices in the ‘War on Terror' have diminished our standing in the world community and made us less, rather than more, safe,” Holder told a packed room at the ACS 2008 Convention on Friday evening. “For the sake of our safety and security, and because it is the right thing to do, the next president must move immediately to reclaim America's standing in the world as a nation that cherishes and protects individual freedom and basic human rights.”
Video of Holder's address before ACS is available here <http://acslaw.org/node/6720> .
Holder, who co-chairs Senator Barack Obama's vice presidential search committee, was nominated by President Ronald Reagan as a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, on which he sat for five years. In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated him to become the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, the first African-American to serve in that position. He was appointed Deputy Attorney General in 1997.
The ACS Convention, “Revitalizing Our Democracy: Progress and Possibilities,” has drawn many of the nation's leading legal minds and public policy shapers to Washington, D.C. The Convention's speakers and participants are focusing on the pressing legal and public policy issues that a new administration is likely to confront. The Convention runs through Saturday evening, with a student leadership retreat scheduled for Sunday.
