Word: ashcroft
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Washington, the confirmation means a return to the usual routines. After a swift and private confirmation ceremony led by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Ashcroft strode purposefully into his new offices at the Justice Department Friday, making the rounds and shaking hands. While aides don't expect his first day on the job to be much more than ceremonial, they insist Ashcroft is raring to get down to work and leave his bitter confirmation battle behind him. "I will confront injustice by leading a professional Justice Department that is free from politics; that is uncompromisingly fair," the new AG said...
...What's on Ashcroft's plate...
...Ironically, perhaps, given the feverish nature of civil rights and abortion rights protests surrounding Ashcroft's nomination, there's very little on the foreseeable horizon at Justice involving any of those hot-button issues. Instead, the department faces a docket heavy with antitrust issues, including the ongoing Microsoft case and various pending airline mergers. In the coming months, Ashcroft will also get to weigh in on a few pieces of tobacco legislation...
...likely to surface soon. And given many black voters' dissatisfaction and claims of disenfranchisement (stemming primarily from last November's presidential election), debate surrounding redistricting could prove explosive. The new AG will be watched like a hawk as he maneuvers through this one, but if he handles it well, Ashcroft has a chance to calm fears within the black community that he is insensitive to their concerns...
...Ashcroft was criticized harshly during his confirmation hearings for failing to enforce civil rights laws while governor and attorney general of Missouri. He was also reproved for actively opposing Ronnie White, a black judge appointed to a federal court by former president Clinton. Friday, perhaps in an attempt to broadcast his inclusive intentions, Ashcroft's aides said his primary candidate for deputy attorney general is Larry D. Thompson, a black lawyer who was a U.S. district attorney in Georgia during the Reagan administration. Of course, while Thompson's nomination might conceivably smooth a few feathers, it would probably ruffle...