Site Presented By
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009
If he takes Ms Johnsen's counsel to heart and actually follows her advice, we have reason to hope.
OLC does not provide "advice" to the President that he's free to accept or reject. Its legal opinions are binding on the President. If OLC says that "X is illegal," then -- absent some extraordinary actions (such as the President formally rejecting the OLC opinion, which almost never happens) -- then the formal position of the Executive Branch is that "X is illegal."
Conversely, there are certain laws that say that the President can do X only if DOJ (through the OLC) issues an opinion legally authorizing it. If the OLC refuses to do so, then it isn't legal. Relatedly, if the OLC is willing to say that "X is legal," then it becomes much harder to prosecute Executive Branch officials, because then they can argue that they were acting in good faith reliance on the opinions of the Justice Department that what they were doing was fine (as we've seen over the last eight years).
OLC isn't the Superman of the U.S. Government. A President who is determined to break the law can do so even with a hostile OLC. But it's not merely an advisory office. It has formal power, power which can bind the President, and its actions can make presidential lawbreaking much harder or much easier.
Bottom line: if you wanted to appoint some token, loud-mouth, rule-of-law-extremist progressive to placate critics, and you had no intention of listening to what she said, the last place you would put her is as OLC head.
I think we all agree that nobody should assume things are fine because of this appointment. I think we all share your skeptical, wait-and-see attitude. I know I do. But that doesn't mean that the significance of this office should be under-stated.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The Maine fight was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for repealing California's Prop. 8 -- but gay marriage lost
Once one obtains Seriousness credentials in the Washington media, they are irrevocable no matter one's conduct.
Salon headlines in your mailbox
