Legal Commentary

Rosen Comes To Praise Obama, But Buries Him On Civil Liberties

By Big Tent Democrat

By Big Tent Democrat

I think a credible argument that Barack Obama is slightly better than Hillary Clinton on civil liberties from as legislative perspective can be made. But the most important thing a President does to protect civil liberties is to appoint good Supreme Court justices committed to recognizing and acting on the Supreme Court's role as a bulwark for civil liberties. Scott Lemieux thinks that Jeffrey Rosen makes a compelling case for Obama. I think he raised the biggest red flag imaginable. Taking aside the questionable claims Rosen makes regarding Obama's role on reforming the Patriot Act, where Rosen really buries Obama is here:

Mr. Obama . . . is not a knee-jerk believer in the old-fashioned liberal view that courts should unilaterally impose civil liberties protections on unwilling majorities. His formative experiences have involved arguing for civil liberties in the legislatures rather than courts, and winning over skeptics on both sides of the political spectrum, as he won over the police and prosecutors in Chicago.

(Emphasis supplied.) More... Jeffrey Rosen has a longstanding record of opposing the judicial role of guaranteeing civil liberties. He has frequently defended the Bush Administration's egregious violations of the civil liberties of Americans. Scott Lemieux makes a mistake in touting Jeffrey Rosen generally and this column in particular as proof of Barack Obama's commitment to civil liberties. It actually raises extremely troubling questions.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 02, 2008 (boomark / email).