Al Gonzales Confirmed As Attorney General

By 

Jay Sekulow

|
May 23, 2011

3 min read

ACLJ

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Yesterday the Senate confirmed White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales as the 60th Attorney General of the United States.  Judge Gonzales was sworn into office last night by Vice President Dick Cheney.  John Ashcroft, who has served with distinction and honor, left office effective upon Judge Gonzales taking the oath of office.  Ive had the opportunity to work with Judge Gonzales the last four years on a variety of matters ranging from the Patriot Act to judicial appointments.  We look forward to working with him in his new role as Attorney General of the United States.  In fact, weve already met with some of his staff on a variety of issues.

 

I also want to express our appreciation to John Ashcroft for his four years of tremendous service to the country as Attorney General.  It has been a privilege and high honor to work closely with the him and his staff over the last four years.  As head of the Justice Department, John Ashcroft not only reduced crime by 30%, but also protected our homeland in a post-9/11 world. 

 

On the judicial front, our office has had a series of meetings on the judicial filibuster issue.  Currently, our senior research team is revamping a legal memorandum that we distributed last year concerning filibusters.  At this point, it looks like we will be launching a full-scale legal and legislative approach to end the judicial filibusters at the beginning of March.  Many of you have called regarding the status of the case involving Ted Kennedy and Judge Bill Pryor.  The Supreme Court of the United States has conferenced Judge Pryors case on five different occasions.  My view at this point is that the Court will not hear those cases, and one of the Justices may be issuing a dissenting opinion from the denial of review.  We are obviously monitoring the situation closely and will keep everyone posted as it develops. 

 

All briefs have now been submitted in the Ten Commandments cases.  There are two cases involving the current litigation:  one out of Texas and the other out of Kentucky.  Both of those cases will be argued in early March.  In addition, we are Counsel of Record for two Supreme Court cases involving the Ten Commandments, both of which arise out of Ohio.  The decisions in the Texas and Kentucky cases will have a direct bearing on our two cases currently pending.   Moot court preparations are well under way, and we will keep everyone posted as the argument dates approach.  The Attorney General from Texas will be arguing the Fraternal Order of Eagles monument case out of the state of Texas, and Mat Staver with the Liberty Counsel will be arguing the case out of Kentucky.  Our team in Washington, DC, will be assisting in the moot court preparations. 

 

Also, I want to encourage you to visit our website and to view our television program this evening, ACLJ This Week.  Tomorrow night on networks throughout the country, my sons program, The Logan Show, will be broadcast.  For information on Logans program, visit www.theloganshow.com.