I can't watch the hearing here at work, but I just read that Senator Feingold is grilling Gonzo on his role as Governor Bush's advisor on clemency requests by death row inmates. Earlier today, Senators on the Committee received a
report prepared by the
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty on this issue.
I strongly recommend that people interested in opposing Gonzo read this report, as well as some of the memoranda written by Gonzalez in these cases.
I've copied some details from the report below. In sum, it concludes that Gonzalez did an "arbitrary" and selective job of presenting the facts to Bush, thus "call[ing] into serious question Mr. Gonzales's commitment to due process."
The report's conclusion is:
Mr. Gonzales's handling of the clemency process appears totally arbitrary. Even though in each case an individual's life was at stake, Mr. Gonzales did not consistently present Governor Bush with the information necessary to make a fair clemency decision. In so doing, he denied prisoners with serious claims about the accuracy, appropriateness and lawfulness of their death sentence the opportunity for a full and fair hearing before their court of last resort in this case, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Governor. Mr. Gonzales's failure - which encompasses not only the substantive omissions from his memos, but the brevity of his summaries and meetings with the Governor calls into serious question Mr. Gonzales's commitment to due process in practice as opposed to form. We urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to probe Mr. Gonzales's actions in these cases carefully to ensure that they do not reflect a perspective that that values administrative convenience and expediency over due process and fairness.
Among the problems:
In at least six cases for which he prepared clemency memos for Governor Bush, Mr. Gonzales failed to raise material information suggesting that the condemned inmate have been innocent of the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to die.
...
In at least six cases for which Gonzales prepared clemency memos, he failed to note, let alone discuss, the fact that substantial mitigating evidence was never considered by the jury.
The report is replete with detailed analyses of the Gonzalez memos -- and what they left out. As a result of his shoddy and/or biased work, some may have paid the ultimate penalty:
Mr. Gonzales's failure to ensure that every case received fair and balanced treatment may well have resulted in serious miscarriages of justice, including the possible execution of an innocent person.
We're not letting him off the hook about torture. Let's not let him off the hook about this either. I am glad to see the Committee is taking the issue up.