John Ashcroft
Fram Wikipedian
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| Order | 79a Lahambihtmann |
| Ambihttīd | Æfterra Gēola 20, 2001 - Æfterra Gēola 20,2005 |
| Foregenga | Janet Reno |
| Æftergenga | Alberto Gonzales |
| Byrddatārum | Þrimilcemōnaþ 9, 1942 |
| Byrdstede | Chicago, Illinois |
| Political Party | Republican |
John David Ashcroft (geboren 9 Þrimilcemōnaþ, 1942) is se Lahambihtmann þāra Geānlǣhtra Underrica, having served in the first administration of George W. Bush since 2001. , to question his ability to effectively enforce certain laws, especially those pertaining to abortion. Ashcroft maintained that he will enforce laws whether he agrees with them or not.
In July 2002, Ashcroft proposed the creation of Operation TIPS, a domestic program in which workers and government employees would inform law enforcement agencies about suspicious behavior they encounter while performing their duties. The program was widely criticized in the media as an encroachment upon the First and Fourth Amendments, and the United States Postal Service balked at the program, refusing outright to participate. Ashcroft defended the program as a necessary component of the ongoing War on Terrorism, but the proposal was eventually abandoned.
Ashcroft's opponents and critics accuse him of Big Brotherism, and have often claimed that he uses the threat of terrorism as justification for unnecessarily restricting civil liberties. Some coined the pejorative term Ashcroftism (often seen as an adjective: Ashcroftian) to refer to ideas or policies alleged to be similar to those of Ashcroft, and refer to him by sarcastic "titles", such as "Grand Inquisitor Ashcroft."
In May 2004, Ashcroft entered the George Washington Medical Center with gallstone pancreatitis; surgeons removed his gallbladder (cholecystectomy) within a week.
On November 9, 2004 Ashcroft resigned his post as Attorney General. Some believe his health was a factor in his decision, to be effective upon the Senate confirmation of his successor, expected to be White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales. His resignation letter claimed: "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved." The letter was hand-written in order to maintain confidentiality.
[ādihtan] War on Drugs
Ashcroft is an enthusiastic advocate of the War on Drugs. In 2003, he and the acting DEA Administrator, John B. Brown, announced a series of indictments resulting from two nationwide investigations code-named Operation Pipe Dreams and Operation Headhunter. The investigations targeted businesses selling drug paraphernalia, mostly marijuana pipes and bongs, under a little-used statute (Title 21, Section 863(a) of the U.S. Code). Counterculture icon Tommy Chong was one of those charged, for his part in financing and promoting Chong Glass/Nice Dreams, a company started by his son Paris. Most of the 55 individuals charged as a result of the operations were sentenced to fines and home detentions; Chong, however, was sentenced to 9 months in a federal prison, forfeiture of $103,000, and a year of probation. While the DOJ denied that Chong was treated any differently from the other defendants, many felt that he was made an example of by the government.
Ashcroft's tough-on-marijuana stance dates back to his tenure as a Senator, when he successfully pushed for stricter federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug offenses. He continued this stance as the Governor of Missouri, favoring a drug control policy that focused law enforcement efforts on casual drug users.
In 1992, while Ashcroft was Governor of Missouri, his nephews Alex and Adam Ashcroft and Alex's housemate Kevin Sheeley were arrested and charged with production and possession of marijuana. A raid uncovered 60 marijuana plants, with lighting, irrigation, and security systems, in a basement crawlspace. While the production of more than 50 plants usually results in a federal charge and mandatory jail time, 25-year-old Alex Ashcroft was prosecuted on a state charge and received 3 years of probation and 100 hours of community service. Kevin Sheeley was not convicted, and his record was sealed; Adam Ashcroft, who did not live in the house, was never prosecuted. Though Alex Ashcroft tested positive for marijuana in his first probation-mandated drug test, no further actions were taken against him. The parents of Alex and Adam have denied that the young men received a lenient treatment as a result of their connection to the governor.
The former senator famously once boasted of his conservatism, saying that there are two things you find in the middle of the road: "a moderate and a dead skunk", adding that he did not wish to be either.
[ādihtan] External links
Template:Wikiquote
- Ashcroft's homepage at the Department of Justice
- Truth, volume one, edition one (the LP recorded by John Ashcroft and Max Bacon)
- CNN video of John Ashcroft singing his self-composed paean Let the Eagle Soar at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in February 2002:
The rendition was satirically featured in Michael Moore's 2004 movie Fahrenheit 9/11.
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| Foregān be: Christopher S. Bond |
Girǣfa Missourie | Succeeded by: Mel Carnahan |
| Foregān be: John C. Danforth |
United States Senator, Missouri | Succeeded by: Jean Carnahan |
| Foregān be: Janet Reno |
Attorney General of the United States | Presumed æftergenga: Alberto R. Gonzales |
