Blog Post #10
You may remember hearing about the ATF’s controversial program, nicknamed “Fast & Furious.” Here’s John Stewart to give you the rundown:
As you might imagine, this controversy has made its way to the courts. The case is Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, US House of Representatives v. Holder. The district court judge denied a motion to dismiss the case. Read this story from Politico summarizing the judge’s reaction to the administration’s arguments. Most recently, the Judge has allowed the Department of Justice more time to show why these particular documents should be subject to the “deliberative process” privilege (or, executive privilege to keep secret the deliberative process the DOJ went through in regards to this program). The current situation is summed up nicely in this article Daniel Wilson, which you should read.
Paper Topic #10: Given what we know from previous cases like U.S. v. Nixon (1974), will this claim of executive privilege hold up? Does it matter that the president himself has (as far as we can tell) very little to do these documents, personally?
Suggested Reading: Klukowski, Kenneth A. 2011. “Making Executive Privilege Work: A Multi-Factor Test in an Age of Czars and Congressional Oversight. Cleveland State Law Review, 59:31.
PS. In the midst of the case, the Attorney General moved to certify a question in the case to the Court of Appeals.
