Editorial: U.S. attorney controversy mocks our Constitution

Of the three branches of government, the U.S. Constitution sets aside one - the judicial branch - to be free of politics. Federal attorneys are supposed to be selected and retained because of their skills, not their political leanings. This impartiality is the cornerstone of the American legal system, the principle that sustains our government over time. No matter what the issue, the Constitution, not politics, is the standard by which our legal system functions.

Any attempt to corrupt this system should be severely punished. And that may be exactly what happened when eight U.S. attorneys were fired late last year, a move many Democrats have charged was politically motivated. New Mexico's Republican Sen. Pete Domenici has been implicated in the firing of David Iglesias, former U.S. attorney for New Mexico. All we know at the moment is that Domenici made a phone call to Iglesias. But now that we see what's happened to such a wide swath of attorneys, are we to honestly believe the phone call was innocent in nature? Is it just a coincidence? I highly doubt it.

Congress is now probing the matter. New Mexico isn't the only state mixed up in this - the Department of Justice has admitted that H.E. Cummins, the U.S. attorney for Arkansas, was fired so he could be replaced by Tim Griffin, a former aide to the oh-so-lovable Karl Rove - who may have dodged a bullet himself regarding the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to the press.

That move in itself - partisan in spirit, if not represented as such - shows the disdain of many in the federal government for the Constitution. But now that implications of intimidation are coming up across the board, we're seeing that this attitude is affecting more than isolated decisions - it's become a systematic problem in government.

Take a look at President Bush's nominations to the Supreme Court - Justice Antonin Scalia and Chief Justice John Roberts were selected largely based on their extremely conservative views, not their impartiality or experience.

Our federal justice system, we're finding out, may just be one more feather in the cap of the Bush administration, along with the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay, the acceptance of torture practices in interrogations and illegal wiretaps.

I'm starting to get really sick of it. Those in power are entitled to pursue all the political policies they want, but they are not entitled to mock the

Constitution.

Joe Buffaloe

Opinion editor