You're Fired!

[ex-khobar Andy]

Sessions asked her:

"You have to watch out because people will be asking you to do things and you need to say no. You think the attorney general has the responsibility to say no to the President if he asks for something that's improper?" Sessions asks Yates.

And that is pretty much what she did. Of course she knew she was fired as soon as she pressed send: but sometimes a (wo)man's gotta do what a (wo)man's gotta do. I am glad someone in the Trump orbit had the plain common decency to say no. Or as Guin put it: not this time, motherfuckers.

[Long Run]

Sally Yates was wrong and should have resigned
By Alan M. Dershowitz, opinion contributor - 01/31/17 10:51 AM EST

Sally Yates is neither a hero, nor a villain. She made an honest mistake when she instructed the entire Justice Department not to defend President Trump’s wrong-headed executive order on immigration. The reasons she gave in her letter referred to matters beyond the scope of the attorney general. She criticized the order on policy grounds and said that it was not “right.”

She also referred to its possibly being unconstitutional and unlawful. Had she stuck to the latter two criteria she would have been on more solid ground, although perhaps wrong on the merits. But by interjecting issues of policy and directing the Justice Department not to defend any aspect of the order, she overstepped her bounds.

An attorney general, like any citizen, has the right to disagree with a presidential order, but unless it is clear that the order is unlawful, she has no authority to order the Justice Department to refuse to enforce it. This order is multifaceted and complex. It raises serious constitutional and legal issues that deserved nuanced and calibrated consideration from the nation’s highest law officer.

There are significant differences between the constitutional status of green card holders on the one hand, and potential visitors from another country who are seeking visas. Moreover, there are statutory issues in addition to constitutional ones. A blanket order to refuse to defend any part of the statute is overkill. If she strongly disagreed with the policies underlying the order, she should have resigned in protest, and left it to others within the Justice Department to defend those parts of the order that are legally defensible.

* * *

Sally Yates did what she thought was right. In my view she was wrong. She should neither be lionized nor accused of betrayal. Nor should President Trump’s critics, and I include myself among them, accuse him of doing anything even remotely close to President Nixon’s infamous “Saturday Night Massacre.” Nixon fired the very officials who were seeking to prosecute him. That constituted a personal and unethical conflict of interest. President Trump fired Yates over policy differences. It may have been unwise for him to do so, but it was clearly within his authority.

Now we will see our adversarial system at work. Excellent and dedicated lawyers will continue to bring challenges throughout the country against this ill-advised executive order. Other excellent lawyers will defend the order vigorously in court. Ultimately the issue may come to the Supreme Court, with or without a full complement of justices. That is the way our system of checks and balances is supposed to work.

Alan M. Dershowitz is professor emeritus at the Harvard Law School and author of "Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law" and "Electile Dysfunction: A Guide for Unaroused Voters."

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/t ... e-resigned

[rubato]

Alan Dershowitz, famous for his help in the defense of O.J. Simpson.

And that is merely the opinion of someone who clearly from the qualifier.

Brave defender of civil rights except when the other side pays cash dollah.


yrs,
rubato

[Joe Guy]

Alan Dershowitz, famous for his help in the defense of O.J. Simpson.

And that is merely the opinion of someone who clearly from the qualifier.

Brave defender of civil rights except when the other side pays cash dollah.

What button do I have to push to read that in English?

[Guinevere]

Dershowitz sold his soul decades ago. He is barely even a lawyer any more. His opinion, and that's all it is, means zilch.

[Econoline]

Since Yates must have known what the consequences of her statement would be, I *DO* think a principled, public resignation would have been better...if only because firing her suited Trump's image and made him look "strong" to his followers.

[Guinevere]

I disagree. She gave her advice correctly, without regard to politics. If thereafter the King Trumpanzee had ordered her to support and defend the EO, then resignation would be the correct step. You do not resign just because you have to give your client advice they do not agree with, or to avoid giving them that advice. That's what lawyers do every day of the year.

[Econoline]

But not all clients are like "President" Trump...