John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is the current (2001-present) Attorney General of the United States. He is noted for his strong conservative stance on many issues, as well as his deep religious convictions.
Ashcroft was born in Chicago, Illinois where his family had moved to be nearer to the world headquarters of the Assemblies of God church, part of the Pentecostal fundamentalist movement. He was educated in Springfield, Missouri and at Yale University, where he graduated in 1964. He received a J.D degree from the University of Chicago in 1967 and briefly taught business law at Southwest Missouri State University.
He began his career in Missouri government in 1973. He was Governor of Missouri from 1984 to 1993. He was elected to the Senate from Missouri in 1994. He ran for re-election in 2000 against then-Governor Mel Carnahan, who died in an airplane crash about two weeks prior to the election. Due to Missouri state election laws, Mel Carnahan's name could not be removed from the ballot and his wife, Jean Carnahan, announced she would serve in his place if he was elected. Carnahan posthumously won the election, and it was widely reported that John Ashcroft was defeated by "a dead man," as Mel Carnahan's name remained on the ballot. Others contend, however, that Jean Carnahan may have won the election due to the "sympathy vote" for her late husband. Despite his defeat, Ashcroft was subsequently nominated as Attorney General by George W. Bush in December 2000. Despite a contentious nomination process, he was confirmed by the Senate.
Ashcroft is noted for having taken offense to the half-naked statues of Liberty and Justice in a meeting room where he often met the press. He ordered them covered with multi-thousand-dollar curtains; it has been said that this action was taken because he felt reporters were photographing the statues to make fun of his church's opposition to pornography. Ashcroft denied these statements.
Ashcroft is considered a leading member of the Christian right wing of the Republican party and is one of the highest-ranking representatives of the group in the Bush Administration. As a devout Pentecostalist, he shuns such activities as dancing and alcohol consumption. Ashcroft's religious beliefs have led commentators, including Senator Charles Schumer, to question whether he could effectively enforce certain laws, especially those pertaining to abortion. Ashcroft has maintained that he will enforce laws whether he agrees with them or not.
In July of 2002 Ashcroft suggested the creation of Operation TIPS, a proposed domestic program in which government employees would inform on suspicious behavior they encounter while performing their duties. The program was criticized in the media as an encroachment on the First and fourth amendments; and in fact the United States Postal Service balked at the suggestion, refusing outright to participate. Ashcroft defended the program as a necessary component to the ongoing war on terrorism but the proposal was eventually abandoned.
Ashcroft's opponents have accused him of unnecessarily using the threat of terrorism as justification for restricting civil liberties. A few have even coined the pejorative term Ashcroftism to refer to a set of ideas or policies alleged to be similar to those of Ashcroft.
Ashcroft is also 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, using 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. Chong agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute drug paraphernalia in exchange for non-prosecution of Shelby, his wife, and Paris. While most of the approximately 55 individuals charged as a result of the operations were sentenced to fines and home detentions, Chong 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, John Ashcroft's 25-year-old nephew Alex Ashcroft was arrested and charged with production and possession of marijuana along with his brother Adam Ashcroft and housemate Kevin Sheely. A raid uncovered 60 marijuana plants in a basement crawl space, lighting, irrigation and security system. While the production of more than 50 plants usually results in a federal charge and mandatory jail time, Alex Ashcroft was prosecuted on a state charge and received 3 years of probation and 100 hours of community service. His housemate Kevin Sheely was not convicted and his record was sealed. Adam Ashcroft, who did not live in the house, was never prosecuted. While Alex Ashcroft tested positive for marijuana in his first probation-mandated drug test, no further actions were taken against him. Alex and Adam's parents have denied that the young men received a lenient treatment as a result of their connection to the then-Governor.
The former senator famously once boasted of his conservatism, saying 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.
| Preceded by: Janet Reno | Attorney General of the United States | Succeeded by: — |