Speaking of the attorney general, it was heartening to see the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals uphold Oregon’s voter-approved law that allows doctors to help terminally ill patients commit suicide. It was even better to see the judges publicly rebuke John Ashcroft in the process.
The Justice Department’s role in this matter was always rather dubious. Just weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when it seemed he had more important things to do, Ashcroft instructed the Drug Enforcement Administration to pull the drug-prescription licenses of any physician who cooperated with Oregon’s assisted suicide law. The move obviously ignored any notion of states rights, which Ashcroft claims to revere, and was a bold power grab for the DoJ.
Yesterday, the 9th Circuit took Ashcroft to task, saying that he far exceeded his authority.
“The attorney general’s unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers,” Judge Richard C. Tallman wrote for the majority, “interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide and far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law.”
This seems to be part of a trend for Ashcroft, who has been smacked around by a lot of judges lately. A federal court wasn’t fond of Ashcroft’s arguments when he demanded hospital records of women who had had abortions, and a different federal judge in Michigan berated Ashcroft for violating a court gag order in an ongoing case involving alleged al Qaeda sleeper cell members.
It’s not a great track record for someone who is supposed to be the nation’s top law enforcement official.