Subject: Attorney General and Social Worker Date: Published: 3/10/93 (123 lines) Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. Rule of Law: Attorney General and Social Worker ---- By Terry Eastland In Janet Reno, whose confirmation hearing continues today, President Clinton has selected, unlike his first two choices, an experienced prosecutor of plainly liberal views. As state attorney for Dade County, Fla., since 1978, Ms. Reno has gained a reputation as an effective law enforcement officer, winning bipartisan praise for her work as well as huge electoral majorities. She has voiced support for more spending on criminal justice -- for prisons, police and judges -- and she says that career criminals, who commit a disproportionate amount of crime, should be locked away for long periods. And she has sought the death penalty on numerous occasions, although she does not believe in it. There are few Americans who would not agree with Ms. Reno when she says that "the criminal justice system isn't working." Along with this tough talk, however, is her statement that her "highest priority" is to "protect the rights of the accused, not to convict the guilty." She says the public has responded hysterically to "drugs and drug-caused crime." Most likely, she would emphasize drug treatment and rehabilitation much more than recent attorneys general have. For Ms. Reno the problem of crime involves much else. "Janet is part social worker, part crime fighter," said Sen. Bob Graham at her hearing yesterday. As was fashionable in the 1960s she focuses on the "root causes" of crime: "We will not solve crime until we address the problem of dropouts, drugs, teen pregnancy, welfare dependency, substandard housing and the proliferation of such problems that we have seen in the inner cities." This attitude is reflected in her unusual use of grand juries, which in Florida are permitted to investigate not only crime but also government institutions and social conditions. Under Ms. Reno's direction, Dade County grand juries have investigated numerous issues -- homelessness, child welfare, public housing, school dropouts and the development of minority enterprises. Other subjects have included hurricane preparation, the condition of the Miami River, firearms regulation, AIDS, hazardous waste, and the country's housing authorities and mass transit systems. A Reno spokesman told Legal Times, which first reported her unusual use of grand juries, that when a government agency is "dysfunctional" or an industry is "acting irresponsibly" or "any function of our community" is at risk, the grand jury looks into it. The idea is "to right wrongs in the community." As one grand jury put it, "We act as the conscience of this community." As attorney general, Ms. Reno would not be able to use federal grand juries, which are restricted to investigating statutorily defined crimes, in this way. But she would not lack for venues to pursue her social-welfare interests. Attroneys general have used task forces and commissions to study a wide range of issues such as pornography and organized crime. Attorneys general also have served on cabinet-level working groups and it's likely that Ms. Reno, who speaks eloquently about the plight of crack babies, would be named to panels focusing on children or the family. Her interests clearly match those of Bill Clinton and especially Hillary Rodham Clinton and her circle, including Donna Shalala, Health and Human Services secretary. Ms. Reno came to Mr. Clinton's notice through Mrs. Clinton's brother, a public defender in Miami. Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund pushed her candidacy soon after the election. Ms. Reno emphasizes the importance of the family even as she calls for more government. She has endorsed "a new structure or framework within the government, perhaps incorporating the public schools and social service agencies, to insure to children, very small children, an environment in which they can thrive and grow as strong and constructive human beings." Apparently imbued with the same spirit that led Mr. Clinton to name lawyers to 13 of 18 cabinet posts, Ms. Reno also believes that attorneys are key to creating this needed apparatus -- and indeed to solving many social ills. "Lawyers," she said in 1987, "are what make people free." If one of the emerging signs of a "new" Democrat is to embrace contradiction, Ms. Reno qualifies. As state attorney she says she followed a "rigorous hiring procedure based solely on merit." But one of her grand juries endorsed "race-conscious set-aside" programs like Dade County's, which are probably unconstitutional under Richmond v. Croson, the 1989 case voiding a local set-aside. (Would Attorney General Reno square this circle by saying race is meritorious?) And she was on a 1992 American Bar Association task force that defined bias as "statutes, rules, policies, procedures, practices, events, conduct and other factors, operating alone or together, that have a disproportionate impact upon one or more minorities." Disparate impact theory is the well-traveled road to quotas -- which, of course, all good new Democrats say they oppose. Strengths Ms. Reno would bring to her new job include her knowledge of violent, drug-related crime and also a willingness to experiment. In 1989 she started the Dade County Drug Court in which first-time, nonviolent drug offenders may opt for a drug rehabilitation program, which they must complete successfully to avoid jail. One form or another of this experiment, a relief for overcrowded prisons, has been adopted by 25 other jurisdictions. Unfortunately, the innovative Dade County program has expanded beyond its original mandate, letting in offenders with multiple drug possession arrests and defendants charged with other nonviolent felonies, such as burglary; the number of "arrest-free" graduates of the program has declined from more than 90% to 60%. A weakness of Ms. Reno's nomination is her evident lack of familiarity with federal law other than some criminal law. She would have to be a quick study in a lot of law in order to avoid being dependent on still-to-be-nominated subordinates. The few references to the Constitution she has made in writings and speeches concern chiefly its apparently unlitigatable preamble, the provisions in the Bill of Rights protecting the rights of the accused and also judicial additions (like the enumerated right of privacy, which she endorses). In line to be the president's chief legal adviser and principal litigator, she speaks incoherently of making the Constitution "a living document that means what it says." As attorney general, she would be unlikely to contribute to the development of or debate over modern constitutional law. But, all things considered, Mr. Clinton likely did not pick her with that in mind. --- Mr. Eastland is a resident fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. [This article is made available here by Dow Jones Co. for the personal and non-commercial use of callers to this bbs, in the hope that it will be of some help to those who are suffering from the disease and others who are seeking to help them.]