News Scrapbook 1985

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.I San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,3241 (Cir. S. 339,7881 OEC1 1985 ~/~,.•• P. c. 8

Los Ang les, CA (Los Angeles Co) Times (San Diego Ed .I (C ir. D 60.0101 (Cir. S 65,5731

F.,r. 1888 - The issue is much broader ..zq,s~ than bully-casting Ed Meese By Edward Nichols Auoclale Editor

1985

~u~,.••

l&U

Eu

p C 8

/ front-Page Ethics Guide ByRF'.O'NElL 1/ .( '{ 1 sub c. bemg d1scU&Sed at the execu- tive seminar wu Ethics and Moral Con- ti Ls "When confronted with such a dilemma," 1 vice president of IBM con- t "everybody does 1t." Thts was the limp alibi Vice President Spiro T. Agnew offered after copping a plea for accepting bnbes from contractors doing business with the State of Maryland. "It was an established practice when I came Into office," he • hrugged. But pubhc officials must antici- pate that their condµct will be scrutinized. If the official wishes to keep a certain transaction or activity hidden, a sense of self-preservation-if nothing more- •houJd prompt application of the ethical litmus test.

from Meese's former colleagues at the U~of iaa Di.ego, when 14 USD professors declared in a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times on Aug. 28 that "we the under- signed are on a record deploring Meese's selection and subsequently his performance as attorney general of the United States. Because Meese is on leave as an adjunct professor at this university, we wisb to disas.50ci- ate ourselves from his monumental ignorance and distortion of the law, the Constitution and the role of the Supreme Court in American govern- ment." The USD group's sweeping indict- ment chastised what the academics perceived to be Meese's "convoluted statements on such subiects as the Bill of Rights," as well· as his "re- marks indicating he doesn't com- prehend ... the presumption of inno- cence," his criticism of using evi- dence that might be tainted, his handling of the E.K Hutton white collar case. "We have in Washington a woefully incompetent attorney general who is malting an oxymoron

of the words 'Department of Jus- tice,"' the professors concluded. Those who know cherubic, genial Ed Meese might ask: "Bully? Arro- gant? Oxymoronic? Constitutional rapist? Historical moron?" It doesn't wash. Like his critics, Meese is a realist. Rose Bird, up for public affirmation next year, is fight- ing to retain her seat as chief justice of the California court. Understand- ably, she finds it easier to run against Meese than on her record. Brennan and Stevens, frightened by the impli- cations of Meese's stands, are liberal constructionists who hope that they can outlast Meese's tenure, as well as the conservative presidency of Ronald Reagan - who might appoint persons with Meese's philosophy to the nation's highest court if they re- tire. So what is Meese's motive? Those close to the attorney general say that his dream is to push the nation back toward the 18th century concept of federalism, back toward more au- thority for states. The debate he has stirred discusses crime, abortion, in•

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird thinks that U.S. At- torney General Edwin Meese ill is a "bully." U.S. Supreme Court Justice Wil- liam J. Brennan accuses him of ex- hibiting "arrogance cloaked as hum- ility" - an attorney general wbo feigns "self-effacing deference" in "leading a chorus of lamentations; an official who has no familiarity with the historical record." U.S. Justice John Paul Stevens suggests that Meese's education "is somewhat incomplete . .. because it overlooks the development of the law in the last 200 years." Historian Henry Steele Commager echoes the sentiments of Justice Ste- vens, declaring tl::it Meese ignores history when he suggests that senti- ments of the founding fathers should be followed literally today. The Founding Fathers, Com.mager said, were deliberately vague. However, the most scathing criti- cism of the attorney general came

ed. "we limply ask ou1'8elves whether we would be embarrassed If all the detail of thl decision were to be published on the front pa e of the Wall Street Journal. If the 1 wer 1s no. we would go ahead If the w r ui yea, the decision i reveraed." A few y r later, I conducted a aenes or I rv1ewa wHh senior executives of mllJOr European corporation on the ethical prac- Uccs m Am ncan busme compared with European custom. The consensus v1ew was that American busme • wu no better than European business. How ver. time and · a,am. thes executives noted that IBM was an exception. Quite naturally, these wao- llcited, laudatory commenta about one American corporaUon tmpre ed me and cau. t'd me to reilt'ct on the tt'st that the executlvt' referred to 10me years earlier. om T apot Dome to Watergate and from Ab cam to Japanscam, ethical ecan- are very much a part of our hl.iory. m ht say that they are u Amencan as le pie. Thi gnst for the Investigative rter'a mill might be more acarce i! offic als confronted With complex value d 11lons posed this simple que1t1on , "WouJd you be embarraaaed If th.is ap- peared on th front page of tomorrow morning' • new paper?" nfortunately, we have two recent ex- ample of how this test might have erved local polJLic1ans. Is City Councilman Uvaldo nez embarras ed when a newspaper prints lhe travel and entertalnment ex. pen s or all San Diego'• Council members d this list md.lcate1 hls expenses were 60% higher lhan the next biggest • pender? Does h WIBh he had acted cti!ferently when it l revealed that eome of those he aald he din d with and discussed city business deny It? Pubhc officials are 1uppo ed to • pend public money u If lt were their own. I this the kmd of care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise in managing h own af!aira? Would the councilman have n le extravagant if he had 1c1pated th publication of th!S list' T n th t la the H ecock tragedy- and fnend and roe would agree that 1B wh l It . One can argue that the conspiracy law the mayor vto ted ui a bad law. (We can rat.1onahze Just bout anything.) What the mayor and all omc1als must uk ls, Suppa e an eager investigative reporter dJ.scover1 these ecret payments, would we be em- barra.s ed if all the details appeared In lODlorrow'a newspaper? lf offlClala COllS18- tly pphed auch a litmus test, we would surely have fewer • uch tragedies In the future nd 1t's not good enough to 11y that

Wb,m the foreign Corrupt Practices Act a.s p.used In 1977, it was conceived as a prt'ventive measure against the practice of Amcncan corporations bnbing govern- ment officials to acqwre foreign trade advantages. This law was preclptl.ated by the Lockheed Corp.'s multimillion-dollar bribe of Pnme Minister Tanaka, the high- est elected official in Japan. While A . Carl Kotchian, then the presi- dent or Lockheed, pointed out repeat.ed.ly that there was no law at that ume proh1I.Httng auch bribes, he readily ac- know edged that the '12 million that went to thP pnme minister and other public of!icuus were recr~ payments. These recret payments .were buried in the financial reports of the corporation (in violation of lecW'lties laws) and when these secrets were revealed, It led to, m Kotchian's word! , "the humiliation or arrest and itnprt30nrnent." In Japan, Tanaka reai8ned and one citizen was 10 a.shamed that he committed swcide by plunging his plane Into the Tanaka home. The suJCJdal react.Jon of one Japanese CJtJze:i to the Tanaka scandal is undoubted- ly extreme. However, lt does give us a clue as re how inextricably bound the citizens are to their elected officials. They 1hare their pains as well as their tnumphs. The sad events on the local poht1caJ sct'ne these past 1everal months have ctimtnished all of San Diego's citizens. We weep for our • fallen heroes.

Waghorn

Edwin Meese Ill d1vidual rights such as sexual habits, school prayer and police authority. owever, it transcends even these monumental issues, reaching to the eart of the Supreme Court's role in the United States government, par- ticularly its restraint of maJority opinion. Arguably, it is the most intense See DEBATE o Page C-8

Debate: Bi~ger than bully-casting Meese Continued from C-1:z_q '? tice in the last 60 years has chal- are deemed fundamental (and) per- . lenged the proposition that the 14th manent and, except by means of for- .

R.F.

Then the question which must be asked is what does guide a judge in the interpretation of the Constitution " . . . The difficulty today," re- sponds Eastland, "is that judges are too often guided by their own ideas about the Constitution, rather than the Constitution as it was written." However, Eastland also insists that Meese never said that the 14th amendment should not apply to the states. Meese, he said, "takes serious- ly the entire Constitution and the 26 Eastland concludes, that the passage of the Civil War amendment (the 14 th) signalled the true completion of the founding of the American re ub- Few believe that Meese can roll the Supreme Court back to the days of the Founding Fathers. Or, for that matter, that the country would be comfortable under the original in- terpretations of the Constitution, a document that permitted slavery, whose drafters envisioned an elitist Senate, and who had strongly diver- gent ideas about religion. Many Americans share Meese's in- terprctations, as well as those of Ste- vens, Brennan and the academic ex- perts. A vigorous constitutional de- bate on the eve of the Constitution's 200th birthday to sort out the divisive issues bothering Americans is precisely what the Constitution is all p

.

.

mal amendment, unchangeable." And, speaking at USD several Robert H. Bork declared that faith- fulness of the "original intent" of the Constitution's architects "is the only legitimate basis for constitutional

amendment made the first amend-

cons~1tutional co~frontatwn smce

•

P~es1dent Franklin D. Roosevelt ment, guaranteeing freedom of

speech and religion, applicable to the weeks ago, Federal Appeals Judge

tried to pack the Supreme Court m 193?. Nobody ca~ reme~~r, ~or ~x- ample, the last time a s~t_h~g Justice tmg attorney general by n~me. Meese began the flap with a sei:zu- nal speec~ m July ~o ~he America Bar Association. It is tune, he told the lawyers, that th~ Supre,~e Court return to t~e-doc~rme de_nce of o~1~mal I~tent. Courts, he sa_1d, ~re fa1hng _to interpret t~e Con- shtutJon according .to the views of those_who _drafted it 200 ye~rs ago. . The precise definition of "original intent" forms the core of today's con- stitutional debate, although it is not precisely clear exactly what it is. In his July speech, Meese said that the only to the federal government, not to the states. The Supreme Court, he added has used the post Civil War 14th amendment (guaranteeing due process and equal protection) im- properly to expand federal power. Liberals and moderates, such as Brennan, Stevens, et al, quickly leaped into the fray. Stevens said in response that no Supreme Court jus- th e~ are th e only ~ehable gui~e for Judg~ th e ConStitution, he added. follow m mterpretmg

states. A Republican appointed by President Ford, Stevens added that portance of the Civil War .. . on the structure of our government." Brennan's speech at Georgetown University held that provisions of the

o_f the Supreme Court criticized a sit- Meese "overlooks the profound im-

to prevent

. . . essential

decision

invading the proper

courts from

domam of democratic government." Bork said that be did not intend to

~! Junspru- .___________________________ amendments." Meese also believes,

In his July speech, Meese said that the Bill of Rights, when drafted, applied only to the federal

go11ernment, not to the states.

The mtent10ns .~f the F?undmg _Fa,; -----------------:---------- lie.

identify with Meese's views, but the content, timing and situs of his speech left no doubt where his sym-

Constitution are "obscure" - was written for "a world that is dead and gone." Framers, he added, "hid their differences in cloaks of gener- ality" because they could not agree that it Meese has supporters, including, presumably, the President himself. ar at the American Enterprise Insti- tute, scoffs at Justice Brennan's dis- dain for the intention of the Founding Fathers. The framers, he wrote, "sol- emnly wrote to keep the times - to on particulars.

pathies rest.

Bruce Fein, a conservative lawyer who has written extensively about th e Supreme Court, observes, "Once you unhinge yourself from the intent of th e framerS, there is no 0ther Terry Eastland, director of public affairs for the Department of Justice and a former editorial writer for The San Diego Union, holds similar opin• ions. "If, as Justice Stevens says, it is impossible to discern the intent of the framers and apply it today," standard around."

San Diego, CA (San Diego Ca.) Son Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,324) (Cir. s. 339,7881 QiC2

Bill of Rights, when drafted, applied Walter Berns, a constitutional schol-

~l/~11••

p C. 8

Study examines Mexico as hav~n for refugees /l..'{~ I · ti By Arthur Golden Drake said that U.S. mm1gra on urr Wriler and Naturalization Service judges Tens of thousands of Central have denied requests for asylum on Americans head north through a the grounds that if Central Amen• country more populous than all their cans were really fleeing political op- nations combined. Detained by au- pre sion, they could seek safe ha_ven thorities, they request political in Mexico, instead of the United ylum States. For many Central Americans, that However, Drake said, if the study familiar scenario is not being played find that Mexico has no legal mech- out in the United States For them, ani m for granting political-refugee this is the first act in the life-and- status, that could eliminate a poten- deatb drama over refugee status in tial obstacle from the Central Ameri- Mexico cans' efforts to seek asylum in the Under a $16,250 grant from the United States. Ford Foundation the law schools at Indeed, Drake said, lexico never th University o san Diego and at signed a United Nations protocol that the National Autonomous University defines a political refugee as some- of Mexico have launched what is be- one with a ''well-founded fear" of heved to be the first academic study persecution. The test generally ap- of the legal tatus and treatment of plied in Mexico, she said, has been Central Americans in Mexico who whether someone seeking refugee claim they are political refugees. status has actually experieneed per- The research is being conducted by secution. two lawyers - one a member of'the Clarice Stabler, an 1mmigration New Mexico bar who is affiliated lawyer in Chula Vista who has no with USO, the other a faculty mem- connection with tbe study, said clari- ber"'at the 'Mexican university, locat- ficatJon of Mexico's position on ed in Mexico City. asylum would be extremely import- Su n Drake, a coordinator for ant for Central Americans whose USD' Mexico-U.S Law Institute, ca es are being considered by U.S. which i administering the study, 1mm1gration judges. id th findings could have a direct Drake said USD will publish the impact on the request for a ylum of results of the study in English ·nd many thou nds of Central Ameri- seek an additional grant to publish a can in the United States. version in Spanish. /

in tune with

the extent possible - the Constitution.

"In the words of the great Chief Justice John Marshall," Berns said, "the principles of the Constitution

about.

Eastland says.

San Diego, CA {San Diego Co.) Daily Transcript {Cir. D. 7,415) DEC 2

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) San Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,324) (Cir. S. 339,788) DEC 2

198§

1985

~ll~11·•

P. C. 8 F.st. 1888 _,..Frank Horner, for1.1er Sears Roe- tfiuck & Co. district manager in San Diego, has been hired as the director of corporate relations for the Unive[;.. sity of San Diego.~ ;2._q5;_ /

Jl. ll~n '•

P. c. e

l:'.

,,...

* * * Y "Comets, Mr. Halley and the Dinosauers" will be discussed by astrophysicist William Kaufman, 7:30 p.m. tomorrow a$..USD..'.s Man- chester Center. Kaufmann will describe the comet and show a film about the spacecraft now j~ding toward the icy mass. ::l."6 • • *