What Would Jackson Do? Some Old Advice for the New Attorney General

by Janet Reno and Geoffrey M. Klineberg

The new Attorney General will face a breathtakingly broad range of issues. From developing principles for criminal prosecutions and antitrust investigations and the enforcement of environmental and fair housing laws, to the coordination with and support of state and local law enforcement and the protection against and pursuit of terrorists in the post-September 11 world, the challenges have never been greater. In thinking about what advice we might reasonably offer to the new Attorney General, we have found ourselves repeatedly drawn to an unlikely source of guidance: in a series of remarkably eloquent speeches delivered in the middle of the last century, Robert H. Jackson, who served as President Roosevelt’s third Attorney General, addressed some fundamental questions with a wisdom that is as relevant today as it was then. Specifically, Jackson had much to say about three topics that continue to challenge us: how to ensure that federal prosecutors exercise their discretion both independently and responsibly, how to define the appropriate roles for federal and local law enforcement, and how to strike the proper balance between protecting civil liberties and maintaining national security. In addressing these questions, Jackson applied a degree of common sense and practical wisdom that remains astonishingly perceptive.

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