Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft was in Nashville last night speaking to a group at Vanderbilt University as part of a year-long lecture series on crime and punishment. Ashcroft has sought the death penalty in federal cases and says our judicial system works the way it’s supposed to.
Ashcroft says it’s a sign the justice system is doing its job when most death penalty cases can spend over a decade working their way through the system.
“That interval reflects a commitment to getting it right. The system is very concerned in death penalty or capital cases that that which is done, is done appropriately and with a view towards making sure it’s done and done with the appropriate regard to the legal requirements of justice.”
Ashcroft also supported the Bush administration’s authority to conduct warrant-less wiretapping, the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, as well as the ongoing detention of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.