Judge Reggie Walton, again

hat-tip to reader John for pointing me to this page on Judge Reggie Walton - I'm not sure of the purpose of the page, but it is called "Walton, Support". (I presume (?) the page is in support of his nomination to United States District Judge for the District of Columbia, assumed on October 29, 2001)

it's a list of quotes supportive of Walton on the DoJ website (Office of Legal Policy) - they were able to find four supportive quotes, including one from 1989, and one from 1991. (lol).

here's the 1989 quote by Judge Nan R. Huhn and Judge Bruce D. Beaudin (as quoted by David S. Broder,Washington Post Staff Writer)

"Colleagues on the bench like Judge Nan R. Huhn talk about the sacrifice Walton is making in leaving the court, giving up eight years of retirement credits and what many in Superior Court regard as virtually a "sure shot" at eventual elevation to chief judge. He is taking a $9,000-a-year pay cut to join an agency with no history, little statutory power, no political security and the burden of public responsibility for what well could prove to be mission impossible. He's doing it, said Judge Bruce D. Beaudin, ‘because as a black man, he's desperate to save a generation of black men. My guess is he can't face himself if he doesn't try.’" (Referring to Judge Walton leaving the bench when President Bush (41) appointed him to be the Associate Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy) The Washington Post, May 6, 1989."

Given what we know about the War on Drugs (*cough*), i'm tempted to rewrite that last sentence - perhaps:

"My guess is he can't face himself if he doesn't try them all"

or

"My guess is he can't face himself if he doesn't fry them all"

but that would just be snarky.

Incidentally,

"Judge Walton previously served as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1981 to 1989 and 1991 to 2001, having been appointed to that position by Presidents Ronald Reagan in 1981 and George H. W. Bush in 1991." (link)

in other words, the purported idealism, attributed to him magically by guesswork in the wapo article - "desperate to save a generation of black men" - lasted approximately 12 months.

Judge Walton, mammon is on the phone, putting you through...

Speaking of mammon, Walton is the only judge to have his financial records completely redacted - I'm not sure how many judges have any redactions.

Reader John also notes that Reagan established the Office of National Drug Control Policy inside exec. branch via executive order in 1988, and also that the current drug tsar, John Walters "Wants jail for users and opposes medicinal use of cannabis. Son of General Vernon Walter, Nixon's deputy chief of the CIA" (link) - which is great, given today's news about the War on Drugs (*cough*)

that link i just provided is from an article in the Guardian in 2001 called "Iran-contra men return to power - Bush appointments tainted by Reagan-era scandal" - and goes on to describe "Four of a Kind": Elliott Abrams , John Negroponte, Otto Reich and John Walters. Little did the journo know at the time that Abrams would be deeply involved in outing a CIA agent, Negroponte would be king of iraq and then in charge of the CIA plus everything else, and that Reich would be doing whatever the hell he is doing now, after spending time as ambassador to mexico (or whatever) and in charge of bush's election campaign in florida (or whatever it was) - and that Ledeen and Ghorbanifar are still peddling secrets and disinformation and starting new wars.