THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY FERRUARY 3 2009
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009
NEWS
5A
GOVERNMENT
Eric Holder approved as first black Attorney General
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Eric Holder won Senate confirmation Monday as the nation's first African-American attorney general, after supporters from both parties toured his dream resume and easily overcame Republican concerns over his commitment to fight terrorism and his willingness to back the right to keep and bear arms.
The vote was 75-21.
Holder's chief supporter, Sen. Patrick Leahy, said the confirmation was a fulfillment of civil rights leader Martin Luther King's dream that everyone would be judged by the content of their character.
"Come on the right side of history," said Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the judiciary Committee.
Holder becomes the only black in President Barack Obama's Cabinet. Three other African-Americans were named to top administration positions, but are not Cabinet secretaries.
judge and the No. 2 Justice Department official in the Clinton administration. Even his critics agreed that Holder was well-qualified, but they questioned his positions and independence.
Holder was a federal prosecutor.
The debate turned partisan in its first moments, when Leahy expressed anger that a few Republicans demanded a pledge from Holder that he wouldn't prosecute intelligence agents who participated in harsh interrogations.
Leahy singled out Texas Republican John Cornyn as one who wanted to "turn a blind eye to possible lawbreaking before investigating whether it occurred."
"No one should be seeking to trade a vote for such a pledge," Leahy said.
When Cornyn rose to announce his vote against Holder, he did not make such a demand. However, he accused the nominee of changing his once-supportive position — on the need to detain terrorism suspects without all the rights of the Geneva Conventions — to one of
harshly criticizing Bush administration's counterterrorism policies
"His contrasting positions from 2002 to 2008 make me wonder if this is the same person," Corynn said. "It makes me wonder what he truly believes."
To the satisfaction of Democrats and consternation of some Republicans, Holder told his confirmation hearing, "Waterboarding is torture."
Cornyn and Sen. Tom Coburn said Holder was hostile to the right of individuals to own guns, despite a Supreme Court ruling last June affirming the right to have weapons for self-defense in the home.
Holder said at his confirmation hearings: "I understand that the Supreme Court has spoken." But he added that some restrictions on guns could still be legal.
Holder's confirmation will trigger reviews — and changes — to the most controversial Bush administration policies, from interrogation tactics to terrorism trials and warrantless surveillance.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pats Attorney General-designate Eric Holder on the back Tuesday, Jan. 15, during a break in Holder's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judicial Committee. Holder was approved Monday as the only African-American in Barack Obama's cabinet.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CRIME
Boulder police reopen Ramsey case
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOULDER, Colo. — The investigation of JonBenet Ramsey's slaying has been returned to Boulder police, who say they will apply new technology and expertise in hopes of solving the 12-year-old case.
The decision, announced Monday, came six years after police transferred the probe to the district attorney amid criticism of how it was handled.
December 1996.
"Some cases never get solved, but some do," Police Chief Mark Beckner told the Camera newspaper in Boulder. "And you can't give up."
lonBenet, a 6-year-old beauty pageant- contestant, was found bludgeoned and strangled in the basement of her Boulder home in
L. Lin Wood, an attorney for Jon Benet's father, John Ramsey, said the decision was a "positive sign in terms of my hope that the Boulder Police Department will take not only a new review in terms of a cold case review, but that it will go in this time with an objective review."
Wood and Ramsey have been critical of previous police efforts, saying they unfairly focused on the family and ignored other evidence.
Patsy Ramsey, JonBenee's mother and John Ramsey's wife, died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer.
Beckner said he and newly elected District Attorney Stan Garnett agreed that police should lead the investigation again. Beckner said he has invited a team of veteran investigators from state and federal
agencies to join an advisory task force to "explore all possible theories about what happened the night JonBenet was killed."
The group will meet in the next few weeks to review the evidence and identify additional testing that might be done.
Beckner said he wants to go into the first meeting with no preconceived notions.
"We are open to all possibilities," he said.
Garnett's predecessor, Mary Lacy, last year cleared Jonbenet's family in the slaying, saying male DNA found on the girl's clothing almost certainly came from her killer, and that it didn't match anyone in the family.
Beckner informed John Ramsey of the change in the investigation in
a letter, but gave no hint that police would back away from that finding.
"Nor could any objective investigation back away." Wood said. "(The DNA evidence) is compelling if not conclusive."
Lacy said the reason her office took over the case in 2002 was that the Ramsey family had no confidence in the police. "It wasn't that they were incompetent," she said of the officers.
Lacy said she is "absolutely" hopeful the case will one day be resolved.
"I believe the DNA (that cleared the Ramsey family) is the most significant piece of evidence, and hopefully, as with some cold cases, there will eventually be a hit on it," she said.
STATE NEWS Casino delays in Kansas may help competitors
WICHITA — Kansas leaders' plans for state-owned casinos drawing visitors and much-needed revenue to the Sunflower State are on hold while Indian-owned casinos in Oklahoma flourish.
Problems in the financial markets forced developers in three of Kansas' four gaming zones to scrap their plans. That has forced the state to restart the process, falling further behind its potential competitor to the south.
Kansas Lottery director Ed Van Petten said he doesn't think their head start will affect plans in Summer or Wyandotte counties.
Oklahoma's growing roster of casinos, however, will certainly be a temptation to visitors determining where to place their bets.
"Right now it's more an economic problem than a competition problem," Van Petten said.
Leaders debate big cuts to state court budget
TOPEKA — With lawmakers looking at a billion-dollar deficit by the end of the next budget year unless major cuts are made, everyone is subject to scrutiny, even the state court system.
When Gov. Kathleen Sebelius proposed her budget cutting ideas last month, she called for cutting $562,000 from the judiciary's current state revenue budget of about $112 million.
Senate leaders first called for cutting another 3.4 percent for everyone. The House Appropriations Committee on Friday whittled it to 1 percent, or about $1.1 million.
At this point, it's anybody's guess what the final numbers might be by the time negotiators come up with the version going to the governor.
Associated Press