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The clock on Indiana University-Bloomington's campus says it's time to confirm Prof. Johnsen (photo: alykat via Flickr)
Life must be hell for not just Dawn Johnsen but also her Dean, Lauren Robel, and the students at IU’s Maurer School of Law. Johnsen was announced as Obama’s nominee to be head of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel on January 5, 2009, and since then she has waited.
On Christmas Eve, the GOP refused a unanimous consent request to allow her nomination to be carried over into 2010 (see bmaz for a post-mortem on the nomination), and so Obama is forced to renominate her if he still wants her as part of his administration. David Dayen reports that Obama intends to do just that, once the Senate reconvenes later this month. But all that does is re-start the confirmation process.
So she continues to wait.
Meanwhile, life goes on at Maurer.
Johnsen is still on the faculty, but if you are her dean, do you schedule her to teach? If so, what classes? If not, how else can you use her talents? When students sign up for her courses, what happens if she suddenly gets confirmed? If you are a student, do you sign up for her class only to have it canceled, and then it’s too late to get into another good course that filled up because you signed up for Johnsen’s?
In poking around the school’s website, it appears that they have limited her teaching to electives only, so that if something has to get canceled or a substitute instructor takes over in mid-semester, it isn’t as disruptive as it would be for a core class. Thus, on her faculty bio page it says she teaches Con Law I and II, but in the course listings she hasn’t been shown as an instructor for those courses for Spring 09, Fall 09 or Spring 10. Instead, last fall she taught Seminar in Constitutional Law: Sexuality, Reproduction and the Law, and starting this week, she’ll be teaching Seminar in Constitutional Law: First Amendment and also L736 Constitutional Law Seminar: Congress, the Presidency and the Courts.
Here’s the description of that last course, which meets on Tuesday afternoons:
This seminar examines the constitutional allocation and separation of powers among the three branches of the national government, with a particular focus on the relationship between the President and Congress. Specific topics may include: What are the relative powers of the President and Congress in the areas of foreign affairs, military action and national security? May the President refuse to enforce unconstitutional laws? May Congress enact legislation based on constitutional views that differ from the Supreme Court’s constitutional views? What are permissible forms of congressional oversight of the Executive, including limitations on the appointment and removal of executive branch officers, the legislative veto, the Independent Counsel Act, and presidential impeachment and removal? When may the President assert executive privilege and refuse to comply with requests for information from Congress or the courts? When are Presidents immune from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution? (3 cr.)
The syllabus for the Spring 2010 course isn’t online, but the last time she taught the course, it looked like this [pdf]. She’s got the same main textbook listed for this time around, and it looks like quite a meaty course. (In fact, when she taught this before, the assignment for the first day included “Johnsen Senate testimony on “Secret Law” (especially the appendix, “Principles to Guide the Office of Legal Counsel”)” [pdf]
Meanwhile, out west at Boalt Hall, John Yoo is teaching “Constitutional Design and the California Constitution.” Better that, I suppose, than anything having to do with the US constitution — although things are such a mess in CA right now that I could be wrong.
Curiously, he has no books listed for the course, and classes start Tuesday. Maybe he’s been busy prepping for his book tour stop/murder boards with Jon Stewart tomorrow night. As the videos at the link illustrate, Stewart is rather familiar with Yoo’s work at OLC. But Stewart only has a small amount of time to work with, so he’s going to have to pick his questions carefully.
He could, for instance, ask the questions Johnsen poses to her students (quoted above), but those would be softballs for a seasoned OLC guy like Yoo. Besides, we already have a pretty good idea of his answers: the President has the power to command and congress the power to obey; yes; who cares, because the President can ignore them both; none; whenever he damn well feels like it; and always (at least if you are a Republican).
Oh, well. But if Stewart took a look at Johnsen’s congressional testimony assigned for the first day, I’ll bet he could find some interesting questions there to pose to Professor Yoo.
Something tells me that the students at Maurer and at Boalt Hall are going to be watching The Daily Show tomorrow night, which ought to make the first class sessions on Tuesday rather interesting.
photo h/t alykat
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Thanks peterr – way, way past time to confirm this outstanding candidate.
Why is O bothering to resubmit Johnsen? He obviously doesn’t give a ff about her. Does he want the office to remain vacant? Is it? Or is there a W holdover?
We are all Dawn Johnsen.
How so? Stranded by the man who promised us everything we ever wanted?
Everything? lmao.
I was thinking of it all as a constant state of limbo. But I am sitting by the fire listening to good music at the moment.
If he wants to office vacant nominate someone else. If he wants to look weak nominate Dawn and give her that Famous Obama try!/s
I see no logic in nominating her again unless Obama wants to look even weaker and with the election coming up the timing couldn’t be worse.
That works
How is it obvious that he doesn’t give a ff about her? It must not be obvious to her, since she hasn’t asked that her name not be resubmitted.
I envy you. I could have the fire but I didn’t light it today. But my CD changer is busted. Has been so for about a week. I even took the cover off, so I can see the CD that’s unable to realign to its slot, but I can’t jiggle it in place. So my task tomorrow is to see if I can find someone to fix it.
John Yoo still has a law License? Any GOPer who wants to be confirmed in the future by the Senate for any job with John Yoo’s name on their transcript is opening up a shit storm.
Is Condi still teaching? Who wants a war criminal as a professor?
Because he hasn’t lifted his little pinky to try to get her confirmed. Absence of effort is evidence of not giving a ff.
Dick Cheney?
My fire hasn’t been out for over three weeks.
I use my puter cd player almost exclusively lately… since I have it connected to my home stereo system.
But Stewart only has a small amount of time to work with, so he’s going to have to pick his questions carefully.
Occasionally the interviews go much longer than can be shown on the allotted TV time, but one can watch the entire interview by going to The Daily Show website. I think that the Yoo interview (intervoo?) might well turn out to be one of those.
How many students register for Yoo’s courses? And do they do so as a recruiting effort to get into future son-of-Cheney regimes? Padding their resumes?
Two words; recess appointment. But alas, todays Democrats are too chickenshit.
Wood stove heats my kitchen, so I light fire in fireplace only when it’s cold & precipitating outside, which sets the mood. I have a B&O stereo, with 8 speakers attached in various locations. The CD changer is a Sony 10-disc made for car trunks because the B&O CD changer wouldn’t fit into the cabinet. I’ve had CD’s get stuck before, but was able to jiggle them into place. Not this time.
Evidently recess appointments are – off the table.
Yet more evidence that O doesn’t give a ff about her.
Oh, and one of these days, the Office of Professional Responsibility is going to release a redacted version of their report on Yoo’s conduct at OLC.
There’s this from February 2009, and then this from March 2009, and this from June 2009, and this from November 2009 (“Honest, by the end of this month. Really.”), and this from last week.
But I’m sure it will come out shortly. Maybe in another Friedman Unit.
Well, apparently she doesn’t share your conclusion, since she still seems willing to serve in his administration. But, perhaps, you know more about it than she does.
Thanks for the reminder of times lost.
How many students register for Yoo’s courses?
I’d be very interested in learning the answer to that one, but maybe more interested in whether he teaches required courses, or solely electives.
People’s motivations differ. I turned down a call from the Clinton admin (have no idea if it would have gone anywhere) because I had the Zoe Baird problem. But many in that position would have been ambitious enough to try for it anyhow. So I have no idea what motivates Johnsen. But I can observe O’s behavior.
Is John’s school looking to fire him? Why would any school want let one of their teachers appear on the Daily Show, did they see what happened to Jim Cramer?
Would a bad showing on the Daily Show violate the morality clause in his University teaching contract? I think you could argue any action that John takes that makes the University look bad is immoral as far as the University’s Public Relations dept is concerned.
nice snark:)
Perhaps he has students who are pursuing careers in creative writing. What an excellent opportunity to rub elbows with a real, live Iago/Edmund the Bastard.
From the link above, Yoo’s course had a limit of 24 students, and there are five more on a wait list.
More interesting to me would be to look at the evaluations that earlier students gave his courses. Sadly, you have to be an UCB student to view course evaluations . . .
If there are any UCB folks lurking, let me invite you to (a) go check out his evaluations, and (b) consider de-lurking in order to share what students have said about his classes.
Traitor John Yoo is on my Dirty Harry Reverie Detainee list.
If his students are doing the creative writing thing, they must be interested in short short short stories. I understand those memos are not very long.
Rubbing shoulder with a bastard who had some relationship to power? As I said in a prior comment, people’s motivations differ, but that’s one I could turn down. Unless I were to sit in the front row & ask pointed Qs at every class. *rubbing hands* Now that’s something I could see myself doing.
Leaving aside the Daily Show, think back to what Stewart did when he appeared on Crossfire:
Let the record show that Crossfire was canceled shortly after this appearance.
My guess is that there would be a self-selection thing going on, making the results of the evaluations ambiguous. Not surprised there are 29 students who want to take his course, in a school of how many? There used to be a joke about sociologists (advanced apologies to those who are here) that any cause should be able to attract 60 people, but you had to deduct 5 for the sociologists studying the group.
there’s a waiting list? holy cow! – and at Berekley?
29 bad apples.
The rest of the university is not necessarily so enamored with Mr. Yoo.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/09/yoo_berkeley_protest.php
Just imagining you asking questions in class of Yoo brought a big grin to my face.
I could imagine a number of firepups agreeing to help with your tuition, as long as you got someone to video the exchange.
Perfect. Thanks for the memories.
One has to have a cause. Seems mine has turned into asking pointed Qs.
Roket, recess appointments are good only to the end of this Congress, so basically this year only. Not a good idea.
Personally, I’d guess it’s kind of like driving past an accident on the freeway. I can easily see a couple of students saying to one another, late at night after more than a few adult beverages, “C’mon, you can always take classes from top-flight law professors, but how often do you get a chance to take a class from an unindicted co-conspirator to major criminal behavior?”
eCAHN, when did you *not* ask pointed questions?
;-)
John Yoo vs Jon Stewart. I can see how Yoo could spin this to himself as a good idea. And if/when it winds up blowing up on him, I anticipate that his response will be “But I’m a lawyer and Stewart is not therefore Stewart couldn’t have bested me on discussions about legal things”
There were plenty of earlier recesses.
I was a soc major my first time through and would resemble that remark. :})
Excellent diary Peterr. It’s not only Dawn Johnsen. Obama has selected 5 other good, progressive people (Louis Butler, for instance, for the federal court) but these are ALL being held up. The Democrats could: 1) either get 60 votes together (shouldn’t be as hard for judicial nominees as for health reform) and push on; 2) do away with the 60 vote requirement and actually demand a filibuster (that will never materialize).
To me it looks like Rahm-Obama themselves are lukewarm about these progressives. I suspect that he will NOT renominate many of the 6 being held up even though an administrative spokesman has said otherwise. He’ll drop them for “reasons of bipartisanship” which loosely translated means, Obama has no balls and no fight.
NOTE that federal judicial appointments are for life so appointing someone with a “recess appointment” is not a good idea since it would be only good until the end of the current Congress, less than one year.
As I said, my calling. I didn’t put it together until Book Salons here, and when I was called on it, thought back on my history. The actual A to your Q, is that I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember. Funny I didn’t notice it for 60 years.
I was hoping you would take it in the spirit offered.
Bush appointed the conservative fool to the UN Ambassadorship some time ago but for judicial appointments (which otherwise serve a LIFE TERM) they are not a good idea.
But the Dawn Johnsen position is not a lifetime. So she could have been serving for quite some time, if a recess appointment, say last Easter, up until the end of next year. Is that accurate?
Oh absolutely. Because there is an element of truth to it.
Soc is the most nebulous of the various social sciences, by far, and observation of people and interactions is what has to be studied. And attempt to quantify the observations.
Personally, I think that Yoo and his agent looked solely at Stewart’s ratings, and never even thought about what he might do to Yoo in the interview.
Meanwhile, I suspect that various other people are a bit . . . concerned. You know, people like Cheney, Bush, Rove, Addington, Scooter Libby, Rumsfeld, AGAG, Bybee, Ashcroft, Stephen Cambone, Michael Hayden, . . .
Yoo may think he’s going to handle this just fine, but some of those others I named know better. I can hear the prayers now: “Please don’t let him f*** up . . . please don’t let him f*** up . . .” I can also hear the threats being muttered while tongues are being bitten: “He screws this up, and I’ll f****** kill him. Slowly.”
Pass the popcorn.
This appointment is for the duration of Obama’s term(s) in office. What started out with a four year term limit is now down to three, and fading fast.
Oh I don’t think he is going to handle it at all well. I was just noting what I think his excuse/explanation/spin will be after Stewart finishes with him.
Maybe Michael Steele can give him some advice on how to handle the media.
Be nice to best selling out author, Mike Steele. He’s the progressive movement’s neutron bomb carrying stealth fighter. Like the ultimate energizer funny, he’s the joke that keeps on telling.
I believe that recess appointments last until the start of the next congress- and it isn’t necessarily an either/or situation. The president can make a recess appointment and then the Senate can still confirm the person anytime. If the person who was nominated isn’t approved by the Senate by the end of the congressional session, then they are out and have to be renominated.
Unless Dawn Johnson has received assurances from Coathanger Ben, Traitor Joe, and the rest of the blue dog crew that they will vote for cloture, I doubt that she is looking very hard at moving to Washington anytime soon.
It is always possible that Hapless Harry Reid can cut a deal with the Republicans over nominees, but that would probably mean more wing-nuts on the court, or something equally bad.
After Greg Craig’s treatment by the WH I don’t understand how any progressive lawyer would want to serve in this administration. Dawn Johnson will get no help from the WH on her confirmation. Her renomination may in fact be nothing more than a pr move by the WH to mollify liberals. I doubt if they care one way or the other if she is confirmed. Their view is it is better to have Ben Nelson et.al. chewing on her leg than theirs.