Judicial Watch

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Judicial Watch is an organization which describes itself as "a conservative, non-partisan American educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law."[1] According to its mission statement, Judicial Watch "advocates high standards of ethics and morality in America's public life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people."[2]

Judicial Watch uses litigation as its primary tool.[3] It came to public attention after filing 18 lawsuits against the administration of Democratic U.S. President Bill Clinton and figures in the Clinton administration. They received considerable financial support from prominent Clinton critics, including $7.74 million from conservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife.[4] This led Clinton administration officials to accuse them of "abusing the judicial system for partisan ends".[5]

More recently, Judicial Watch has also sued the George W. Bush administration for access to minutes of Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force[6] and has also sued the Secret Service to force the release of logs detailing corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff's visits to the White House.[7]

Larry Klayman founded Judicial Watch in 1994.[3] In September 2003, Klayman left the organization.[3] Judicial Watch issued a terse three-sentence statement which The Nation commented "could be read as a sign that the parting had not been amicable."[3] Tom Fitton is the current president of Judicial Watch.[8]

Contents

[edit] Funding

Judicial Watch receives mostly conservative sources. In 2002, Judicial Watch received $1.1 million from The Carthage Foundation[9] and a further $400,000 from the Sarah Scaife Foundation. Both foundations are managed by Richard Mellon Scaife. [9] The year before the Scaife Foundation gave $1.35 million and Carthage $500,000.[9]

In all, between 1997 and 2002 Judicial Watch received $7,069,500 (unadjusted for inflation) in 19 grants from a handful of foundations. The bulk of this funding came from just three foundations – the Sarah Scaife Foundation, The Carthage Foundation and the John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.[9] According to MediaTransparency, "Judicial Watch is essentially a tool of Richard Mellon Scaife, who provides almost all its funding."[9]

[edit] Positions

The motto of Judicial Watch is "because no one is above the law."[2] While the bulk of Judicial Watch's cases involve transparency in government and government integrity, the organization has taken positions on a wide range of issues.[10] According to Judicial Watch, it supports:

[edit] Activities

The Judicial Watch web page contains detailed information on current litigation matters.[10] A sample of Judicial Watch activities include:

  • Suing the town of Herndon, Virginia to stop a "day laborer" program on the grounds that it may provide employment for illegal aliens.
  • Suing the U.S. Senate to disallow the filibuster in their debates over confirmation of judicial nominees, coinciding with proposed efforts by Republican Senate leaders to internally do the same thing.
  • Criticizing the Bush administration for their guest worker program, obtaining evidence of a spike in illegal immigration denied by the administration.
  • Initiating a request to the Naval Inspector General for an investigation into the "legitimacy and propriety" of the awards John Kerry received for his service in Vietnam.[11] The inspector general's office subsequently determined that Kerry's awards "were properly approved" and declined to take further action in the matter[12]; the office also responded to Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act request with documentation of its review.[13]
  • Criticizing the U.S. Navy for securing a public relations firm to encourage Puerto Ricans to vote to keep a Naval testing range at Vieques, Puerto Rico.
  • Investigating fund-raising activities relating to the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy.[14]
  • Rejecting the adjudicated innocence of David Rosen, who served as campaign finance director for Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign for the U.S. Senate and had been indicted for filing false reports.
  • Condemning as "murder" the death of Terri Schiavo, who lived for 15 years in a diagnosed persistent vegetative state and whose husband wished to allow to die. Her parents wished that she be kept on life support, and were joined in their pursuits by prominent Republicans.
  • Calling for Republican Tom DeLay to step down as House Majority Leader calling his actions on Medicare "inappropriate" and "unacceptable".[15]
  • Filing a lawsuit against Vice President Dick Cheney and Halliburton for alleged fraudulent accounting practices.[16]
  • Judicial Watch gained media attention when a judge in a separate lawsuit ordered the Department of Justice to release live video taken from relevant security cameras at The Pentagon on September 11, 2001. On May 16, 2006 the group released the videos from the two cameras on their website with hopes to "...put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines Flight 77..."[17]
  • On June 20, 2007 the group released FBI documents related to the “expeditious departure” of Saudi nationals, including members of the bin Laden family, from the United States following the 9/11 attacks. According to one of the documents, dated September 21, 2001, Osama bin Laden himself may have chartered one of the Saudi flights.[18]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "About Us" - Judicial Watch
  2. ^ a b c d e "About Judicial Watch - Our Mission" - Judicial Watch
  3. ^ a b c d Corn, David. "Klayman Watch", The Nation, 2004-03-29. Retrieved on 2007-06-02. 
  4. ^ Recipients by amounts granted by all Scaife foundations. Media Transparency. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  5. ^ Segal, David. "Pursuing Clinton Suits Him Just Fine", Washington Post, 1998-05-30, p. A01. Retrieved on 2007-06-02. 
  6. ^ Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Nat’l Energy Policy Dev. Group, et al.. Judicial Watch. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  7. ^ Judicial Watch (2006-07-07). "U.S. Secret Service Forced to Release More White House Logs Detailing Abramoff Visits". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  8. ^ About Judicial Watch - Director Bios. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  9. ^ a b c d e Recipient Grants: Judicial Watch. Media Transparency. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  10. ^ a b "litigation" - Judicial Watch
  11. ^ Fitton, Thomas (2004-08-18). Re: Request for Investigation, Determination and Final Disposition of Awards Granted to Lieutenant (junior grade) John Forbes Kerry, USNR.. Judicial Watch. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  12. ^ Route, R.A. (2004-09-14). Navy response to Judicial Watch request (PDF). Judicial Watch. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  13. ^ Route, R.A. (2004-10-04). Naval response to FOIA request (PDF). Judicial Watch. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  14. ^ By Blustein, Paul and Locy, Toni. "To Gadfly of the Right, Clinton Administration Is Unsafe at Any Speed", Washington Post, 1996-11-17, p. A17. Retrieved on 2007-06-02. 
  15. ^ Judicial Watch (2004-10-06). "House Majority Leader Should Step Down Over Ethics Lapse, Says Judicial Watch". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  16. ^ Judicial Watch (2002-07-26). "BUSH-CHENEY WHITE HOUSE OBSTRUCTS HALLIBURTON LAWSUIT". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  17. ^ Defense Department Releases Two Videos of Flight 77 Crashing Into Pentagon. Judicial Watch. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
  18. ^ Judicial Watch Releases New FBI Documents: Osama bin Laden May Have Chartered Saudi Flight Out of U.S. after 9/11. Judicial Watch. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.

[edit] External links

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