Lawyer of the Year: Justice Department's inspector general receives a well-deserved honor

Source: Washington Post

Glenn A. Fine has had an extraordinarily busy year. As inspector general of the Justice Department, Mr. Fine has overseen investigations of politicized hiring practices, breaches of security involving classified documents, and the FBI's prosecution of the war on terrorism and its interrogation of terrorism suspects. His conclusions often have been unflattering to his nominal colleagues at the department, yet they have always been measured and backed up by copious documentation. As a result, his reports have not always been welcomed -- especially by those under scrutiny -- but they have rarely been questioned or criticized as being politically motivated or factually flawed. That's a rare feat in today's ultrapolarized Washington, and it is a testament to the professionalism of Mr. Fine and his office.

Mr. Fine has also had the grace to recognize the improvements or accomplishments of those his office has investigated. While he rightly slammed the FBI in 2007 for sloppy and at times illegitimate use of national security letters, he commended the bureau this year for making changes to ensure that these powerful investigative tools are used in strict compliance with the law. In a report on the treatment of terrorism suspects in U.S. custody, Mr. Fine's exhaustive findings provided convincing evidence that the FBI -- from Director Robert S. Mueller III to agents in the field -- acted courageously in challenging and rejecting the administration's use of harsh interrogation techniques. These assertions are credible because Mr. Fine and his staff have been honest brokers.

The National Law Journal, a weekly newspaper that covers the legal profession, cited these and other attributes in naming Mr. Fine its lawyer of the year. This is an honor well deserved.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/25/AR2008122500803.html?nav%3Dmost_emailed&sub=AR

He's been right and strong all along!

Those much vilified "Government Bureaucrats" that the free-market loons are always blaming for all our ills. . . Those men and women who know both their jobs, and understand the responsibility they have to us, the Citizens of America . .

Here's to the ones who know right from wrong, and stand up and refuse tobreak the law at the behest of corrupted superiors. .