Edwin Meese

[[File:Edwin Meese III Attorney General portrait (cropped)(b).jpg|165px|thumb|right|Edwin Meese]]
{{uspolitics}}
'''Edwin Meese III''' (born December 2, 1931) is an American [[right-wing]] political activist and author most known for his role as Attorney General during the second-term of [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/ag/bio/meese-edwin-iii Attorney General: Edwin Meese, III]</ref> Meese currently serves as a member of the board of trustees for [[The Heritage Foundation]], a research and educational institution whose mission is to build and promote conservative public policies, based in [[Washington, D.C.]] Meese is also a member of the national advisory board of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and a member of the board of directors of the Federalist Society.

==His friend Ronnie==
Historian Lou Cannon once called Meese "Reagan's geographer" in reference to his role inside the administration as executive assistant and chief of staff while Reagan was governor of [[California]], saying this primarily due to his ability to turn "the most inarticulate of Reagan's ideas into coherent policy."<ref>''Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power'' by Lou Cannon</ref>{{rp|328}}

In his role in the governor's office, Meese also played an important part of in expanding the abilities of the [[police]]. One article from 1986 makes extensive note of how Meese first came to Reagan's attention due to his "contribution to the [Free Speech Movement] crackdown" that was occurring at Berkeley, California at the time, with Reagan also campaigning against Berkeley activists during his 1966 run for governor. The article goes on to note:

{{quotebox|It was Meese, local historians say, who ordered police to nab the movement’s leaders first, leaving the group without its principal organizers. He also favored early morning arrests, when there were fewer crowds and less media attention. Under his supervision, arresting officers for the first time used Polaroid cameras to take identifying photos on the spot, thus avoiding any later question in a trial about the defendant’s participation and obviating the need for taking large numbers of protesters to the police station for booking.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-04-tm-3972-story.html The Roots of Ed Meese : Reagan’s Polemical Attorney General Has Prompted a Major Constitutional Debate, Surprising Those Who Knew Him in His Pragmatic Early Days, in the Quiet Hills of Oakland and During the Turbulent ‘60s]</ref>}}

===''Meese Report''===
While working as President Reagan's Attorney General, one of his more well known actions was what has been called the ''Meese Report'', officially called the ''Attorney General' Commission on Pornography''. Pat Califia, writing a response to the report, sarcastically said it "holds out the hope that by using draconian measures against [[pornography]] we can turn America into a [[Kinder, Küche, Kirche|rerun of ''Leave It to Beaver'']]." He went on to note how, although Meese did claim he was going to attempt to be neutral, he stuffed the commission full of people who had a long history in the [[Religious Right]] and the anti-pornography movement. ("The attroney general's men did not knock on the door of the sex and civil liberities establishment. They talked, instead to priests, child abuse experts, evangelists, and criminologists."<ref>''United States of America vs. Sex: How the Meese Commission Lied About Pornography'' by Philip Nobile and Eric Nadler</ref>{{rp|17}}) Regarding the legal recommendations of the Commission, he notes that "The Commission's staff was formulating these recommendations from the very first day of hearings, before they heard [[Social science|social-science]] data about whether or not porn caused harm, before they even defined pornography."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110712160549/http://cultronix.eserver.org/califia/meese/ The Obscene, Disgusting, and Vile Meese Commission Report]</ref>

Funnily enough, its explicit nature ended up being controversial among the very same people it was pandering to. Many [[Christian]] book stores refused to sell the report on their shelves because of "fear that the vulgar language in it and its graphic descriptions of [[sexual]] acts will offend their customers."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/21/books/some-say-meese-report-rates-an-x.html SOME SAY MEESE REPORT RATES AN 'X']</ref>

===Scandals===
During his time as Attorney General, the Justice Department had two scandals specifically related to Meese's actions. The first of these, the Bechtel scandal, basically involved him attempting to help a corporation called Bechtel build a pipeline from Iraq to Jordan. Although it was found that nothing he did was illegal, the ethics of what he did were called into question at the time.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170314112819/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/24/world/meese-and-the-pipeline-the-story-so-far.html Meese and the Pipeline: The Story So Far]</ref>

The other scandal, called the Wedtech scandal, where he was accused of engaging in actions that benefitted both him and his longtime friend E. Robert Wallach, who was convicted of fraud and racketeering. This controversy was huge and several top members of the Reagan Justice Department resigned in protest of the actions of their boss,<ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/03/30/2-meese-aides-resign-after-urging-ouster/ 2 MEESE AIDES RESIGN AFTER URGING OUSTER]</ref> eventually resulting in Meese stepping down from his role as Attorney General in 1988,<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-09-mn-107-story.html Wallach Found Guilty of Racketeering, Fraud : Meese’s Friend, Two Others Convicted in Wedtech Scandal]</ref> although he did so while claiming to have a "clear name" in spite of a report critical of his conduct coming out at the same time.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-05-mn-5430-story.html Atty. Gen. Meese Resigns : Says He’s Been Cleared and Leaves With Clean Name : Acts After Prosecutor Files Report]</ref>

===Hungry children understander===
While defending his boss's decision to cut welfare programs for children, Meese infamously said in 1983 that he didn't "know any authoritative figures that there are hungry children. I've heard a lot of anecdotal stuff, but haven't heard any authoritative figures."<ref name=reign>''Reagan's Reign of Error: The Instant Nostalgia Edition'' by Mark Green and Gail MacColl</ref>{{rp|167}} Of course, Reagan's own government had released statistics on this issue and found the amount of hungry children had increased during his administration.<ref name=reign/>{{rp|167-168}} Meese also said some people go to soup kitchens not because they're in need but "because the food is free and that that's easier than paying for it."<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/12/15/Presidential-counselor-Edwin-Meese-whose-remarks-about-hunger-in/8447440312400/ Presidential counselor Edwin Meese, whose remarks about hunger in...]</ref> This comment got him wide condemnation from left-wing political leaders at the time.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/10/us/comments-by-meese-on-hunger-produce-a-storm-of-controversy.html COMMENTS BY MEESE ON HUNGER PRODUCE A STORM OF CONTROVERSY]</ref>

In response to this, he was compared to Scrooge, so he defended Scrooge, saying in him "Bob Cratchit was paid 10 shillings a week, which was a very good wage a the time . . . Bob, in fact, had good cause to be happy with his situation. He lived in a house, not a tenement. His wife didn't have to work . . . He was able to afford the traditional Christmas dinner of a roast goose and plum pudding."<ref name=Paul>''The Clothes Have No Emperor: A Chronicle of the American 80s'' by Paul Slansky</ref>{{rp|79}} Nina Auerback, a scholar of Victorian literature, responded to his by saying:

{{quotebox|Did he really say that? I can't believe he said that . . . Dickens is saying that the poor deserve to live not on the margins, but with comfort and love and with freedom and medical attention. I mean, isn't that the very point of Tiny Tim? . . . He desperately needs a doctor and can't get to one because his family is so poor . . . He's dying because he can't get medical care . . . Boy, I'm really getting angry now. I can't believe these people.<ref name=Paul/>{{rp|79}}}}

==Originalism==
Meese is widely credited as one of the driving forces behind the growth of the constitutional philosophy known as Originalism. Erwin Chemerinsky, writing about the history of originalism is his book long critique of it, notes that Meese "took originalism from being a theory of law
professors in the pages of law reviews to being the stated position of
the attorney general of the United States."<ref>''Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism'' by Erwin Chemerinsky</ref>{{rp|34}}

==Can't defend himself from this one==
Meese is known for being a stern critic of the Supreme Court case ''Miranda v. Arizona'', where it was ruled "The Fifth Amendment requires that law enforcement officials advise suspects of their right to remain silent and to obtain an attorney during interrogations while in police custody."<ref name=Miranda>[https://www.oyez.org/cases/1965/759 Miranda v. Arizona]</ref> Senator [[Ted Cruz]] once recalled that Meese "famously said that if he could overturn one case and one case only, it would be ''Miranda v. Arizona''."<ref>''One Vote Away: How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History'' by Ted Cruz</ref>{{rp|138}}

Of course, the ''Miranda'' decision is far from uncontroversial, being a 5-4 decision on the court.<ref name=Miranda/> However, the ways Meese has criticized the ruling are worth noting, as they basically come down to arguing that anybody who is even suspected of a crime is guilty. This is not his opinion being him strawmanned, these are words from his mouth. As he said in an interview from 1985:

{{quotebox|You don't have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That's contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not suspect.<ref name=reign/>{{rp|170}}}}

For the record, this is just wrong. A suspect is merely somebody who is suspected of a crime, meaning they are believed to possibly be the person behind it, but we have no concrete evidence of this.
==References==
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[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Protestants]]
[[Category:Purity culture]]
[[Category:Former U.S. Cabinet Members]]

Categories: California, Living people, Protestants, Purity culture, Former U.S. Cabinet Members