Clinton ignored rule of law

Miami Herald, The (FL) - Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Author: Miami Herald

As one of the attorneys representing the Miami family of Elián González, I write in response to President Clinton's recent statement that he would not change the decision to send the boy back to his father in Cuba.

Framing the issue as simply one involving whether to send the boy back conveniently but unfairly avoids the issue that we tried to raise during litigation. That was whether the boy's fate should be decided by the courts -- particularly family court, where the standard is the best interests of the child -- or whether the boy's fate should be decided by politicians and political appointees.

Admittedly we lost the public-relations battle with Attorney General Janet Reno, who repeatedly stated that she ''had to enforce the law.'' There is no such law, and there never has been. Rather, the jurisdictional question was whether the attorney general rather than the courts should decide the issue. She decided, after an astonishing and largely unpublicized (even now) change of mind, that the boy should go back to a totalitarian system whose record on human rights continues to draw worldwide condemnation.

Posted By: Ayanna Spikes

Page: A14
Provided By: The McClatchy Company
Location(s): Miami; Cuba
Personal Name(s): President Clinton; Janet Reno; Greg Craig; JOSE GARCIA-PEDROSA
Record Number: 201004210100KNRIDDERFLMIAMIH_11096
Copyright (c) 2010 The Miami Herald

Clinton ignored rule of law
Herald, Miami. "Clinton ignored rule of law." Miami Herald, The (FL) 21 Apr. 2010,: A14. NewsBank. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.