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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Contact: Ranit Schmelzer or Adrienne Ammerman, 202-588-5180
NWLC URGES CONFIRMATION OF DAWN E. JOHNSEN
(Washington, DC) Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women's Law Center, urges the confirmation of Dawn E. Johnson for Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). Professor Johnsen’s confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee is today.
Marcia Greenberger’s statement follows:
“The Office of Legal Counsel has the critical role of providing objective, unbiased legal advice to the President and the agencies of the Executive Branch, and addresses a broad array of legal issues that are of the utmost importance to women. It is therefore critical that the Assistant Attorney General leading OLC possess outstanding legal abilities and experience, impeccable judgment, thoughtfulness, and a dedication to the rule of law. For these reasons, Dawn Johnsen is superbly qualified for this position.
“The National Women’s Law Center, an organization that has worked since 1972 to advance and protect women’s legal rights, has worked with Professor Johnsen over the course of her career: in her capacity as an advocate for women’s constitutional rights; as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General and then Acting Assistant Attorney General for OLC during the Clinton Administration; and as a professor at the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington.
“Professor Johnsen’s tenure at OLC gave her a profound understanding of the unique responsibility of that office to provide thoughtful and objective legal advice, in addition to a practical understanding of how the office operates. As a widely respected professor of constitutional law, she has spent the past ten years grappling with complex legal issues. Her scholarship and legal commentary demonstrate not only her outstanding legal abilities, but also a commitment to the rule of law, to transparency, and to open dialogue, as well as an understanding of the impact legal policies have on people’s lives.
“Professor Johnsen’s abilities and experience make her uniquely qualified to lead OLC, and will enable her to begin the important work before her immediately. The National Women’s Law Center strongly supports Dawn E. Johnsen to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, and urges the Committee to approve her nomination quickly.”
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