As Attorney General, John Ashcroft zealously employed the death penalty. In cases where United States Attorneys did not seek death in a death-eligible case, Ashcroft overruled them every time.
In a recent case from Oregon, Ashcroft encouraged a strained reading of federal law to prevent doctors from, pursuant to state law, helping people end their own lives.
In Ashcroft v. Raich (now Gonzales v. Raich), he led
the charge to keep sick people from medicating themselves. And in a
previous medical marijuana case, he fought hard to ensure that a sick
person could not use the "medical necessity" defense if charged with a
federal crime. That is, the government can argue that a defendant uses marijuana because he's a doper; the defendant cannot argue that he uses marijuana because it's the only medicine that will keep him alive.
These cases tie together in a horrifying way. You may not live unless the State agrees. You may not take medication, unless the State gives its permission. Indeed, you may not die, except by its will.
Somewhere along the road, Ashcroft and his cronies decided that Chuch and State should merge. "Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the [the Federal Government] doth man live." Deuteronomy 8: 2-3 (KJV) (according to Ashcroft).
Amen!
