Talk of the Town - Glavin vs. the liberals April 15 2000
Foundation targets the big boys
Matt Glavin doesn’t have the horns or pitchfork his political adversaries imagine him with, but he does have a devilish grin. And, why not? He loves what he does.
What Glavin does, as president of Atlanta’s Southeastern Legal Foundation, is fight for constitutional government - and drive liberals crazy. “We are the liberal establishment’s worst nightmare,” he says, with only a touch of hyperbole.
In recent weeks, Glavin and his merry band of conservative lawyers have twice made national news.
On April 3, SLF said the Census Bureau should stop asking nosy questions and stick to counting noses. Blaming the tepid response to Census 2000 on a distrust of government, Glavin urged Congress to separate “the political aspects of the census” from the “head count for legislative apportionment.”
On March 17, Glavin & Co. scored a big victory over Bill Clinton when the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct refused to delay disbarment proceedings against the president until he leaves office. Clinton now has until April 21 to respond to the complaints SLF has lodged against him.
As a lawyer, Clinton is prohibited from engaging “in dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” Yet, by his own admission, Clinton misrepresented the truth of his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton is also prohibited from engaging “in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.” Yet, a federal judge ruled Clinton did precisely that when he gave false and misleading testimony in the Paula Jones case.
The rules, violations and eventual outcome are clear. According to Glavin, Clinton “will end up without a law license, one way or the other.”
With just nine months of his presidency remaining, some may ask why it’s worth the bother to strip Clinton’s license? The case, Glavin says, is not about Clinton, it’s about protecting the judicial system for everyone else: “If you’re ever in a lawsuit, you ought to be reasonably assured that the [opposing lawyer] isn’t allowed to lie and obstruct justice.”
Even with the April 21 deadline looming, Glavin doubts Clinton would surrender his license without a fight. Still, he says, listen to your radio late Friday afternoon. You might just learn our perjurer-in-chief has resigned the bar.
However it happens, it won’t be the first time Atlanta’s David has laid out Washington’s Goliath.
“Taken on the Clinton White House three times,” Glavin says, “Once [protecting the free speech rights of former FBI agent Gary] Aldrich. Whipped ‘em. Once [opposing statistical sampling in] the census. Whipped ‘em. And now with disbarment. Gonna whip ‘em.”
Of course, Clinton isn’t the only liberal seeing red when he hears Glavin’s name. In Atlanta, Glavin is best known for his crusade against the city’s minority set-aside program, an effort that sends Mayor Bill Campbell into fits of - excuse the expression - white-hot rage. (The mayor, you may recall, came utterly unglued when SLF filed suit last summer, comparing the legal tussle to the “gunfight at the OK Corral” and likening SLF to the KKK. When it comes to talking ugly, John Rocker’s got nothing on Bill Campbell.)
“The city of Atlanta is breaking the law,” Glavin says flatly. Setting aside 34 percent of city contracts for minority-owned firms violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment’s “equal protection” clause.
“The city is going to lose this case,” he says, noting that “there is not a race preference program anywhere in America that has survived a court challenge since 1989.”
Instead, Glavin says, “We should have programs that are race-neutral that provide opportunities for local businesses, for small businesses, for disadvantaged businesses.” Considerations of business size and location should replace race.
This approach has worked well in Detroit, where minority participation in city contracts is roughly the same as it was in 1993, when the courts threw out a race-based program. Thus far, Campbell has refused to consider the Detroit model.
“This mayor has decided he would rather see this city go the route of Richmond, Va., where today they only have 2 percent minority participation,” Glavin says, “That’s flat-out wrong.”
If Glavin and SLF have anything to say about it - and they do - Atlanta will follow Detroit, maintaining minority participation while respecting the law. And that’s good news for all of us, black and white.
What Glavin does, as president of Atlanta’s Southeastern Legal Foundation, is fight for constitutional government - and drive liberals crazy. “We are the liberal establishment’s worst nightmare,” he says, with only a touch of hyperbole.
In recent weeks, Glavin and his merry band of conservative lawyers have twice made national news.
On April 3, SLF said the Census Bureau should stop asking nosy questions and stick to counting noses. Blaming the tepid response to Census 2000 on a distrust of government, Glavin urged Congress to separate “the political aspects of the census” from the “head count for legislative apportionment.”
On March 17, Glavin & Co. scored a big victory over Bill Clinton when the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct refused to delay disbarment proceedings against the president until he leaves office. Clinton now has until April 21 to respond to the complaints SLF has lodged against him.
As a lawyer, Clinton is prohibited from engaging “in dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” Yet, by his own admission, Clinton misrepresented the truth of his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton is also prohibited from engaging “in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.” Yet, a federal judge ruled Clinton did precisely that when he gave false and misleading testimony in the Paula Jones case.
The rules, violations and eventual outcome are clear. According to Glavin, Clinton “will end up without a law license, one way or the other.”
With just nine months of his presidency remaining, some may ask why it’s worth the bother to strip Clinton’s license? The case, Glavin says, is not about Clinton, it’s about protecting the judicial system for everyone else: “If you’re ever in a lawsuit, you ought to be reasonably assured that the [opposing lawyer] isn’t allowed to lie and obstruct justice.”
Even with the April 21 deadline looming, Glavin doubts Clinton would surrender his license without a fight. Still, he says, listen to your radio late Friday afternoon. You might just learn our perjurer-in-chief has resigned the bar.
However it happens, it won’t be the first time Atlanta’s David has laid out Washington’s Goliath.
“Taken on the Clinton White House three times,” Glavin says, “Once [protecting the free speech rights of former FBI agent Gary] Aldrich. Whipped ‘em. Once [opposing statistical sampling in] the census. Whipped ‘em. And now with disbarment. Gonna whip ‘em.”
Of course, Clinton isn’t the only liberal seeing red when he hears Glavin’s name. In Atlanta, Glavin is best known for his crusade against the city’s minority set-aside program, an effort that sends Mayor Bill Campbell into fits of - excuse the expression - white-hot rage. (The mayor, you may recall, came utterly unglued when SLF filed suit last summer, comparing the legal tussle to the “gunfight at the OK Corral” and likening SLF to the KKK. When it comes to talking ugly, John Rocker’s got nothing on Bill Campbell.)
“The city of Atlanta is breaking the law,” Glavin says flatly. Setting aside 34 percent of city contracts for minority-owned firms violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment’s “equal protection” clause.
“The city is going to lose this case,” he says, noting that “there is not a race preference program anywhere in America that has survived a court challenge since 1989.”
Instead, Glavin says, “We should have programs that are race-neutral that provide opportunities for local businesses, for small businesses, for disadvantaged businesses.” Considerations of business size and location should replace race.
This approach has worked well in Detroit, where minority participation in city contracts is roughly the same as it was in 1993, when the courts threw out a race-based program. Thus far, Campbell has refused to consider the Detroit model.
“This mayor has decided he would rather see this city go the route of Richmond, Va., where today they only have 2 percent minority participation,” Glavin says, “That’s flat-out wrong.”
If Glavin and SLF have anything to say about it - and they do - Atlanta will follow Detroit, maintaining minority participation while respecting the law. And that’s good news for all of us, black and white.