A Must Read from (ret.) Chief Judge Patricia Wald

Why This Older Woman Is For Obama
by Patricia Wald, Retired Chief Judge
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
January 15, 2008 1/15/08

I have spent more than 40 years of my near-80 in public service as a federal judge, international judge, public interest lawyer and government official. A veteran of the woman's movement since its infancy in the 1960's, an ardent Democrat and an equally ardent supporter of women's rights-to-choose, to work, to live as we see fit, and yes, one day to elect a woman President, I hail the advances in my lifetime that have resulted in Senator Clinton's dynamic bid for the Presidency.

But women my age fought for the opportunity to be judged on our skills, talents and abilities, not on our gender, and that is the standard by which Senator Clinton's candidacy should be judged. Perhaps we were naïve, but legions of us believed that if we were allowed to enter the game alongside men, we would prove our worth.

Which is a prelude to why I now support Barack Obama and have recently spent 8 days on the icy streets of Cedar Rapids, Iowa campaigning for him.

As someone who cares mightily about restoration of our country to conditions under which my grandchildren live and flourish, I have carefully assayed the dueling claims of Senator Clinton and Senator Obama to lead the nation. Senator Clinton proclaims a decisive advantage in experience that notably embraces her days as First Lady. The Clinton Administration of the 1990s has much to be proud of, but bears responsibility for some damaging policies as well. I mention here only a few that I encountered while on the bench. It oversaw the largest incarceration boom in the nation's history even as crime rates slowed. The 1994 "tough on crime" legislation sponsored by the White House and which she lobbied for expanded the federal death penalty and gave fiscal incentives for states to legislate "truth in sentencing" laws. The Administration also supported a federal "three strikes" law patterned after California 's that overwhelmed prisons, and legislation that pushed youthful offenders into adult institutions. The result of policies like these was a generation of young men and women, heavily tilted toward minorities, which suffered more severely than their crimes warranted. Credible researchers and political leaders later repudiated these policies for their costliness, ineffectiveness in improving public safety, and devastating impact on families and minority communities. Since then Senator Clinton has shown reluctance to support retroactive application of the sentencing reductions for those in prison for crack cocaine violations whose penalties have since been drastically cut by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Her Senate career reflects a cautious and expedient legislator; her ambivalent attitude toward the Iraq war – particularly her failure to read the critical intelligence report before voting to authorize military action – give pause when considering her claims to leadership and change.I find that Senator Obama's record is fully as impressive as hers. His well documented years organizing and unifying poor communities in Chicago give him first-hand knowledge of conditions on the ground that a new President will surely need in tackling the still intractable issues of race and poverty. He has been an unswerving supporter of women's right to choose, despite the Clinton campaign's repeated misstatements of his record. He has played a leadership role in Illinois for children's health insurance and tax credits for working class families. As someone whose career has been in law enforcement I admire especially his unremitting honesty and his respect for the law and its processes. This has been amply demonstrated in the face of false and misleading statements about his record in this campaign.

His ethics reform legislation was labeled by the Washington Post as "the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet." His opposition to the Iraq War at a time when it was overwhelmingly supported by political leaders and the public is a testament to his sound judgment, even as others fell into lock-step behind a flawed and deceptive strategy.

To be old means to remember and that can be a blessing and a curse. Much has been written about "hope" and "inspiration" that Senator Obama brings, particularly among the young. For me these are not vague and amorphous qualities. I recall a time during the 1960s and into the 1970s when many of us passionately believed in the power of Government and in ourselves to be forces for positive social change. We sought out visionary leaders who could appeal to our inner angels. When Robert Kennedy said in 1968, "I dream of things that never were and ask why not," he voiced the deepest longings of our country as he called on us to find a way to go forward – together black, white, Latino, poor, rich, young, old, male, female – to challenge injustice and poverty.

We have not heard so soaring an appeal in 40 years. We have suffered through spates of painful, ugly, and mean-spirited leadership. Our sights have been blurred and misdirected, our youth dispirited and politically apathetic. Now, Barack Obama tells us, "in the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long . . . [we] can be one people, reaching for what's possible.

"My ten grandchildren and their peers need not be seared by our failures and our mixed memories. I want them to be moved by the same idealism that once moved us. We should not deny them that chance. For all Senator Clinton's talents, skills, and accomplishments, Barack Obama provides the greater hope.

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Patricia Wald served as judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for twenty years, including five years as its Chief Judge. Retired from American judicial service, she later was a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia . Judge Wald also recently served as a member of the Iraq Intelligence Commission (the President's Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction), an independent panel tasked with investigating U.S. intelligence surrounding the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.