He Sure Can Pick 'Em

For those of you who have found Obama's cabinet appointments 'interesting', you're going to love his choice for Deputy Attorney General, David Ogden. A brief review of his career:

* In Hartigan v. Zbaraz, Ogden co-authored a brief for the American Psychological Association arguing that parental notification was an unconstitutional burden on 14-year old adolescent girls seeking an abortion. Excerpt: "There is no question that the right to secure an abortion is fundamental." (p. 10).

* In Rust v. Sullivan, Ogden served as counsel to People for the American Way, the National Education Association, and others supporting petitioner's claim that abortion is a method of family planning that should be eligible for federal funding.

* In United States v. American Library Association, Ogden fought the use of Internet filters used to screen pornographic sites in public libraries.

* In American Library Association v. Thornburgh, Ogden successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children.

* In American Council for the Blind v. Boorstin, Ogden sued the federal government in an attempt to force taxpayers to finance a Braille version of Playboy.**

**-Since I don't think it possible to convert airbrushed pictures of naked women into Braille, I guess this would produce a group of people who would purchase Playboy "for the articles".

* Ogden has represented Playboy, Penthouse, and P.H.E. (a mail-order pornography distributor with a nation-wide business) in numerous cases: Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Meese, P.H.E., Inc., v. United States Department of Justice, United States v. P.H.E., Inc., Knox v. United States, Fort Wayne Books, Inc. v. Indiana, Virginia v. American Booksellers Association, Pope v. Illinois, Meese v. Keene.

* In Lawrence v. Texas, Ogden, serving as counsel of record for the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and the National Association of Social Workers filing an amicus brief in support of the defendants, urged the court "to treat traditional definitions of marriage as a social prejudice".

Change we can believe in, indeed.