ASHCROFT,SHRILL AND OFF-KEY

The runaway attorney general is belting out policy riffs that strike a
strained chord with a skeptical public.

LAST WEEK, during a break in his USA Patriot Act tour, U.S. Attorney
General John Ashcroft punched out a memo to his 94 federal prosecutors,
telling them to throw the book - harder - at criminal defendants.

Seek the maximum charges and sentences in almost all cases, Ashcroft
directed prosecutors. Fewer soft-on-crime plea bargains was the implicit
message.

Not only is Ashcroft's flawed plea-bargain mandate the latest in a string
that undermines the discretion of his own employees, but it further
illustrates his zealous approach to law enforcement as the nation's No. 1
lawman.

The increasingly apparent truth is, Ashcroft is a runaway attorney general
who has exploited the war on terrorism to seek more federal law enforcement
authority and transform the Justice Department to mirror his heavy-handed
brand of justice.

Of course, he doesn't see it that way. In fact, in much the same way
Madonna, Springsteen and Clapton hit the road to boost sales of a new
release, Ashcroft has been criss-crossing the country, touting the need to
expand the prying, spying, justice-run-amok methods of the Patriot Act to
fight the war on terrorism.

His Patriot riff is falling on increasingly skeptical ears. Sentiment as
measured in opinion surveys reflect a public worried that its personal
liberties already are compromised under the existing law.

Congressional members from both parties have raised legitimate concerns
about expanding the legislation, of which little is known about its current
use. Until Ashcroft can better demonstrate the effectiveness of the law - a
monumental task, given several damaging encroachments on the Bill of Rights
- - Congress is right to hold tight the reins on granting him more authority.

As last week's memo indicated, when Ashcroft isn't hyping the Patriot Act,
he's conducting flank attacks on his employees in a way that undermines the
federal judicial system.

The new policy just released on plea bargains ostensibly is designed to
bring greater consistency to criminal prosecutions. But as critics -
including some prosecutors - contend, the mandate will likely, among other
drawbacks, increase sentences in cases that may not merit them. Prosecutors
often use plea bargains as an effective tool to get defendants to
cooperate, thereby speeding cases through court, saving time and tax dollars.

But Ashcroft's meddlesome interference doesn't stop there. He even wants to
know which federal judges sometimes hand down more lenient sentences.

As the nation's attorney general, Ashcroft's role is not to recast American
jurisprudence to his austere vision of justice but to enforce and uphold
legal precepts that are consonant with the constitutional principles on
which this nation was established.