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Jimmy Carter in The New York Times on America's human rights record Carter harshly criticizes America's leaders for their human rights records in recent years. "This development began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has been sanctioned and escalated by bipartisan executive and legislative actions, without dissent from the general public. As a result, our country can no longer speak with moral authority on these critical issues," he writes. Carter cites drone attacks, warantless wiretaps, and detentions at Guantanamo. "At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Carter writes.
David Martin in The Washington Post on Obama's immigration discretion Martin digs into the idea of "prosecutorial discretion," which President Obama cited when he announced his Justice Department would stop deporting thousands of illegal immigrants brought here as children. "[P]rosecutorial discretion, contrary to advocates' apparent assumption, isn't authority to negate whole realms of enacted law. It is authority to choose strategies and to direct resources while still achieving the basic aims of the relevant legislation." Because the government doesn't have resources to deport more than a small fraction of illegal immigrants each year, opponents of prosecutorial discretion are basically arguing for randomness, he says. Obama's robust record on deportation allows him to make these strategic calls with more authority.