Obama Renominates Controversial Law Prof to Head OLC
An Indiana law professor who drew fire over her abortion views has been renominated to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
President Obama renominated Dawn Johnsen, who once served as legal counsel to the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, according to the New York Times and The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Some Republicans have charged Johnsen is too extreme to head OLC.
Johnsen is among six people renominated by Obama after they failed to receive Senate confirmation. Besides Johnsen, they are Duke University law professor Christopher Schroeder to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy; Chicago lawyer Mary Smith to lead the Justice Department’s tax division; Craig Becker for the National Labor Relations Board; and Louis Butler Jr. and Edward Chen to be federal judges.
During her confirmation hearings, Johnsen was asked about a footnote she wrote 20 years ago in a U.S. Supreme Court brief. The footnote said forcing a woman to continue a pregnancy against her will was “disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude.”
