Profile of Influence of Regent University Law School on Justice Department

Last week we posted an entry on the influence of Regent University, founded by Pat Robertson, in the Bush Administration, especially the Department of Justice. The Boston Globe printed a relatively long piece today, examining Regent University's law school.

This is a quote from the article: Not long ago, it was rare for Regent graduates to join the federal government. But in 2001, the Bush administration picked the dean of Regent's government school, Kay Coles James , to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management -- essentially the head of human resources for the executive branch. The doors of opportunity for government jobs were thrown open to Regent alumni.

The article goes on to note that the law school, from which Monica Goodling graduated, is a "fourth tier" law school, essentially ranked at 136th place among American law schools. The article describes Goodling as follows: Documents show that Goodling, who has asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying before Congress, was one of a handful of officials overseeing the firings. She helped install Timothy Griffin , the Karl Rove aide and her former boss at the Republican National Committee, as a replacement US attorney in Arkansas.

Because Goodling graduated from Regent in 1999 and has scant prosecutorial experience, her qualifications to evaluate the performance of US attorneys have come under fire. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked at a hearing: "Should we be concerned with the experience level of the people who are making these highly significant decisions?"

Clearly what matters more than experience or competence or academic achievement with the Bush Administration is being on the right side of conservative issues. A person with as little credentials as Monica Goodling can get hired because she is a true believer.