More on “An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring in the Department of Justice Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program”

Brian Leiter and others have highlighted the recent report on the politicization of hiring in the U.S. Department of Justice.  There were specific litmus tests apparently applied to immigration-related positions:

“In the Executive Office for Immigration Review, upon learning that a significant number of EOIR’s Honors Program candidates had been deselected, Deputy Director Kevin Ohlson reviewed the deselected candidates’ applications as well as a few applications of candidates who were approved for interviews. Ohlson told us that it appeared that `individuals at the Department were rejecting any of our candidates who could be construed as . . . left-wing’ or who were `perceived, based on their applications and résumés and so forth, as being more liberal.’ Ohlson said that he reached this conclusion based on the fact that many of the deselected candidates had had internships with organizations such as Human Rights Watch or the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), or had assisted in defending someone held at Guantánamo Bay.” An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring in the Department of Justice Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program, USDOJ OIG, OPR, June 24, 2008.

KJ