WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft warned Friday against judicial "encroachment" on presidential powers.
Ashcroft, who is leaving the Justice Department as soon as his successor is confirmed, addressed the National Lawyers Convention of the Federalist Society.
The society is dedicated to putting conservative judges on the federal bench.
In prepared remarks, Ashcroft spoke of "the danger that we face as a nation from excessive judicial encroachment into functions assigned to the president" by the Constitution.
"The major issues facing the nation were laid out before the people, who were given a full and open opportunity to judge the president's leadership" in the election, Ashcroft said.
But the judicial branch is injecting "itself into areas of executive action originally assigned to the discretion of the president," Ashcroft said. "These encroachments include some of the most fundamental aspects of the president's conduct of the war on terrorism."
Ashcroft did not give specifics, but this week a federal judge ruled that the administration could not set aside the Geneva Conventions for terror detainees without a hearing.
