The ACLU's Demands of the Attorney General Nominee

Here's what Michael Mukasey has to do to win the ACLU's love. An excerpt:

The Senate should refuse to confirm Michael Mukasey or any nominee unless the nominee promises under oath to take the following four steps within the first thirty days in office:

• Turn over to the Judiciary Committee all documents in the Justice Department's possession concerning the authorization to monitor any phone call in the United States without a warrant, and concerning the use of national security letters to obtain documents anywhere in America.

• Turn over to the Judiciary Committee all documents in the Justice Department's possession authorizing the use of any interrogation or detention practices that are not authorized by the Army Field Manual on Interrogations, as well as any documents interpreting or analyzing any legal prohibitions on torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

• Appoint an outside special counsel for the investigation and, if appropriate, prosecution of any person who violated federal laws protecting detainees against torture and abuse, or who violated federal laws against wiretapping within the United States without a warrant.

• Create a blue-ribbon committee of civil rights advisors to focus on restoring the Civil Rights Division to its historic role as the nation's premier and nonpartisan civil rights enforcement agency.

I question the use of "blue-ribbon committee" type operations, but the rest of it is a good start in ensuring the new guy sees his job as more protecting and defending the Constitution than protecting and defending his boss's behind.