Edwin Meese III

Edwin Meese III is the former Attorney General of the United States and an Adjunct Fellow with Discovery Institute. Meese also serves as a Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Emeritus at the Heritage Foundation's Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.

Beginning in 1967 he worked in various capacities for California Governor Reagan; as secretary on clemency and crime issues, as an executive assistant, as chief of staff and as a senior advisor on policy issues. Between 1974 and 1977, Mr. Meese worked for Rohr Industries in California and had a solo law practice. He accepted a position with the law school of the University of San Diego in 1977, became a professor of law and Director of the school’s Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.

From 1981 to 1985, Mr. Meese held the position of counselor to President Reagan. During this time he was a member of the National Security Council and chaired the Domestic Policy Council and the National Drug Policy Board. Appointed by President Reagan, he became the 75th Attorney General on February 25th, 1985. He published his memoir in 1992, entitled "With Reagan: The Inside Story."

Archives

Invasive and Ineffective

_{Edwin Meese III
June 7, 2007}

Proponents of the latest Senate effort to change the nation’s immigration laws emphasize border security. Indeed, the very title of the bill, the “Secure Borders Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007,” says so. This reflects public opinion. Surveys over the past two years consistently show that over two-thirds of our citizens believe border security should be the first priority in any immigration reform plan. Unfortunately, the Senate bill offers little border security protection beyond what is already provided in existing federal laws. Furthermore, the new proposal creates a set of conditions virtually guaranteed to spark a surge of illegal aliens crossing our borders the moment the new provisions go into effect. Let’s look at the …

An Amnesty by Any Other Name…

_{Edwin Meese III
May 24, 2006}

In the debate over immigration, “amnesty” has become something of a dirty word. Some opponents of the immigration bill being debated in the Senate assert that it would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Supporters claim it would do no such thing. Instead, they say, it lays out a road map by which illegal aliens can earn citizenship. Perhaps I can shed some light. Two decades ago, while serving as attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, I was in the thick of things as Congress debated the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The situation today bears uncanny similarities to what we went through then. In the mid-80’s, many members of Congress — pushed by the Democratic majority in the House and the Select Commission on Immigration and …