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Starr served as a federal Court of Appeals judge and also at another time as Solicitor General. He received the most publicity for his tenure as Independent Counsel while Bill Clinton was U.S. president. Starr was initially appointed to investigate the suicide death of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster and the Whitewater real estate investments of Bill Clinton. The three-judge panel charged with administering the Independent Counsel Act later expanded the inquiry into numerous areas including an extramarital affair that Bill Clinton had with Monica Lewinsky. After several years of investigation Starr filed the Starr Report which alleged that Bill Clinton had lied about existence of the affair during a sworndeposition. The allegation opened the door for the impeachment of Bill Clinton and the five-year suspension of Clinton's law license.
| Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
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Starr currently serves as the president ofBaylor University in Waco, Texas and is on the board of trustees at the Baylor College of Medicine.
Ken Starr was born near Vernon, Texas, and was raised in Centerville. His father was a minister in the Churches of Christ who also worked as a barber. His great-uncle, Cornelius Vander Starr, founded American International Group (AIG).
Some financial firms are simply “too big to fail,” it seems; Washington will not let them collapse, no matter what the president claims.
Three governmental investigative bodies have now pored through the AIG wreckage and turned up disturbing facts—the House Committee on Oversight and Reform; the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which will make its report at year’s end; and the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which issued its report on AIG in June.
The five-member COP, chaired by Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, has produced the most devastating and comprehensive account so far. Unanimously adopted by its bipartisan members, it provides alarming insights that should be fodder for the larger debate many citizens long to hear—why Washington rushed to forgive the very interests that produced this mess, while innocent others were made to suffer the consequences. The Congressional panel’s critique helps explain why bankers and their Washington allies do not want Elizabeth Warren to chair the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The report concludes that the Federal Reserve Board’s intimate relations with the leading powers of Wall Street—the same banks that benefited most from the government’s massive bailout—influenced its strategic decisions on AIG. The panel accuses the Fed and the Treasury Department of brushing aside alternative approaches that would have saved tens of billions in public funds by making these same banks “share the pain.”
Bailing out AIG effectively meant rescuing Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch (as well as a dozens of European banks) from huge losses. Those financial institutions played the derivatives game with AIG, the esoteric practice of placing financial bets on future events. AIG lost its bets, which led to its collapse. But other gamblers—the counterparties in AIG’s derivative deals—were made whole on their bets, paid off 100 cents on the dollar. Taxpayers got stuck with the bill.
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Starr was not drafted for military service during the Vietnam War, as he was classified 4-F, because of a case of psoriasis.[9]
Appointment
In August 1994 pursuant to the newly-reenacted independent counsel law, Starr was appointed by a three-judge panel to continue the Whitewater investigation. He replaced Robert B. Fiske, a moderate Republican who had been appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno.[11] Although Starr and other independent counsels were later criticized as unaccountable and unstoppable, the statute gave the attorney general and the Special Division the authority to remove an independent counsel.
Starr took the position part-time and remained active with his law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, as this was permitted by statute and was also the norm with previous independent counsel investigations .[12] As time went on, however, Starr was increasingly criticized for alleged conflicts of intereststemming from his continuing association with Kirkland & Ellis. Kirkland, like several other major law firms, was representing clients in litigation with the government, including tobacco companies and auto manufacturers. The firm itself was being sued by the Resolution Trust Company, a government agency involved in the Whitewater matter. Additionally, Starr's own actions were challenged because Starr had, on one occasion, talked with lawyers for Paula Jones...
You can learn more about the Supreme Court case that allowed Jones to press her case, or use our links and resources section to surf the Web for more. And our discussion area is always open.
The battle was immensely costly, and a huge Goddamned waste of time as nobody gave a flying F about Bill Clinton's blowjobs. While the Supreme court should have been considering serious cases, it was dickering over this bullshit.
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Investigation of the death of Vince Foster
Main articles: Vincent Foster and Arkansas Project
On October 10, 1997, Starr's report on the death of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster, drafted largely by Starr's deputy Brett Kavanaugh, was released to the public by the Special Division. The report agrees with the findings of previous independent counsel Robert B. Fiske that Foster committed suicide at Fort Marcy Park, and that his suicide was caused primarily by undiagnosed and untreated depression. As CNN explained on February 28, 1997, "The [Starr] report refutes claims by conservative political organizations that Foster was the victim of a murder plot and coverup," but "despite those findings, right-wing political groups have continued to allege that there was more to the death and that the president and first lady tried to cover it up."[14] CNN also noted that organizations pushing the murder theory included the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, owned by billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, and Accuracy in Media, supported in part by Scaife's foundation.[15] Scaife's reporter on the Whitewater matter, Christopher Ruddy, was a frequent critic of Starr's handling of the case.[16]
[edit]Expansion of the investigation
The law conferred broad investigative powers on Starr and the other independent counsels named to investigate the administration, including the right to subpoena nearly anyone who might have information relevant to the particular investigation. Starr would later receive authority to conduct additional investigations, including the firing of White House Travel Office personnel, potential political abuse of confidential FBI files, Madison Guaranty, Rose Law Firm, Paula Jones law suit and, most notoriously, possible perjury and obstruction of justice to cover up President Clinton's sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The Lewinsky portion of the investigation included the secret taping of conversations between Lewinsky and coworker Linda Tripp, requests by Starr to tape Lewinsky's conversations with Clinton, and requests by Starr to compel Secret Service agents to testify about what they might have seen while guarding Clinton. With the investigation of Clinton's possible adultery, critics of Starr believed that he had crossed a line and was acting more as a political hit man than as a prosecutor.[17][18]
[edit]Lewinsky scandal - Paula Jones lawsuit
Main articles: Lewinsky scandal and Clinton v. Jones
In his deposition for the Paula Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky. On the basis of the evidence provided by Linda Tripp, a blue dress with Clinton's semen, Ken Starr concluded that this sworn testimony was false and perjurious.
During the deposition in the Jones case, Clinton was asked "Have you ever had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in Deposition Exhibit 1, as modified by the Court?" The definition included contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of a person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of that person, any contact of the genitals or anus of another person, or contact of one's genitals or anus and any part of another person's body either directly or through clothing.[19][20][21] The judge ordered that Clinton be given an opportunity to review the agreed definition. Clinton flatly denied having sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky.[22] Later, at the Starr grand jury, Clinton stated that he believed the definition of sexual relations agreed upon for the Jones deposition excluded his receiving oral sex.
Starr's investigation eventually led to the impeachment of President Clinton, with whom Starr shared Time's Man of the Year designation for 1998. Despite his impeachment, the president was acquitted in the subsequent trial before the United States Senate as all 45 Democrats and a smattering of Republicans sided with him.[23]
[edit]Second thoughts on DOJ request
In 2004, Starr expressed regret for ever having asked the Department of Justice to assign him to personally oversee the Lewinsky investigation, saying "the most fundamental thing that could have been done differently" would have been for somebody else to have investigated the matter.[24]
[edit]Political satire
As with many controversial figures, Kenneth Starr has been the subject of political satire. Both the book, And the Horse He Rode In On, by James Carville, and the stage play, Starr’s on Broadway, by Eric Zaccar, attempt to add a comedic, arguably negative light to Starr’s time as special prosecutor.
[edit]Post-Independent Counsel activities
After five years as independent counsel, Starr resigned and returned to private practice as an appellate lawyer and a visiting professor at New York University and the George Mason University School of Law. Starr worked as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in litigation. He was one of the lead attorneys in a class-action lawsuit filed by a coalition of liberal and conservative groups (including the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association) against the regulations created by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, known informally asMcCain-Feingold Act. In the case, Starr argued that the law is an unconstitutional abridgement of free speech.
On April 6, 2004, he was appointed dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law. He originally accepted a position at Pepperdine as the first dean of the newly created School of Public Policy in 1996; however, he withdrew from the appointment in 1998, several months after the Lewinsky controversy erupted. Critics charged that there was a conflict of interest due to substantial donations to Pepperdine from billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, a Clinton critic who funded many media outlets attacking the president. (Scaife's money, however, supported the Foster-was-murdered theory, according to CNN, and Scaife defunded The American Spectator after it endorsed Starr's conclusion of suicide and mocked a Scaife-aided book.[15]) In 2004, some five years after President Clinton's impeachment, Starr was again offered a Pepperdine position at the School of Law and this time accepted it.
[edit]Death penalty cases
In 2005, Starr worked to overturn the death sentence of Robin Lovitt, who was on Virginia'sDeath Row for murdering a man during a robbery in 1998. Starr provided his services to Lovitt pro bono. On October 3, 2005, the Supreme Court denied certiorari. (Lovitt was granted clemency and had his sentence commuted to life in prison without parole, on November 29, 2005, by GovernorMark Warner of Virginia.)
On January 26, 2006, the defense team of convicted murderer Michael Morales (which included Starr) sent letters to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger requesting clemency for Morales.[25] Letters purportedly from the jurors who determined Morales's death sentence were included in the package sent to Schwarzenegger.
[edit]Sarbanes–Oxley
Ken Starr announced that he would challenge the portion of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act that gives authority to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).[26][27]
[edit]Morse v. Frederick
Main article: Morse v. Frederick
On May 4, 2006, Starr announced that he would represent the school board of Juneau, Alaska, in its appeal to the United States Supreme Court in a case brought by a former student, Joseph Frederick. The former student unfurled a banner at a school sponsored event saying "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" as the Olympic torch was passing through Juneau, prior to arriving in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The board decided to suspend the student. The student then sued and won at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which stated that the board violated the student's first amendment right to free speech.[28] On August 28, 2006, Starr filed a writ of certiorari for a hearing with the Supreme Court.[29] On June 21, 2007, in an opinion authored byChief Justice John Roberts, the Court ruled in favor of Starr's client, finding that "a principal may, consistent with the First Amendment, restrict student speech at a school event, when that speech is reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use."[30]
[edit]Blackwater Security Consulting v. Nordan (No. 06-857)
Starr continues to represent Blackwater in a case involving the deaths of four unarmed civilians killed by Blackwater contractors in Fallujah, Iraq in March 2004.[31]
[edit]California Proposition 8 post-election lawsuits
Main article: Lawsuits to overturn Proposition 8
On December 19, 2008, Proposition 8 supporters named Starr to represent them in post-election lawsuits to be heard by the Supreme Court of California. Opponents of the measure sought to overturn it as a violation of fundamental rights, while supporters sought to invalidate the 18,000same-sex marriages performed in the state before Proposition 8 passed.[32] Oral arguments took place on March 5, 2009, in San Francisco.
Starr argued that "Prop. 8 was a modest measure that left the rights of same-sex couples undisturbed under California's domestic-partner laws and other statutes banning discrimination based on sexual orientation", to the agreement of most of the judges.[33] The main issue that arose during the oral argument included the meaning of the word "inalienable", and to which extent this word goes when used in Article I of the Californian Constitution. Christopher Krueger of theattorney general's office said that inalienable rights may not be stripped away by the initiative process. Starr countered that "rights are important, but they don't go to structure. ... rights are ultimately defined by the people."[34]
The court ultimately held that the measure was valid and effective, but would not be applied retroactively to marriages performed prior to its enactment.
[edit]Defense of Jeffrey Epstein
In 2007, Starr joined the legal team of Palm Beach millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was criminally accused of the statutory rape of numerous underaged high school students.[35]Epstein would later plea bargain to plead guilty to several charges of soliciting prostitutes and serve 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach jail. [1]
[edit]President of Baylor University
Starr was Louise L. Morrison Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University, when on February 15, 2010, Baylor University announced that it would introduce Starr as its newest president.[5] Starr became Baylor's 14th president, replacing John Lilley who was ousted in mid-2008 (interim presidents are not counted in the list of Baylor's presidents).[36] Starr was introduced as the new president on June 1, 2010.[37]
Within his first two weeks at the helm, Starr was immediately plunged into "leading the charge" to keep the university in the Big 12 Conference for athletics.[38]
The official inauguration of Ken Starr as the 14th president of Baylor University was held Friday, September 17, 2010, where Stephen L. Carter was the keynote speaker.[39]
[edit]Published works
- First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life, Kenneth W. Starr, Grand Central Publishing, October 2003, ISBN 0-446-69130-5
[edit]See also
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
- George H. W. Bush Supreme Court candidates
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