Former Attorney General Janet Reno had a controversial tenure as President Clinton’s Justice Department head, but she inspired so much respect among her colleagues that President Obama’s current Attorney General, Eric Holder, has a portrait of her hanging in his office.
Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson of the Office of Justice Programs mentioned this in a speech to the International Conference of Community Courts.
“In addition to being a remarkable leader, she was a personal mentor of mine – someone I admire so much because she recognized the potential of the justice system to effect real change,” said Robinson. “Attorney General Eric Holder – another strong believer in community justice – shares my respect – in fact, he keeps the official Department of Justice portrait in his office.”
Robinson praised Reno — who is now in poor health — for her record of expanding drug courts around the country.
Reno made headlines for her controversal role in an “international custody battle,” when she had a five-year-old boy, Elian Gonzalez, returned to Cuba after his mother brought him to the United States (but died in the effort). She also presided over the much-criticized siege of the Branch Davidians’ compound in Waco, Tex., which ended with 76 dead.
