Johnsen still not confirmed

IU law professor Dawn Johnsen’s senate confirmation to President Barack Obama’s office of legal counsel continues to be delayed.

Obama appointed her to provide him with legal advice about policies the administration wants to implement. Her confirmation will have to wait until the Senate comes back from Easter break on April 20.

Johnsen was approved 11-7 by the Senate Judiciary Committee March 18. She said she wants to bring lawfulness back to the White House, citing failure of the Bush administration to comply with laws that were supposed to limit torture and surveillance programs.

Some Republican senators questioned her objectivity.

Johnsen worked for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League as legal director and at the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project.

But some of her colleagues at the IU Maurer School of Law disagree that she would be influenced by her involvement with abortion-rights groups.

“She’s a straight-shooter,” said Aviva Orenstein, a professor at the School of Law.

Johnsen is a member of the national board of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and is a co-chairwoman of the American Constitution Society Issue Group on Separation of Powers and Federalism.