Read the full text of John Ashcroft's letter of resignation to President Bush.
The attorney general became known for his bare knuckle tactics in locking up foreigners and suspected terrorists, and he became a political lightening rod for his tactics in the war on terror.
But while he earned the ire of civil libertarians and librarians alike for his support of the Patriot Act, others celebrated the nation's top lawmaker for his defense of conservative causes -- including going after the medical records of abortion providers, easing up gun laws and advocating for a more aggressive use of the death penalty.
David Cole, Georgetown University Law School professor, legal affairs correspondent for The Nation, and a columnist for Legal Times. He is also the author of "No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System."
Shannen Coffin, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department Civil Division under John Aschroft. He is now a partner at the law firm of Steptoe
and Johnson and writes for the National Review Online.
Harvey Silverglate, counsel to the Boston law firm of Good and Cormier. He is also, among other things, a writer for the Boston Phoenix.
