Starr urges judges to go public; avoid his mistakes

Scott Sonner

Friday, June 9, 2000 | 4:47 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Lamenting his own failure to be more open with the public in the Whitewater investigation, Kenneth Starr urged judges to appear on television and use all media to better inform people about the justice system.

"I should have provided the public more, not less information," Starr said Friday in a speech to judges, lawyers and reporters at the National Judicial College.

"I felt for my part, I should just remain silent, not go on Sunday talk shows. I feel that was a real mistake," he said.

Starr, a former judge who was the independent counsel in the investigation that led to the impeachment of President Clinton, urged fellow judges to break from tradition to avoid making similar mistakes.

"Since the justice system is in fact for the people, why should we be shy about explaining our system to dispel misunderstandings and overcome any misinformation or misimpression that may be there?" Starr asked.

"Why shouldn't the chief judge or another appropriate judicial officer or administrator meet with the press on a regular basis to discuss the work of the courts?

"Why not appearances on your own community's local news programs?" he said.

Starr's comments opened a two-day conference "Courts and Media - Conflict and Cooperation" sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for the Courts and Media on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno.

It would be inappropriate for judges to discuss cases, but they could address things like, "What's expected of jurors? What's the role of a judge in a jury trial?" Starr said.

The former federal appeals court judge in Washington D.C. and ex-U.S. solicitor general who is writing a book on the Supreme Court said he disagrees with Justice Antonin Scalia's practice of banning media from his speeches.

"I think it is unfortunate. I don't think any other justice does embrace that rule," Starr said.

"The public would be better served and the Supreme Court would be better served if you saw the soaring intelligence and wit - whether you agree with him or not - of this individual."

Starr said he and his family refer to Whitewater as "the recent unpleasantness."

He said former White House aide Dick Morris outlined the scheme to "demonize the independent counsel" in his book, "Behind the Oval Office."

"It would have been better for me to have been simply making myself more available to answer the basic questions about the investigation, its origins, the mandate having come from the attorney general to us," Starr said.

"I should have done a certain amount of popular media, such as 'Larry King Live,' just to humanize it and do something about the demonization process that was under way," he said.

A more aggressive tactic might have been risky because "every word I uttered would be analyzed to see if any appropriate motion could be filed to take my law license away," he said.

But he said he should have done more to make it clear to the public that the attorney general authorized the investigation.

"These are serious potential charges that the attorney general decided," Starr said.

"When you are talking about possible perjury, possible intimidation of witnesses, possible obstruction of justice - those things have to be investigated when they involve high officers, especialy the highest officer of the United states, you can't turn a blind eye to that."

Attorney General Janet Reno could have helped build public confidence in the investigation and its outcome by offering more support for the effort, he said.

"It would have been helpful if the attorney general of the United States had been willing to say, 'This was my decision and I stand by that decision to have an investigation and to authorize Judge Starr to conduct an investigation.' She chose not to do that.

"It would have been helpful to provide public confidence - or at least public understanding - in the administration of justice," Starr said.