Janet Reno | Biography

Janet Reno served as U.S. attorney general in President Bill Clinton's administration, from February 1993 until January 2001. Reno, who became the first women to hold this office, previously served as a state prosecutor. During her eight years as attorney general, Reno became a controversial figure. Unlike other attorneys general who have close political ties to the president, Reno's controversies dealt primarily with her official actions but at times congressional leaders accused her of shielding Clinton administration misconduct. She drew criticism for a series of decisions, including the Brand Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas, her refusal to authorize independent investigations of alleged campaign finance violations by Vice President Al Gore, and her handling of the Elian Gonzalez case.

Reno was born on July 21, 1938 in Miami, Florida. After graduating from Cornell University in 1960, Reno attended Harvard Law School. One of just a handful of women in her class, Reno also found it hard to land a job after she graduated in 1963.

By the early 1970s she had become a staff attorney for several Florida legislative committees. Her work involved the revision of the Florida courts and Florida criminal laws, largely administrative and editorial positions. She finally got a chance to practice criminal law when the Dade County, Florida state attorney's office, hired her in 1973. As a county attorney, Reno was placed in charge of the county's juvenile division, which handled all juvenile cases in and around Miami.

After a brief foray into private practice, Reno returned to the county office when she was named state attorney in 1978. Although she was appointed to fill out the remaining few months of the prior attorney's term, Reno filed for election and won that fall. Once ensconced in office, Reno proved to be a savvy politician, easily winning reelection four more times.

Dade County is a large district to manage. Reno, with her administrative experience in state government and in the juvenile division, worked to modernize the office and to implement new ways of handling cases and criminals. She focused resources to apprehend and convict career criminals and she established the first drug court in the United States. This type of court, which has been growing in popularity, gives the judge the discretion of diverting non-violent criminal with drug problems into assessment and treatment programs. It also calls for frequent intervention by the judge and support staff to monitor progress.

President Clinton appointed Reno attorney general in 1973, after his first choice withdrew amid embarrassing charges about failing to make Social Security payments for domestic help. Within weeks of her appointment, Reno entered had to make a series of tough decisions. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) raided the Waco, Texas compound occupied by the Branch Davidian religious cult. A gunfight ensued, with four ATF agents losing their lives as well as six cult members. Over the next seven weeks a tense standoff failed to persuade David Koresh, the cult's leader, to have everyone turn in their weapons and leave the compound. On April 19, 1973, Reno ordered an assault. Soon the compound was in flames, as cult members set the structures on fire. In the end 86 cult members dies, including 17 children. Reno drew criticism for the standoff and assault from some members of Congress, who argued that it had been mismanaged. Though she expressed sorrow for the way the stand off ended, she concluded that it had been the right thing to do in light of the information she had at the time.

Reno lobbied for many crime bills in Congress during her eight years. The 1994 crime bill achieved the most of any these laws, as it gave state and federal law enforcement agencies enormous sums of money. In addition, the bill provided money for cities to hire more police officers and for states to build more prisons. The act also placed more controls on who may not purchase guns.

Congressional Republicans attacked Reno throughout her second term, alleging that she shielded President Clinton and Vice President Gore from independent investigations into their involvement with campaign finance violations in the 1996 election. She remained firm, stating that she found no credible evidence that they had violated federal laws.

In 2000, Reno became embroiled in another political episode. She insisted that under immigration laws, five-year old Cuban immigrant Elian Gonzalez should be returned to the custody of his father in Cuba. When Gonzalez's Miami relatives refused to hand over Elian to federal officials, Reno ordered the April 22 raid of the relative's home. A federal court of appeals later upheld Reno's decision that immigration officials did not have to conduct an asylum hearing to see if Elian should remain in the United States.

Recent Updates

April 13, 2004: Reno, testifying before the federal 9/11 commission, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation should retain its responsibility for counterterrorism, despite communication and other internal faults. Source: New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/politics/14PANE.html, April 14, 2004.