Frontier Justice Dinner & Lecture- 2001

November 30, 2001

Cheyenne attorney Thomas L. Sansonetti was confirmed as Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division on Friday, November 30 - the day he spoke at the 2001 Frontier Justice dinner at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Sansonetti is currently the highest-ranking appointed official from Wyoming.

The inaugural Frontier Justice Symposium was held at the Historical Center in October 2000. Beginning with this event, a dinner will be held every other year to explore ideas for upcoming symposiums with committee members from the Wyoming Supreme Court, the University of Wyoming, the BBHC and the Cody Institute for Western American Studies.

Sansonetti has worked as an associate solicitor on energy and natural resource issues at the Interior Department under President Reagan, and in 1990 was named Solicitor for the Interior Department under the first Bush Administration. Sansonetti served as the Republican National Committee Rules Committee chairman between 1996 and 2000 and is a member of the Wyoming Republican State Committee. He also served two terms as the nation's youngest-ever Republican chair in the 1980s.

Speaking on current events ranging from gun control, the current political outlook to military tribunals; Sansonetti expanded on the current hot topic of racial profiling and detainee charges. He provided the following scenario, "What is the best use of security at airports? Who goes on and who doesn't? In the situation of an 80 year-old woman versus an Arab-American. How do you decide whom to search? Everyone? Which would mean even more delays, or use profiling?" Sansonetti believes such severe judicial measures, like military tribunals and detainees, should apply only to non-U.S. citizens, so to prevent any type of reoccurrence similar to the Japanese-American Internment Camps of World War II in which 120,000 people were detained, of which 70,000 were U.S. citizens.

On items related to his new position, Sansonetti stated that he will "vigorously enforce environmental laws. I'm no fan of polluters." In a Cody Enterprise article, he promises to pursue criminal prosecution and jail time for repeat offenders and those who do grave damage to the environment. If his former clients in the extractive industries disagree with his work, he recommends they lobby for new laws. However, Sansonetti's critics also state that when he was a Solicitor for the Interior Department, he put too much of his political baggage in the way of looking at the law.

Sansonetti could face controversy with upcoming environmental issues that affect Wyoming and the West, such as the repealing and reconsideration of the roadless rule, the snowmobiling ban in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, endangered species, the Clean Air Act, and oil and gas regulations.

The evening offered an interesting perspective from a Wyoming native turned Washington insider, and was a great kick-off to future Frontier Justice events.

Sponsors

BBHC and the University of Wyoming Law School were co-sponsors of this program. The Historical Center thanks the Supreme Court Historical Society for its support as a honorary sponsor.

For more information please contact Bob Pickering.

IMAGE:
N.C. Wyeth, (1882-1945).
Wild Bill Hickock at Cards, 1916.
Oil on canvas. Loan of Mr. & Mrs. W.D. Weiss.

Tom Sansonetti