Focus on this artwork and explore the Spirit of Justice and the Attorneys General.
In 1986, the statue was seen behind then–Attorney General Edwin Meese III as he discussed a report on pornography.
In 2002, under John Ashcroft, curtains were installed blocking the statue from view during speeches. The curtains were first used on a rental basis during the administration of Dick Thornburgh. Justice officials long insisted that the curtains were put up to improve the room's use as a television backdrop and that Ashcroft had nothing to do with it. Ashcroft's successor, Alberto Gonzales, removed the curtains in June 2005.
On May 7, 2007, National Journal's "Inside Washington" column reported that it was Monica Goodling who ordered drapes to be placed over the partially nude Spirit of Justice statue during Ashcroft's tenure as Attorney General. At the time, the department spent $8,000 on blue drapes to hide the two aluminum statues, according to spokesman Shane Hix.
statue Edwin Meese a report on pornography Alberto Gonzales John Ashcroft Edwin Meese III aluminum Dick Thornburgh Monica Goodling