In California, the position of Attorney General is awarded through a partisan election. Despite this, Californians have a right to expect that the Attorney General will act above partisanship and will ensure that the state’s Department of Justice will be just to all Californians, regardless of whether they share the Attorney General’s political preferences. For this reason, displays of political propaganda within Department of Justice offices are ill-advised and unethical.

So when California Attorney General Bill Lockyer installed a Bush-bashing “art” exhibit in the Department of Justice cafeteria, many Californians objected, and understandably so. The California Department of Justice is endorsing a political view that 5.5 million Californians reject—according to the 2004 election results—and it is doing so in a government office building, with taxpayer money, along with the California Arts Council, another taxpayer-funded organization.

Just as church and state should be kept at arm’s length, so should politics and law enforcement. Bill Lockyer has made it clear that he can’t separate the two, and in so doing, he has cast doubt on his ability to administer justice fairly and without regard to ideology. He should resign, and Californians should demand to know why their tax money is paying for political propaganda.