Judging John Yoo-The ruling that could actually lead to accountability for torture.

[kpete]

Judging John Yoo
The ruling that could actually lead to accountability for torture.
By Ady BarkanPosted Friday, June 19, 2009, at 1:53 PM ET

In 2002, Justice Department lawyer John Yoo wrote a memo recommending that Jose Padilla, arrested in Chicago in the wake of 9/11 and held on suspicion of plotting a dirty-bomb attack, be classified as an enemy combatant. Yoo also wrote memos arguing that American law does not prevent the president from ordering such enemy combatants tortured. This January, after enduring years of abuse in prison, Padilla sued Yoo for violating his constitutional rights.

And a week ago, Judge Jeffrey White ruled that Padilla's allegations were plausible enough to justify denying Yoo's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. White was appointed by George W. Bush the year Yoo was writing his memos.

White's decision is the first of its kind: Until now, although other lawsuits have been brought, no government official has faced personal liability for his role in the torture or deaths of detainees. But it probably won't be the last. These cases are just beginning to address the fraught questions of justice that have emerged in the aftermath of the Bush era—what atrocities were committed in the name of national security, who bears responsibility, and how should they be punished? Although neither the Obama administration nor most members of Congress want to deal with these questions directly, they're even more opposed to letting judges (and juries) take a crack at them. Padilla v. Yoo is an example of a surprising development: a conservative judge putting pressure on the Democrats in Washington to create some system of accountability for the Bush administration. It could help spawn more such rulings.

more:
http://www.slate.com/id/2220805/pagenum/all/#p2

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. I don't see it as a surprising development at all.

Any top-down move to prosecute the offenders in the previous administration could only be seen as partisan vindictiveness. Any move to accountability would HAVE to come from below, allowing the current administration to simply keep out of the way.

And it would not surprise me if a conservative judge made the ruling that starts the process - a REAL conservative, who believes in the law, rather than a RW ideologue. A true conservative would not see he has any option, because the law is the law.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Yes, yes, yes!!! +1

:thumbsup:

[Uncle Joe]

3. I hope and pray your point of view is the correct one.

I must confess to having serious reservations about the judiciaries respect for the rule of law and sense of justice after 12/12/00.

I would imagine the ultimate result of Obama's strategy in trusting the court to make the case in a judicious manner could have severe consequences should it reach the same (for all practical purposes) high court which decided Bush vs Gore.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

4. Nice article on the lawyer who filed this suit

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/06/22/news/metro/doc4a3f4c2395e7a596863609.txt

Of course, all the comments are from pro-torture readers.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

5. Wonder what U.C. Berkeley's position is

on professors who are defendants in a criminal Federal case. Wonder if Yoo also teaches a required course or if he is the only one teaching a particular required course. If not, why would any students attend his classes much less be in the same room with him? God, he needs to go.:mad: