Reagan's DOJ Prosecuted Texas Sheriff for Waterboarding Prisoners

[kpete]

Reagan's DOJ Prosecuted Texas Sheriff for Waterboarding Prisoners

Ignoring the 1983 case is just one of the flagrant violations committed by Bush lawyers who crafted the newly released "torture memos."

George W. Bush’s Justice Department said subjecting a person to the near-drowning of waterboarding was not a crime and didn’t even cause pain, but Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department thought otherwise, prosecuting a Texas sheriff and three deputies for using the practice to get confessions.

Federal prosecutors secured a 10-year sentence against the sheriff and four years in prison for the deputies. But that 1983 case – which would seem to be directly on point for a legal analysis on waterboarding two decades later – was never mentioned in the four Bush administration opinions released last week.

more at:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/28/725206/-WOW!-Reagan-DoJ-convicted-TX-Sheriff-for-waterboarding-in-1983
and
http://www.politicalgroove.com/war/14526-reagans-doj-prosecuted-texas-sheriff-waterboarding-prisoners.html

[rfranklin]

1. How inconvenient! Like the Bush appointment, it should not...

be considered as setting a legal precedent.

[L. Coyote]

2. Reagan on Torture Prosecution = QUOTE

Reagan on Torture Prosecution

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7098

Reagan on torture prosecution, via Andrew Sullivan, from the days before George W. Bush decided how to use signing statements for evil, rather than good...
From his signing statement ratifying the UN Convention on Torture from 1984:

"The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention . It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.

The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called 'universal jurisdiction.' Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5540028&mesg_id=5540028

[panader0]

3. Good find. K&R