It might normally be hard to root for someone like Jose Padilla. He is a former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam and allegedly attended terrorist training camps in Central Asia, then was arrested coming through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport with $10,000 in cash and a list of suspected Al Queda agents. Last year, he was convicted in Florida on charges he was part of an overseas terrorist network. But when his opponent is John Yoo, it’s an easy call as to who has done greater harm to the interests of Justice in the United States.
Padilla’s attorneys filed suit in federal court in California against the former deputy assistant Attorney General who drafted the so called “Torture Memos” for his bosses in the Bush Administration. Included in the memos are such gems as: "There is a category of behavior not covered by the legal system ...If you were an illegal combatant, you didn’t deserve the protection of the laws of war... They were tried in a military court, and executed"; and Congress has no power to "tie the President’s hands in regard to torture as an interrogation technique."
Now, incredibly, the former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, teaches law at UC Berkely. The suit was filed by Jonathan Freiman of Yale Law School, Yoo’s alma mater. Freiman issued a statement, saying: “John Yoo was central to the justification and creation of the torture system. Without his legal green light, it never could have happened. The Torture Memos are a cynical how-to guide for government officials eager to break the law. . .What Yoo seems to have forgotten is that lawyers are not above the law.”
Here is a copy of the lawsuit.
Alan Milstein
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