John Yoo

Former Bush Official Wins Protection From Torture Lawsuit

AP | PAUL ELIAS | Posted 05.03.2012

SAN FRANCISCO — An appeals court on Wednesday tossed out a convicted terrorist's lawsuit accusing a high-ranking Bush administration lawyer who ...

Where Did All the Liberal Civil Liberties Advocates Go?

Noah Baron | Posted 04.26.2012

Noah Baron

If civil liberties mean anything to liberals, we need to start criticizing violations of those civil liberties regardless of who perpetrates them -- and that criticism must be done with the same urgency as always.

A Rainy Day in D.C., Marching to Close Guantanamo

Coleen Rowley | Posted 03.18.2012

Coleen Rowley

It's now 10 years after the indefinite detention prison of Guantanamo was created. With the recent passage of the National Defense Authorization Act broadening, the U.S. government seems to have given up on ever righting itself.

Al-Qaeda and John Yoo: Concerns and a Qualified Endorsement We Can Do Without

Dorian de Wind | Posted 12.12.2011

Dorian de Wind

Yoo, the mastermind of the infamous "torture memos" that provided "legal" justification for torture in the form of waterboarding, has now expressed his qualified support for the killing of al-Awlaki.

Ten Years After: Commemoration Without Agenda

Michael Roth | Posted 11.09.2011

Michael Roth

On this 10th anniversary of 9/11 let us simply acknowledge the claim that our painful memories still have on us. Let us recognize with piety that we still carry the traces of those traumatic events with us, and that we acknowledge their importance to us without trying to use them.

Dan Froomkin

Is Torture In America's Future As Well As In Our Country's Past?

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 09.03.2011

The Fourth of July is a joyous celebration of the United States' independence. And yet this country finds itself turning 235 at a morally precarious m...

The Fallacies of the Torture Debate

Craig Martin | Posted 07.19.2011

Craig Martin

In the famous ticking time bomb hypothetical, it is moral to torture one person in order to save the lives of thousands, that the right to life trumps the right to physical integrity and security. This is a false construct.

Why Bin Laden's Killing Is No Case For Torture

Doug Bandow | Posted 07.13.2011

Doug Bandow

Justice was served by bin Laden's death. But the Bush administration policy of torture deserves no credit. Never again should Washington, like Esau, sacrifice America's fundamental values for a mess of pottage.

Republicans On Torture, Post-Osama Bin Laden: Defending Against Prosecution?

Carla Seaquist | Posted 07.10.2011

Carla Seaquist

In these days since President Barack Obama announced that a SEAL team killed Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted terrorist, notice how quickly Re...

Why I'm Glad That Torture Works

Bruce Ledewitz | Posted 07.09.2011

Bruce Ledewitz

Why did the torture debate in recent years fail to engage fundamental morality? Why hasn't John Yoo's amorality banished him years ago from any voice in public debate?

Dan Froomkin

Torture May Have Slowed Hunt For Bin Laden, Not Hastened It

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 07.06.2011

Torture apologists are reaching precisely the wrong conclusion from the back-story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, say experienced interrogators and ...

NY Times: Harsh Interrogation Methods Played 'Small Role At Most' In Bin Laden's Capture

The New York Times | SCOTT SHANE and CHARLIE SAVAGE | Posted 07.03.2011

WASHINGTON — Did brutal interrogations produce the crucial intelligence that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden?...

Obama, War Powers, and Yoo

Robert J. Spitzer | Posted 05.28.2011

Robert J. Spitzer

Yoo's chief problem as a constitutional commentator is that his underlying constitutional analysis of presidential power is literally the opposite of what the Founders intended and wrote.

The Surveillance Memos, and a Suggestion for Jack Goldsmith

Jameel Jaffer | Posted 05.25.2011

Jameel Jaffer

Last week, almost five years after we filed our request under the Freedom of Information Act request, we managed to obtain two Bush administration legal memos about government surveillance.

Pundits Punch and Congress Cowers: Bill Bans All Gitmo Prisoner Transfers for Trial

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 05.25.2011

Daphne Eviatar

It would almost be funny that lawmakers give more credit to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Liz Cheney and alarmist Fox News anchors than to their own retired senior military leaders -- but only if the consequences weren't so serious.

Why Obama Should Welcome GOP Opposition to New START

Michael Lieberman | Posted 05.25.2011

Michael Lieberman

Failing to ratify START will have serious ramifications for other U.S. priorities around the world. Yet nuclear terrorism and reduced leverage on Iran are risks Republicans seem blithely willing to tolerate.

Wikileaks Cables Reveal Obama Administration Tried To Thwart Torture Prosecutions

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 05.25.2011

Daphne Eviatar

The Obama administration has done just what I thought it would: It's continued the Bush policy of interfering in other countries' attempts to apply the rule of law.

John Yoo, torture architect, remains unerringly wrong on facts and law

Human Rights First | Posted 05.25.2011

Human Rights First

Gabor Rona International Legal Director Torture architect Prof. John Yoo had an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal the other day, following the convict...

LA Times Apparently Just Googled 'START Treaty' to Write an Editorial

Richard Grenell | Posted 05.25.2011

Richard Grenell

There are very real objections to the new START Treaty -- but you won't read about those concerns on the editorial page of the LA Times.

Amanda Terkel

The Federalist Society: Where Are They Now?

HuffingtonPost.com | Amanda Terkel | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON -- The Federalist Society is one of the most powerful and unique organizations in the conservative orbit, describing itself as "a group of ...

Republican Senate Rejection of START Could Work in Disarmament's Favor

Russ Wellen | Posted 05.25.2011

Russ Wellen

If new START is rejected, does the Obama administration plan to retract some or all of that funding? Unlikely, I know, but were that to occur it would look a lot more like disarmament than new START.

Liz Cheney & Co. Have Little Faith in U.S. Law

Daphne Eviatar | Posted 05.25.2011

Daphne Eviatar

Liz Cheney may be right that excluding a witness derived by torture will make the government's case against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani more difficult. But in the end, a fair trial will do far more to defeat al Qaeda than will foregoing justice altogether.

Presidential Powers: Prudence or Perversion? Playing Jeopardy

Coleen Rowley | Posted 05.25.2011

Coleen Rowley

If we're playing Jeopardy, and we are, this would be the answer: It's the real no-brainer answer to the legal and ethical questions posed by the ...

Protesters Call For UC Berkeley Law Prof's Removal

AP | Posted 05.25.2011

BERKELEY, Calif. — Anti-war activists are protesting at the University of California, Berkeley to demand the removal of a law professor who used...

Unhappy Anniversary: Eight Years of Continuing Lawlessness

Shahid Buttar | Posted 05.25.2011

Shahid Buttar

The Defense Department now obstructs justice by suppressing evidence of its own criminal actions. This sordid history indicates the perverse depths to which our nation has unfortunately fallen.