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John Yoo: Why the President Can Order Snooping and Torture

John Yoo is the Berkeley law professor, former associate White House counsel and former law clerk to Clarence Thomas, who is responsible for the most extreme White House positions on torture and snooping:

  • It was Yoo who drafted the infamous memo saying the Geneva Conventions were "seriously flawed" and the U.S. wasn't bound by them in treating al Qaeda prisoners.
  • It was Yoo who drafted the memo with this definition of torture:

...it declared that, to be considered torture, techniques must produce lasting psychological damage or suffering "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death."

  • It was Yoo who said the President was not bound by FISA or federal eavesdropping laws when conducting electronic surveillance when one party was outside the United States. Yoo believes in wartime, the constitution gives the president unlimited power.

You can read his January 9 memo to William Haynes here. (pdf)

How did this 38 year old uber-conservative who has never met Bush or Cheney get to dictate our policy on torture and the war on terror? Mostly, it was fortuitous timing. The timing of the 9/11 attacks.

"He was the right person in the right place at the right time," said Georgetown University's David Cole, a constitutional scholar and administration critic. "Here was someone who had made his career developing arguments for unchecked power, who could cut and paste from his law review articles into memos that essentially told the president, 'You can do what you want.' "

Other constitutional scholars disagree with Yoo.

The majority view among constitutional scholars holds that the Framers purposely imposed checks on the executive branch, even in wartime, not least in reaction to the rule of Britain's King George III. On such issues, Yoo's critics contend, he went too far. "It's largely a misreading of original intent," Cole said. "The Framers, above all, were concerned about a strong executive."

In 2004, law students at Berkely circulated a petition seeking Yoo's repudiation or resignation from the faculty due to his extreme views.

Yoo, who is tenured, is still there.

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    "In 2004, law students at Berkely circulated a petition seeking Yoo's removal from the faculty due to his extreme views." "Seeking his removal" makes it sound as if we wanted the school to fire him. This is misleading. We asked Yoo to either repudiate his position, or resign of his own volition. There's a big difference. [Ed. you are correct and I made the change.]

    Re: John Yoo: Why the President Can Order Snooping (none / 0) (#2)
    by jen on Mon Dec 26, 2005 at 11:51:50 AM EST
    Poor Professor Yoo He shouldn't be domonized, his defenders are saying. Poor thing. Well, he isn't being demonized. It isn't demonization until it causes severe permanent psycological mental anguish.

    "Yoo believes in wartime, the constitution gives the president unlimited power." Well, I'm still confused, because I am unaware of any declaration of war by Congress (as required by the Constitution) in connection with the US military action in the Middle East. As I understand it, the fact that Bush may use phrases like "War on Terror" does not have the same legal effect of a declaration of war by Congress. So, if there's no official "war" at this time then what is the relevance of Yoo's opinions regarding presidential power during a war? Am I missing something here? Is the administration missing something here?

    Re: John Yoo: Why the President Can Order Snooping (none / 0) (#4)
    by Sailor on Mon Dec 26, 2005 at 02:39:27 PM EST
    yoo and abu gonzales should be disbarred. Advocating against signed treaties and the US Constitution should be reason enough. regarding the WOT:
    President Bush: I don’t think you can win it.
    So bush is saying an undeclared war that can never be won gives him the right to spy on americans, hold them secretly forever and torture them. In the meantime he declares it's the media reporting these things, not him performing them, that threatens america.

    Re: John Yoo: Why the President Can Order Snooping (none / 0) (#5)
    by Lora on Tue Dec 27, 2005 at 03:49:10 PM EST
    How the H did Yoo get to Berkeley in the first place? Berkeley, what happened to you?