Did Interrogation Lawyers Used Bad Judgment?

Cited: Reuters

The harsh interrogation techniques that were reportedly used on terrorism suspects were authorized by Bush administration attorneys who, according to the Department of Justice investigation into the allegations of misconduct, used “poor judgment”. That was the determination of the DOJ on February 19 when they summarize the lengthy ethics report

The department’s Office of Professional Responsibility had originally found that the lawyers, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, had engaged in professional misconduct, according to a letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee leaders.

The harsh techniques they authorized included waterboarding of terrorism suspects as the Bush administration tried to elicit intelligence after the September 11, 2001, attacks for capturing or killing anti-American al Qaeda militants.

However, Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis reviewed the ethics report as well as responses by Yoo and Bybee and decided not to adopt that finding, according to the letter by Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich.

Instead, Margolis found that they “exercised poor judgment in connection with the drafting of the pertinent memoranda,” the letter said.

Because the two lawyers are no longer employed by the agency, no government disciplinary action would be pursued, Weich said. The Justice Department declined to comment on the report, which was sent to Congress on Friday.

Poor judgment “differs from professional misconduct in that an attorney may act inappropriately and thus exhibit poor judgment even though he or she may not have violated or acted in reckless disregard of a clear obligation or standard,” the letter said.

During the Bush administration, Yoo and Bybee were high-ranking officials in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Yoo is now a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and Bybee is a federal appeals court judge.

The report likely will anger human rights groups who have pushed the Obama administration to pursue criminal charges, arguing that the harsh interrogations, which included a technique known as waterboarding, were forms of torture.

But the decision not to prosecute Yoo and Bybee won praise from Representative Lamar Smith, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

“It is important that future government lawyers know that their efforts to protect Americans will not be criminalized by future administrations,” Smith said. “They did their best to follow the law and provide intelligence officials with legal guidelines for the use of strong tactics to obtain actionable intelligence from terrorist suspects.”

Waterboarding, which induces the sensation of drowning, was used on three terrorism suspects including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has said he was the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah.

President Barack Obama has said he preferred to look forward beyond the Bush administration but that has been complicated by the ethics report and a decision by his attorney general, Eric Holder, who asked a prosecutor to look into allegations of abuse on prisoners by CIA interrogators.

————————————-

My Take: I am one of those people who believes that when we caught those SOBs that we should of shot them. Al Qaeda would have been the same to American who had attacked their country, without asking any questions. But, because the way our laws are written we provide a Monmouth County drug crimes lawyer to anyone who cannot afford one.

We even provide the worst kind of criminal, sex offenders, with a Manasquan NJ criminal defense lawyer. On one hand, I can understand that it is only fair that they get a proper defense. But on the other hand, I think they should be skinned alive. I am sorry, but Al Qaeda is right up there next to sex offenders on my list of those who should get the worst punishment.

Because of the way our laws are, I wouldn’t put it past an Al Qaeda member to hire a Brockville criminal attorney in advance of committing a crime. That way when they get their phone call they know who to call. I wonder if his followers could sue him for fraud for falsely calling himself a prophet. Then they would be the ones needing an Ottawa fraud attorney.

—————————————-

Related Resources

Nonconformity to Warranty

A California lemon law attorney will tell you that a vehicle must contain a non-conformity covered by the warranty that substantially impairs the vehicle’s use, value or safety to the buyer/lessee. The CA lemon law, generally, will not apply to vehicles with trivial or minor defects. Nevertheless, each case must be judged independently taking into account the particular needs and expectations of the particular vehicle’s owner/lessee. If this element is met, the vehicle is a lemon. The vehicle’s owner/lessee will be entitled to a replacement vehicle or a refund of the vehicle’s purchase/lease price.

Article Rating: