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Friday, April 24, 2009
Another example of the media and politcians who have no idea what they are talking about…
As many of you know who have followed this particular current event, the NYT, other media, and several politicians have been calling for Jay Bybee’s impeachment or resignation. Bybee is the author of one of the now infamous “torture memos” and was appointed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by Bush in 2003. Let me start with 2 disclaimers. One, Bybee was my Con Law professor in law school, and two, I am a die-hard liberal who does not believe that the US should be using any interrogation methods that could possibly be construed as “torture” whether it fits the legal definition or not.
That being said, I think that any criticism of Bybee let alone calling for his impeachment or resignation is outrageous. My guess would be that most of his critics either never actually read the memo or do not have the legal background/training to understand it, although it is clearly written without much legal jargon.
Let me also say that when I knew him in law school, before he became an assistant AG in the White House Office of Legal Counsel, I had no idea that he was a “conservative” (and I am not exactly sure that he is other than the fact that he worked for the Bush admin and was apparently liked and respected enough by - and aligned with - Bush to be appointed to the Appeals Court). What I did know was that he was a brilliant mind, especially in the area of Constitutional Law. At the time, I considered him to be the brightest of all my law professors - by far. And, as I said, he never gave any inkling that he was conservative or liberal or anything but a brilliant law scholar.
Anyway, I have read the infamous memo, although not recently. In my (legally trained) opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the memo whatsoever. It is a typical and straightforward legal opinion with little if any subjectivity. I see no errors in judgment or logic. While it is clear from the memo that it is written in order to please or appease the administration, it seems to be intellectually and legally honest, at least to me. In fact, he specifically says several times in the memo that he is not sure how a US Court would interpret the specific statute in question (the memo mostly addresses the US statute which proscribes torture and does not address, I don’t think, international law or treaties) since no one has ever been prosecuted under it.
In any case, I think it is outrageous that he is getting criticized for this memo let alone being called on to resign or be impeached. I encourage anyone who is interested to read the memo and voice their opinion herein. And remember that I am a flaming liberal so if I have any agenda at all it is to for me to criticize Bybee and the memo as well. Here is the link to the memo:
news.findlaw.com/nytimes/docs/doj/bybee80102mem.pdf