Barry Yourgrau writes, performs & attempts humor in multimedia. His early works A Man Jumps Out of An Airplane & Wearing Dad's Head are considered surreal classics. His book Haunted Traveller plays with imaginary travels. Fans know him too from MTV, NPR & the film The Sadness of Sex in which he starred. For kids (?) there's recent NASTYbooks series. South African-born BY lives in NYC, travels a lot. Has great nostalgia for years in LA. More info @ www.yourgrau.com & www.nastybook.com.
Why Can Torture Attorney John Yoo Still Teach at Berkeley?
Dean Christopher Edley Berkeley Law School Office: 215 Boalt Hall Tel: 510-642-6483 Fax: 510-642-9893 Email Address: edley@law.berkeley.edu
John Yoo is one of the prime--if not the prime--formulators of the blatantly inadequate and outrageous legal opinions that justified the Bush administration's use of torture.
His opinions were not just idle academic theories: They helped further the actual practice of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Why is he still allowed to teach at Berkeley? Why hasn't or doesn't the Berkeley faculty senate or law-school senate demand his dismissal? Why haven't or aren't disbarment proceedings being brought against him? Scott Horton yesterday quoted an article in Vanity Fair excerpted from Philippe Sands' new expose of Bush's torture lawyers:
"Addington, Bybee, Gonzales, Haynes, and Yoo became, in effect, a torture team of lawyers, freeing the administration from the constraints of all international rules prohibiting abuse."
Horton then himself writes:
"They (Yoo et al) also missed the established precedent I have cited repeatedly here, namely United States v. Altstoetter, under the rule of which the conduct of the torture lawyers is a criminal act not shielded by any notions of government immunity."
Why is Berkeley providing employment to a likely war criminal? Why aren't thousands of people gathering at the Law School, demanding Yoo's ouster?
I agree with the sentiment, but exactly which actions, about which we know, warrant censure?
Yoo is not out there in the trenches water-boarding anyone -- his 'actions' were to write three memos, which (incorrectly) assessed the scope of presidential power. We don't silence people in this country for professing their wacky ideals (or at least we are not supposed to!)
That is why, until a court or other tribunal actually finds some sort of misconduct, censure (however morally right) is indistinguishable from smug political knee-jerking.
The issue isn't whether John Yoo is a convicted or indicted war criminal (tho let's see what the coming year brings...). The issue is whether his actions, about which we know, are so shameful on their face that they warrant renunciation and censure. I would say they eminently meet this standard. B.Y.
To be honest, even as a Berkeley Law student, I can't answer your question, at least not directly. But can share some observations from a student perspective, if you would like.
I begin by pointing out that I find the "torture memos" shocking, embarrassing, un-American, and shameful. I do not believe that they are representative of the country in which I live, and I fully support the United States Attorney General's full-scale retreat from the legal position articulated in Yoo's memos.
Now, to the meat of the issue: why don't we kick Yoo to the curb?
1) The criticism of Yoo often plays fast and loose with the facts. He is not a war criminal -- to be a criminal of ANY kind a person must be convicted of a crime. That just hasn't happened yet.
2) Barring such a conviction, expulsion of Yoo from the law school faculty would amount to political censorship on the basis of the wild unpopularity of his ideas. That kind of politically motivated dismissal, whether or not appropriate in this case, opens the door to the possibility of serious abuse down the line.
3) By letting Yoo steam in the pile of shit he has created, a valuable political end is actually being served -- the prolonged media coverage rubs the horrible nature of the current administration into the voters faces in a powerful way. That's some pretty tasty icing on the cake in an election year.
Those are my thoughts. It's just one perspective. I'll close with a final observation: despite his horrible politics, he has been a fantastic professor. I learned a lot in his class . . .
So much for a dialogue. Unsubscribed.