Ex-Bush Lawyer Sued Over Torture Memos

Man Held For Years As Enemy Combatant Says Yoo Gave Legal "Green Light" For Interrogations

(AP)  Convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla sued a key architect of the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies Friday, claiming the official's legal arguments led to Padilla's alleged mistreatment and illegal detention at a Navy brig.

The lawsuit claims that John Yoo, a former senior Justice Department official, wrote several legal memos that led President Bush to designate Padilla as an enemy combatant shortly after the U.S. citizen was arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on suspicion of involvement in an al Qaeda plot.

Yoo at the time was deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel, which provided many of the main legal justifications for Bush administration policy on treatment of terror detainees.

The lawsuit, filed by Padilla and his mother, Estela Lebron, asks only $1 in damages, seeking mainly a judgment declaring that the policies violated the Constitution.

"This is ultimately about right and wrong, not money," said Padilla attorney Jonathan Freiman, a professor at Yale Law School.

Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, declined comment in an e-mail. His Los Angeles-based lawyer did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.

Padilla attorney Jonathan Freiman said Yoo was sued because "he gave the green light" to how to deal with Padilla, which ultimately led to his detention without criminal charge for 3½ years at a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in northern California, repeats Padilla's claims that he was subjected to extreme interrogation techniques and mistreatment he contends amounted to torture. Justice Department and Pentagon officials have repeatedly denied Padilla's claims.

The alleged mistreatment included forced hooding, deprivation of light and sleep, extreme heat and cold, stress positions, threats of death, use of drugs and introduction of odors into his cell. Padilla used these same claims in an attempt to be declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in Miami, but a federal judge rejected the attempt.

Padilla and two co-defendants were convicted in August of terrorism conspiracy and material support charges, with sentencing scheduled for next week in a Miami federal court. All three men face up to life in prison.

Padilla was added to the Miami terrorism case in late 2005 shortly before challenges to his military detention were to go before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was initially accused of plotting with al Qaeda to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a major U.S. city, but those charges were dropped.

Ultimately the jury in his trial was told only that Padilla was recruited by Islamic extremists in the U.S. and filled out an application to attend an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.

Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo in Washington contributed to this story.

[nevminer735]

Another case of the Bush administration bending the rules to suit the mindset of corrupt officials that think that they do not have to play by established rules. Most think that the rules do not apply to their actions.

[b-easy63]

"The alleged mistreatment included forced hooding, deprivation of light and sleep, extreme heat and cold, stress positions, threats of death, use of drugs and introduction of odors into his cell."

Folks are crying foul over these petty techniques??

Nancy Boy Sissy stuff right there ...
Posted by dowjones20k at 04:09 PM : Jan 05, 2008

Your ignorance is screaming.

1. sleep deprivation can lead to hallucinations and death

2. "Stress positions" can refer to anything from making someone stand for hours on their tiptoes to using a torture rack. It is a euphemism for causing severe discomfort or pain. Hog tying a person is a "stress position" as is twisting a persons body into a pretzel.

3. There have been deaths due to waterboarding

4. Use of lights, water and extreme temperatures were highlighted in the Nuremberg trials and resulted in convictions for torture for Nazis and Japanese--America led the way in convicting.

Waterboarding has been considered torture since used in the Spanish Inquisition and was declared so in America as early as the 1890s.

That said--never wish to subject a person to something you would not want to endure or would not want your family to endure--because the difference between who "gets it" is often a matter of degrees and sooner or later--what is used for just a certain group will ultimately be used on ordinary people who run afoul of someone in power. Taser? Anyone?

[b-easy63]

"Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, declined comment in an e-mail. His Los Angeles-based lawyer did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment."

An advocate for repression and torture at Berkley....talk about an oxymoron...LOL

[denn034]

Torture is wrong and a blight on American values. Such only hurts democracy worldwide. jh6379''s "Sue his azz" statement couldn''t be more right.

[feelfree1]

runningralph,

Re: "He conspired with enemies of the US to do terrorism."

Padilla is an American citizen, held for years, without charge, and tortured.

Unable to try this American citizen for the crimes that he was originally accused of, but not charged, the Bush regime dreamed up some alternate charges, which are irrelevant since this American was held for years, and tortured, without being charged.

It is clear that the vast majority of those held in the Bush regime secret prisons and torture centers, never posed the slightest threat to anyone.

Your cheering for the wrongful imprisonment and torture of Americans is sickening.

You sound like a Zionist.

[feelfree1]

k2345 at 03:00 PM,

Very good.

Please post often!

[p-syrus]

The University of California has no business hiring an advocate of torture & the mistreatment of prisioners in an educational capacity.

I strongly urge a national campaign to bring pressure on The Hastings College of Law, U.C. Berkeley Law School to fire Yoo.

War criminals belong in jails, not in classrooms.

[rej4sl-2009]

no ethnic slurs and/or epithets, no religious bigotry,

These boards are actually a joke - they do not enforce the terms and conditions on here - racism, bigotry, homophobia rule the roost and CBS refuse to do anything to moderate these boards even though they have rules of engagement which specifically prohibit this behavior. I jut wonder what mindset of person really believes that racism, sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry, are acceptable in this day and age - who believes that we are not all human beings and all of equal value in this world - it is beyond my comprehension why someone can be so small minded and unable to accept difference.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by jaimieandlis at 09:39 PM : Jan 05, 2008

Wow, somebody pick up this guy''s burning cross and hooded sheet and hand it back to him...

[runningralph]

Jose Padilla was a violent street thug who was recruited into Islam while in prison. He conspired with enemies of the US to do terrorism. Police can''t get witnesses to testify in court so he will walk. He''s not the first and he won''t be the last. Convicts are good tools for terrorists.

[sleepyric]

always wondered why they torture people when it''s more terrible to just make them watch Bush speeches on TV all day long????

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by kesac4650

So you accept the word of someone who is so far batting .000 on the truth?

Posted by jaimieandlis

Like your mother.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by RowdyTexan2

The torture part no, but I''m 100% with you on the rest.

[jncc1701]

jaimieandlis you are an ignorant ***.
If the court cannot protect Padilla it will not protect you jackass. This has nothing to do with Islam - if Padilla was making a dirty bomb arrest, charge and put him on trial. This is the American way, we do not lock people up on the the order of King George Bush and then concern ourselves with the finer points of legality. this was the whole point of the 4th and 14th amendments.
Of course you would know this if you were not an ignorant _________

John Yoo will be back as a nominee for Supreme Court - just watch. All these GOP *** kissers will be back if we are not careful.

[kesac4650]

Torture leaves a person broken in body and in mind. We don''t do that. We do apply phsychological efforts just as every other military effort has since the dawn of time.
We leave every one of those persons perfectly capable of performing every act and skill that they were ever capable of whether mental or physical.
We do not ask for confessions, but for information that can then be verified.
We have saved tens of thousands of American lives by doing this.

[nyckate]

frankbowers

All reports show that torture gets you lies - cause you see those being tortured will do or say anything to stop the torture - yes - even make up lies and stories.

Only a fool thinks that the torture will save America - but then again that does describe you and Bush both - fools in a fool''s paradise.

[frankbowers]

Thanks to you walt 1944 I hope it does occur and I hope they have to be inprisoned and water boarded to get the truth out them as, he gw bush declared with his new AG approveable that Waterboarding is not torture. Austin, Tx and Bowers

[frankbowers]

I have nothing to say to dowjones 20 but I hope you don''t die before you have (you shuld really make the time to confess to America and your God) an oppertunity to confess to God for your errors in your life and the message you type here in this article.
Mr Scorp79 you like I know this as fact I do not understand why more do not write the same thing as you did to remind the idiots who think different.
I have posted the same remark at leat 10 ot 12 times in the past 14 or so months.
I hope that gw bush and his friends in the white house follows the trail that Hitler took at the end as it would save America tons of money on law suits for all the citizens they have wroned. The best of good thoughts and the best of good byes from Austin, TX and Frank Bofwerws

[rowdytexan2]

Yowser! Where are the dead bodies? Where is the loot from robbery and stealing? Where is the proof he assaulted somebody? Where is the proof he was packing drugs or something?

The last time I understood the law is that ''bring me the body'' does not come into play until they have a dead body to bring for proof, stolen goods, illegal goods to be marketed, something!

I don''t suppose that since I don''t like Mr. Bush and his actions, know that he is a liar and war mongerer, know that he has conspired to commit war and death on another nation illegally, commited acts of torture, etc, etc, etc, that I can perform a citizens arrest, have everything in the White House and the Crawford Ranch confiscated as evidence, have all his co-conspirators rounded up and all their goods confiscated, throw all of them in jail, and have them tortured into admitting all the unspeakable crimes they''ve commited, would be applicable application of law? As a citizen of the United States, I don''t suppose this would fly, would it?

[neobrian-2009]

Eradicate Shrub !
Waterboard Him,Hang dead eye Dicck too !
Crimes Against Mankind,..Leading "THE Greedy Oil Perverts" into a War against All People,Both Foreign & Domestic ! Enough IS Enough ! NO MORE GOP!! NO MORE GOP!! NO MORE GOP !! Friends Don`t friends vote republicon.