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Judge: Ex-Bush lawyer can be sued over torture
SF Chronicle ^ | June 13, 2009 | Bob Egelko

Posted on 06/13/2009 5:17:20 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

A prisoner who says he was tortured while being held for nearly four years as a suspected terrorist can sue former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo for coming up with the legal theories that justified his alleged treatment, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White's decision marks the first time a government lawyer has been held potentially responsible for the abuse of detainees.

"Like any other government official, government lawyers are responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their conduct," White said in refusing to dismiss Jose Padilla's lawsuit against Yoo.

If Padilla, now serving a 17-year prison sentence on terrorism charges, can prove his allegations, he can show that Yoo "set in motion a series of events that resulted in the deprivation of Padilla's constitutional rights," White said.

White, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, noted that Padilla's lawsuit accuses Yoo of helping to design administration policy on detention and torture, and then crafting legal opinions to justify it - stepping outside the usual role of a lawyer.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bho44; bif; chicagocell; detainees; dirtybombplots; doj; flcell; gwot; hassoun; jeffreywhite; johnyoo; lawsuit; padilla; ruling; secondwave; sf; socialistblitzkrieg; stalinistshowtrials; torture; wot; yoo
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The media will dig and find a left wing anti-Constitution judge from under their rock. But, what will be done to stop these people?

This is where unity comes to mind. You know simple stuff like, Conservatives uniting to stop the Left wing insanity through education, networking, working to get out the vote, and voting.


41 posted on 06/14/2009 5:38:47 AM PDT by Paige ("All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," Edmund Burke)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Start preparing the legal briefs for suing 0bama over his unlawful and unconstitutional takeovers of industry and compensation, Inspector General firings, scandalous DOJ dismissal of racist thuggery, targeting of law abiding citizens who believe in the constitution and its republic form of government (in favor of state or local authority over federal), etc. If they go down this path, all disagreement over policy is fair game for lawsuits.


42 posted on 06/14/2009 5:50:48 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: DoughtyOne
Time for another Dick Cheney speech.

The gang in the white house is making me sick to my stomach. Cheney needs to give them a good spanking, again.

43 posted on 06/14/2009 6:03:47 AM PDT by PA-RIVER
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To: Recovering Ex-hippie

As of 11/4/08, it was replaced by the War On Bush.


44 posted on 06/14/2009 6:49:31 AM PDT by anniegetyourgun
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

They don’t want to really go here do they? Some day the left will know what torture is when the gates of America are torn down and the Muslim hoards fill the streets. The irony is that it may be the Muslims that save us from liberalism but at what cost? It is pretty clear that it is the Muslim vote that is helping shift Europe back to conservatism.


45 posted on 06/14/2009 7:05:31 AM PDT by Maelstorm (Why can't they just leave the children alone?)
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To: BlueYonder
"Like any other government official, government lawyers are responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their conduct."

Meaning it's time to drag into court, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Barnie Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Eric Holder, and every other 'Rat government official who are responsible for causing the mortgage meltdown, the economic crisis, and ACORN voter fraud.

46 posted on 06/14/2009 7:22:12 AM PDT by Polarik (It's the forgery, Stupid!)
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To: 4rcane

The thought police will prosecute you if you offer a dissenting opinion. George Orwell was just a quarter century off.


47 posted on 06/14/2009 8:11:24 AM PDT by fhayek
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

see how many people want to go after terrorists now thanksto this ruling and obama’s policy.
we are so screwed.


48 posted on 06/14/2009 8:39:06 AM PDT by Munz ("We're all here for you OK? It's a circle of love" Rham Emanuel)
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To: clee1

But those were GOOD policy decisions, so anything bad that happened later could not possibly have resulted from them. /SARC


49 posted on 06/14/2009 10:24:29 AM PDT by SeminoleSoldier
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Thats nice. Since we’re setting the precedent for this, might as well sue the bastard that thought it was okay to screw over secured bondholders.


50 posted on 06/14/2009 10:27:51 AM PDT by benjibrowder (I keep praying for hope and change, but I open my eyes and Obama is still President.)
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To: PA-RIVER

I do love his presentations. No doubt about it, when he spanks they feel it.


51 posted on 06/14/2009 12:24:06 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Obama post 09/11. The U.S. is sorry, we are a Muslim nation, and we surrender.)
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To: anniegetyourgun

You are so right.


52 posted on 06/14/2009 2:10:49 PM PDT by Recovering Ex-hippie (Pray for Israel!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I have a friend who’s as liberal as they come (we have other things in common love of the Cubs and Bears, gaming and the show Bones) and she is a lawyer and she is frightened over this. Making lawyers afraid to have an opinion is scary.

And I’d be this upset if it was a conservative judge saying you could sue over a liberal decision.


53 posted on 06/14/2009 2:37:21 PM PDT by rexgrossmansonlyfan (Obama, Blagojevich, Stroger and Daley when Daley is the least corrupt of a group you have issues!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Padilla was never waterboarded (the only practice the left claims was "torture"). He was never detained by the CIA. He was never detained at Gitmo. He was detained by the U.S. military at the Navy brig in Charleston (a medium security facility), and therefore was always subject to military regulations (i.e., the Army Field Manual).

This is B.S. The "torture" claims are basically that he was held in isolation (solitary confinement), and such isolation is "torture", as well as sleep deprivation, and stress positions, all of which were allowed by the Army Field Manual.

54 posted on 06/14/2009 3:51:20 PM PDT by magellan
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

If this ruling is overturned, can we sue this judge for making illegal judgements?


55 posted on 06/14/2009 4:43:15 PM PDT by Tzimisce (Socialism is the worst kind of Pollution.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Since Padilla is an American citizen, what if he fails to prove any of his charges against Yoo (and the US)? How will he pay any legal fees, judgments against him, etc?

He won’t but this would be a big victory for Yoo and the Bush Administration’s war on terrorism.

Meanwhile, our troops should give any captured terrorists an offer they can’t refuse - “Talk or die.”

Take 25 prisoners and put them in one room, and make them stand on top of a large tarp. Arrange the worst of the terrorists by order, 1-25, and then start with #1. Give him the offer. If he refuses and wants to die as a martyr, fine. Blow his head off with a shotgun so that his brains and skull hit the others. Then ask the same of #2. After a few of these fanatics get their heads legally blown off, I suspect that the rest will sing like the Vienna Boys Choir.

If not, just dig a big hole in the desert, bury them, cover them with pig intestines, and move on to the next bunch.

However, I suspect that we will be hearing the prisoners singing “The Desert Song” and giving up Obama’s grandmother very quickly after the first few heads take off in all directions.

And remember, under the rules of law, an enemy caught out of uniform can be shot on the spot as a saboteur and spy.

Hell, we’ve got lots of unused ammo.


56 posted on 06/14/2009 8:58:31 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
A prisoner who says he was tortured while being held for nearly four years as a suspected terrorist can sue former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo for coming up with the legal theories that justified his alleged treatment, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Friday.

So our own citizens cannot sue foreign governments (like Iran) when they are kidnapped and tortured for years (The president has blocked another claim).

Nice double standard.

PS whenever a lawyer sues for money and goes to court, he may take half of the money himself.

57 posted on 06/15/2009 7:47:24 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (There is no truth in the Pravda Media.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Is this a war or is this not a war?

It's become Obama's war of bureaucracy. Turning the system upon itself to bring the whole shebang down.

58 posted on 06/15/2009 7:48:40 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (There is no truth in the Pravda Media.)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Is this a war or is this not a war?

When the SCOTUS determined that enemy combatants had the right of habeas corpus, the war stopped being a war and became a bunch of crimes.

It was an audacious and foolish power grab by the judicial branch.

SCOTUS screwed it up in a profoundly massive way.

The laws of war are separate and distinct from our civil and criminal laws. When you try to mix the two, nothing but disaster will come of it.

Our civil and criminal laws and court system are DESIGNED to be slow, painstaking and tedious. Does it really need to be said that such an approach is INSANE when fighting a war???

Shame and derision be upon the Wearers of the Holy Black Robes. They got this one very, very wrong.

59 posted on 06/15/2009 7:55:47 AM PDT by TChris (There is no freedom without the possiblity of failure.)
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