Respecting the Spirit and Letter of the Law: On the Nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be Attorney General of the United States: "The Bybee ['Torture'] memo drew universal condemnation and scorn for at least two of the legal opinions that were included in its text. First, it described torture as being prohibited under U.S. law in only very circumscribed circumstances. It defined torture so narrowly that horrific harm could be inflicted against another human being in the course of an interrogation overseas and not be prohibited. According to the memo, unless such acts resulted in organ failure, the impairment of a bodily function, or death, they could be considered legal. In fact, the first page of the memorandum states, 'We conclude that the statute [against torture], taken as a whole, makes plain that it prohibits only extreme acts. . . This confirms our view that the criminal statute penalizes only the most egregious conduct.'
The second but equally shocking and erroneous legal conclusion reached in the so-called 'torture' memorandum states, 'We find that in the circumstances of the current war against al Queda and its allies, prosecution under Section 2340A [the relevant provision of U.S. law prohibiting torture] may be barred because enforcement of the statute would represent an unconstitutional infringement of the President's authority to conduct war' as the Commander-in-Chief. This means the White House believed that a President can simply 'override' the U.S. law prohibiting torture, just because he disagrees with it. He can ignore the law by proclaiming, in his own mind, that the law is unconstitutional. Not because a court of the United States has found the law to be unconstitutional, but because a war-time President decides he simply does not want to be bound by it.
What an astounding assertion! Think of it! A President placing himself "
- posted by geoff @ #