RWU Law Prof. Peter Margulies Takes on the Controversial Prof. Yoo

One of the important issues that has lingered from the Bush Administration is the legality of the advice given by government lawyers in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and whether the lawyers knowingly misstated the applicable law—including in “the torture memos”—to favor national security at the expense of civil liberties.  The fallout of all this is occurring on many fronts: prominent Democrats have called for criminal investigations, the Department of Justice is investigating the possibility of punishment for professional misconduct, foreign governments are threatening their own sanctions, a civil action has been filed in U.S. District Court in California, and protest demonstrations have been held.  At the center of all of this controversy is John Yoo, who resigned from his position as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in 2003 to return to the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

Our own Peter Margulies is a frequent commentator in the national media on National Security issues, and last week he debated Scott Horton, who teaches at Columbia University School of Law and edits a legal affairs blog for Harper’s magazine.

Listen to the full debate online.