Protests of torture-justifying judge
July 6th, 2009
New embarrassment for torture-justifying attorney Jay Bybee. I have the feeling that this is just the beginning:
Protesters vocal at hearing held by “torture memos” judge
PASADENA – Three protesters were escorted out of a Pasadena courthouse after shouting at Judge Jay Bybee, a former Bush administration lawyer, at the end of a court hearing.
Bybee, a former attorney from the Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush Administration., is the author of recently-declassified federal documents described as the “torture memos.”
Those documents suggested that physical interrogation of prisoners is not torture unless it results in “serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death,” or “significant psychological harm of significant duration, e.g., lasting for months or even years.”
Techniques such as water boarding and confining prisoners to a box with an insect in it were described in those memos as not constituting torture.
The protesters, who are affiliated with left-leaning political organizations, waited until the end of a hearing to speak, calling Bybee a torturer and calling for his impeachment.
They were escorted out by court security, though not arrested.
Entry Filed under: Accountability, Bush administration, Law, Torture, War Crimes