Constitutional Law

Schroeder Testifies on OLC Memos

Duke Law School Professor and ACS Member Christopher Schroeder testified on Capitol Hill last week on “Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation Rules.” In his written testimony submitted to the House Judiciary Committee, Professor Schroeder explained how the Office of Legal Counsel memoranda authorizing controversial interrogation techniques were produced and “what can be done to help ensure that episodes like this one will not be repeated.”

Professor Schroeder’s testimony made two main points.

“One reason these memoranda went astray, and one reason they have been subjected to withering criticism, is that they embrace an unsound theory of presidential power. To the extent their conclusions were driven by an unsound theory, those conclusions are also unsound.”

“I want to urge strongly the importance of adhering to a group of best practices going forward, whether these that I have discussed today or some improved articulation of them. Such practices are not guarantees that legal advice coming from the Office of Legal Counsel can be kept free from legal error, but they are time-tested means for reducing the likelihood of such errors and improving the quality of advice that is given.”

Other panelists included David Addington, Chief of Staff, Vice President of the United States, and John Yoo, Professor at Boalt Hall School of Law.

In 2004, Professor Schroeder signed a white paper on “Principles to Guide the Office of Legal Counsel.” He later authored an ACS Issue Brief entitled “Loaded Dice and Other Problems: A Further Reflection on the Statutory Commander in Chief,” which was published as part of a symposium on “War, Terrorism and Torture: Limits on Presidential Power in the 21st Century.” He also participated in a Hill Briefing entitled “Congress as Surge Protector? Escalation in Iraq, the Congress and the Constitution.”

Full post as published by ACS Blog on July 02, 2008 (boomark / email).