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From the New York Review of Books, "The Torture Memos: The Case Against the Lawyers."  Georgetown law professor David Cole discusses the Office of Legal Counsel's role in supporting torture.  Cole's normative position is: "At its best, law is about seeking justice, regulating state power, respecting human dignity, and protecting the vulnerable."  One might counter that torturing people indeed protects the most vulnerable - namely, innocent victims of torture.  Torture is itself not a reliable means of gathering intelligence.  It doesn't "work."  Still, Cole's moralizing is tiresome.  Not everyone who supports torture is a wannabe Richard Nixon.  Most people who support torture lack an understanding of torture's limitations.  They are ignorant rather than evil...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on September 19, 2009 (boomark / email).