Legal Commentary

Obama Administration To Release Torture Memos

By Big Tent Democrat

This could be excellent news:

After a tense internal debate, the Obama administration this afternoon will make public a number of detailed memos describing the harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency against al Qaeda suspects in secret overseas prisons. The interrogation methods were among the Bush administration’s most closely guarded secrets, and today’s release will be the most comprehensive public accounting to date of the interrogation program that some senior Obama administration officials have said used illegal torture.

[More...]

. . . The debate about just how much detail to include in the public release bitterly divided an Obama administration still in early months. Fueling the urgency of the discussion was today’s court deadline in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had sued the government for the release of the Justice Department memos. . . . On Wednesday, Mr. Obama’s top advisers met at the White House for the final round of deliberations over the interrogation documents.

Of course, the devil will be in the details, how much and what will be redacted? The implication of the reporting is that very little will be redacted. Let's hope it is so.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).