Beyond the Torture Memos: How the Office of Legal Counsel Matters for Executive Branch Scholarship

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Hollis‐Brusky ◽  
Isaac Cui
Keyword(s):  
Executive Branch ◽  
Legal Counsel ◽  
Torture Memos ◽  
Office Of Legal Counsel

POW Treatment and Lawyers

2017 ◽  
pp. 85-116
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Grimm Arsenault
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Law ◽  
Bush Administration ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
Legal Counsel ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
Office Of Legal Counsel

Following the attacks of 9/11, the normative challenges put forth by the lawyers inside the Bush administration consisted of two main arguments: that international law should play less of a role in dictating U.S. policy, and that the executive branch has primary control over setting U.S. foreign policy. The decisions on detainee treatment would not have occurred without the justification provided by the lawyers in the executive branch. Despite their lack of political authority, these men wielded formidable intellects, access to key decision-makers, and positions of influence within key offices such as the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice to fundamentally shape U.S. detainee policy in the GWOT.

No Home in this World: The Case against John Yoo before the International Criminal Court

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 862-907
Author(s):  
Jake Romm
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Legal Counsel ◽  
Torture Memos ◽  
The U.S

Former Office of Legal Counsel lawyer John Yoo’s criminal liability for the U.S. Torture Program has been a topic of debate ever since the so-called ‘Torture Memos’ came to light. The debate has primarily focused on the criminal case against Yoo under domestic U.S. law or under abstract notions of ‘international law’. In light of the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the situation in Afghanistan there is reason to hope for a possible indictment of Yoo. This article fills in a gap in the literature surrounding Yoo’s culpability by straightforwardly delineating the prima facie case against John Yoo under the Rome Statute.

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