Bloodless Coup

John Yoo's Contempt for the Law and the Country's Judges

Just when I think he can't say something that would surprise me ...

But Padilla and his Yale Law School attorneys think that these decisions are better second-guessed by plaintiffs' lawyers and judges rather than our elected leaders. They challenged Padilla's detention and lost in the federal Court of Appeals in South Carolina, before the government sent him to Miami for prosecution.

Think about what it would mean if Padilla were to win. Government officials and military personnel have to devise better ways to protect the country from more deadly surprise attacks. Padilla and his lawyers want them, from the president down to lowest private, to worry about being sued when they make their decisions. Officials will worry about all of the attorneys' fees they will rack up to defend themselves from groundless lawsuits.

Put another way, officials might have to give some thought to following US law. Apparently Yoo finds that somewhere between being a waste of time and repugnant. And what's with him equating judges and plaintiffs attorneys?

It's hyper-defensive screeds like this that make one wonder if Yoo has even the remotest respect for the law and our justice system at all. And of course one continues to wonder why, given his low opinion of the law, he is employed by one of the country's top law schools.