WOW! Reagan DoJ convicted TX Sheriff for waterboarding in 1983
by MinistryOfTruth
Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 09:01:24 PM PDT
George W. Bush’s Justice Department said subjecting a person to the near-drowning of waterboarding was not a crime and didn’t even cause pain, but Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department thought otherwise, prosecuting a Texas sheriff and three deputies for using the practice to get confessions.
Federal prosecutors secured a 10-year sentence against the sheriff and four years in prison for the deputies. But that 1983 case – which would seem to be directly on point for a legal analysis on waterboarding two decades later – was never mentioned in the four Bush administration opinions released last week.
Keep in mind this happened before we signed international treaties that said it was illegal. The Constitution said it was illegal. That was good enough then. Why wasn't it good enough 8 years ago?
I would encourage everybody to read this excellent article, which was written by by Jason Leopold and posted on The Public Record.com on April 21st
more on this below the fold
- MinistryOfTruth's diary :: ::
"To take one example, there was a court-martial addressing the practice of waterboarding from 1903, a state court case from the Twenties, a series of prosecutions at the [post-World War II] Tokyo Tribunal (in many of which the death penalty was sought) and another court-martial in 1968," Horton said. "These precedents could have been revealed in just a few minutes of computerized research using the right search engines. It's hard to imagine that Yoo and Bybee didn't know them.
Considering the fact that conservatives admire Reagan so much, you would think some of these Bush Co lawyers would know about this, wouldn't you?
Federal prosecutors secured a 10-year sentence against the sheriff and four years in prison for the deputies. But that 1983 case -- which would seem to be directly on point for a legal analysis on waterboarding two decades later -- was never mentioned in the four Bush administration opinions released last week.
The failure to cite the earlier waterboarding case and a half-dozen other precedents that dealt with torture is reportedly one of the critical findings of a Justice Department watchdog report that legal sources say faults former Bush administration lawyers -- Jay Bybee, John Yoo and Steven Bradbury -- for violating "professional standards."
Don't leave out their bosses, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and don't leave out every other slimy torture justifying war mongerer that helped them do the job.
If the Bush DoJ did know, and they ignored it (doublethink much?), isn't that grounds for being disbarred? Or maybe even going to jail like some lowly Texas sherrif?
Under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, adopted into US law as 18 USC 2340, prisoners must be "treated humanely." It specifically prohibits "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." It does not, however, provide a specific list of what techniques are acceptable and which are not.
~snip~
Bybee’s memo, written largely by Yoo, advised that torture must be pain "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." Mental pain inflicted by torture must last for several months or years to constitute severe pain or suffering.
Under this interpretation, the techniques described above were termed "enhanced interrogation techniques" and the Department of Justice advised the President that their use was legal.
For the full text of Geneva Convention: Common Article 3 is, IMHO, a must read for everybody, especially anyone who is considering a career with the Justice Department.
The evidence keeps piling up. At this point, I want more evidence declassified and put out for the public to see. The more evidence that becomes available, the better any investigation may be, and the easier it will be to make a prosecutors case stick and lead to a conviction.
If there is no equality under the law there can be no justice. If a dumbass Sheriff from Texas can go to jail for 10 years for authorizing waterboarding of prisoners, so can a dumbass President from Texas.
This is not about revenge. It is about justice and equality under the law. We are One Nation under law, not above it, indivisible (this means you secessionists)with liberty and justice for all.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/28/725206/-WOW!-Reagan-DoJ-convicted-TX-Sheriff-for-waterboarding-in-1983
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