No safe harbor for torture advocates

UC Berkeley School of Law continues to harbor war criminal John Yoo on its faculty, under the shameless protection of Dean Christopher Edley. Yoo authored Office of Legal Counsel memos to provide "legal cover" to launch wars, conduct massive domestic surveillance, torture and abuse prisoners, and generally disregard provisions of international law.

UC has yet to take a single step to investigate how the professor’s culpability in crimes affects his credentials to teach. School administrators continue to provide a soapbox for the rantings of an unrepentant advocate for suspension of constitutional norms. Yoo's veneer of legitimacy should have been stripped away years ago. Since 2008 civil liberties columnist Glenn Greenwald has been asking:

"Why is one of the central perpetrators of a systemic torture regime teaching at Berkeley law school and welcomed in our most respectable opinion venues?"

A university that allows a war criminal to teach constitutional law and ethics courses to the next generation of lawyers and judges under prejudice of 'academic freedom' is protecting war crimes. When forced to choose between conscience and career, will today's graduates find the courage to speak out against the crimes of their government?