Washington Post on John Yoo's 2003 memo for the White House Office of Legal Counsel:
According to Mr. Yoo, during wartime the President as Commander in Chief is not limited by laws which otherwise prohibit "maiming" a prisoner by, say, poking out his/her eye, throwing scalding hot liquid or acid on the prisoner, or slicing an ear, nose or lip. No problem. Perfectly legal, says Yoo. Mind altering drugs, pain-inducing stress positions, all okeydokey according to Yoo's OLC memo. And that pesky Bill of Rights? Fuggeddabowdit.
Yoo, who is now a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, also uses footnotes to effectively dismiss the Fourth and Fifth amendments to the Constitution, arguing that protections against unreasonable search and seizure and guarantees of due process either do not apply or are irrelevant in a time of war. He frequently cites his previous legal opinions to bolster his case.
Written opinions by the Office of Legal Counsel have the force of law within the government because its staff is assigned to interpret the meaning of statutory or constitutional language.
More on Uncle Sam's Torture Team in Vanity Fair.
