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Deference To Clients And Obedience To Law: The Ethics Of The Torture Lawyers (A Response To Professor Hatfield), W. Bradley Wendel
Deference To Clients And Obedience To Law: The Ethics Of The Torture Lawyers (A Response To Professor Hatfield), W. Bradley Wendel
NULR Online
In the early months of the Obama administration, we are learning a great deal more about the previous administration’s program of using “enhanced interrogation techniques” on alleged al-Qaeda detainees. On April 16, 2009, the new administration released to the public several memos, prepared by lawyers at the Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) in the administration of George W. Bush, dealing with certain legal aspects of whether detainees in U.S. custody could lawfully be subjected to torture. I and many others have criticized the quality of legal reasoning in previously disclosed memos, and it is now conventional wisdom that something went …
Professionalizing Moral Engagement (A Response To Michael Hatfield), Robert K. Vischer
Professionalizing Moral Engagement (A Response To Michael Hatfield), Robert K. Vischer
NULR Online
In Professionalizing Moral Deference, Michael Hatfield argues that the way we form lawyers “begins with moral desensitization,” a technique that teaches future lawyers “to override [their] moral intuition.” In making his case, Hatfield offers the infamous torture memos as Exhibit A, but they may not be the best vehicle for proving his thesis. As the work of John Yoo shows, some of the most scandalously deficient legal advice may stem (at least in part) from the lawyer’s inability or unwillingness to override his moral intuition. There is no reason to believe, however, that Yoo’s moral intuition would have led …
Professionalizing Moral Deference, Michael Hatfield
Professionalizing Moral Deference, Michael Hatfield
NULR Online
As I write this Essay, legal memoranda about torture, once again, are headline news. This Essay considers these memoranda. However, this Essay does not address the legality of torture or the legal limits of interrogation or even if lawyers who provide bad advice on these issues should be punished. Instead, this Essay uses what has come to light about the “torture memoranda” to consider broader issues about the contemporary state of becoming and being an American lawyer. With new memoranda being released, for the sake of convenience, this Essay refers only to the best-known example (at least as things currently …