TPMMuckraker

Court: Bush Torture Memo Author John Yoo Protected From Lawsuits

John Yoo

An appeals court said Wednesday that John Yoo, the former Bush-era Justice Department official who authored the so-called “torture memos,” can’t be sued by a convicted terrorist.

Jose Padilla sued Yoo over memos he authored for DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel which were used as legal justification for U.S. officials to use harsh interrogation techniques that his legal team said amounted to torture, the Associated Press reports.

The suit was tossed out by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Yoo, now a professor at Berkley, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Top Stories From TPM

Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn Will Seek To Offset Tornado Aid

Ohio Republicans Push Law To Penalize Colleges For Helping Students Vote

Secret Service Looking Into Radio Host’s Graphic Violent Comments About Obama, Hillary Clinton

VA GOP's Attorney General Nominee Wanted Women To Report Miscarriages To Police Or Face Jail Time

The NRA Thinks These Are The ‘Coolest Gun Movies’ Ever

What Republicans Already Knew About The White House Benghazi Emails

Disqus Conversations

Click here to read the Disqus Commenting FAQ.

Editor & Publisher

Josh Marshall

Managing Editor

David Kurtz

Associate Editor

Nick Martin

Assistant Editor

Igor Bobic

Reporters

Brian Beutler

Sahil Kapur

Eric Lach

Hunter Walker

Frontpage Editor

Zoë Schlanger

News Writers

Tom Kludt

Video Editor

Michael Lester

General Manager & General Counsel

Millet Israeli

VP, Ad Sales

Bruce Ellerstein

Associate Publisher

Kyle Leighton

Assistant To The Publisher

Joe Ragazzo

Designer/Developer

Matthew Wozniak

Design Associate

Christopher O’Driscoll