Liberal groups seek disbarment of Bush lawyers over torture

By GottaLaff

"Many view" this as a good start:

A coalition of progressive groups sought Monday to have 12 Bush administration lawyers disbarred for their roles in crafting the legal rationale for so-called enhanced interrogation techniques that many view as torture.

Yes, "many" have a sense of justice, morality, and the rule of law. "Many" understand that torture doesn't work. "Many" are rational members of society and are sick and tired of secrecy. "Many" want BushCo to be put under oath, but "many" realize that I'm off on a tangent here.

Kevin Zeese, an attorney for the coalition:

"Just as the bar would suspend an attorney who advised a police officer to torture and brutalize a detained immigrant or criminal defendant, the bar must suspend these attorneys for advocating and causing the torture of war detainees. The disciplinary boards that hear these complaints must act or they will be seen as complicit in the use of torture."

Zeese called disbarment "an important step toward the ultimate accountability of criminal prosecution."

The group registered formal complaints against David Addington, John Ashcroft, Stephen Bradbury, Jay Bybee, Michael Chertoff, Douglas Feith, Alice Fisher, Timothy Flanigan, Alberto Gonzales, William Haynes II, Michael Mukasey, and John Yoo. [...]

The complaints, filed with the state bars in California, the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas, also seek other forms of disciplinary action in addition to disbarment.

A preliminary internal report on the Justice Department investigation into the authors of the Bush administration's so-called "torture memos" indicated the federal government might also urge state bar associations to take sanctions against the memo writers, according to two government sources familiar with the report.

The draft, which has been sent to Attorney General Eric Holder for approval or revisions, reportedly does not call for criminal prosecutions.

Sources familiar with the report said investigators for the Justice Department's ethics unit — the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) — have focused heavily on internal communications involving Bradbury, Bybee, and Yoo.