Obama lawyers: Drop John Yoo's charges

By GottaLaff

It's Talk Me Down time:

Citing an argument that hallmarked the Bush years, Obama administration attorneys have asked a San Francisco court to drop all charges against Berkeley law professor John Yoo, who authored legal opinions that permitted the torture of prisoners.

An amicus curiae brief [PDF link] filed by the Department of Justice with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday essentially argues that because he was giving advice to the president on a national security matter, Yoo should not be held accountable for his actions as it would have a chilling effect on advice provided to future presidents.

In other words, the DoJ explained, accusations of torture in this case present "special factors" that the court should not address "in the absence of congressional action."

The rest is here.

I'm still reeling from the health care reform updates. I don't think I can endure reeling from two things at once at the moment, so excuse me if I stop here before my head explodes.