Non-profit Files Disciplinary Complaints Against Torture Memo Lawyers

On November 27th a group of lawyers filed complaints with the Washington, D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility to disbar William Haynes II, John Choon Yoo, and Alberto Gonzales for their participation in the torture memos. Haynes was the former General Counsel for the Department of Defense, while Yoo was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice. The group, Velvet Revolution, had already made similar complaints to Boards of Professional Responsibility in DC, California, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New York. Links to all of the complaints are below.

Jay Bybee-District of Columbia Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Douglas Feith-District of Columbia Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
David Addington-District of Columbia Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)

Stephen Bradbury-District of Columbia Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Michael Chertoff-District of Columbia Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
John Ashcroft-District of Columbia Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Timothy Flanigan-District of Columbia Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)

Alice Fisher-District of Columbia Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
William Haynes-California Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
John Yoo- Pennsylvania Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Alberto Gonzales-Texas Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)

Michael Mukasey-New York Bar Microsoft Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)

William Haynes - District of ColumbiaAdobe Acrobat (.pdf)
John Yoo - District of ColumbiaAdobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Alberto Gonzales - District of ColumbiaAdobe Acrobat (.pdf)

Velvet Revolution argue that these attorneys repeatedly advocated for interrogation techniques in violation of US and international law. The group claims to have over a million members nationally, and represent more than 150 organizations. In addition to disbarring these attorneys, the group hopes to spark an open discussion of torture and how it has been used. Although they don't necessarily cite to a specific ethical rule in each complaint, the message is clear. Only time and the respective Boards of Professional Conduct will tell whether the complaints have any merit.

Via Legal Ethics Forum

Tagged as: disbarment, legal ethics, torture