Berkeley Dean Christopher Edley on John Yoo and academic freedom

Over at Opinio Juris a memo to the law school community by Dean Edley about John Yoo's fitness to teach has been published. Yoo is a tenured professor at Berkeley. His academic freedom and the burden borne by those who would have him discharged are addressed in a thoughtful memo by Dean Christopher Edley, the link to which is above.

Recently a "comedian", in a bit of "guerilla theater" intruded on Yoo's classroom, disrupting it. His home has been picketed and he is the subject of much vituperation.

Yoo is the principal drafter of the most notorious of the 'torture memos' and is a defendant in a civil rights action by Jose Padilla who alleges he was tortured by persons who claim authorization based on Yoo's legal opinions while at the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. District Judge Geoffrey White has allowed the lawsuit to proceed. Yoo also faces professional ethics complaints filed by a citizen organization called Velvet Revolution.

P.S. - Edley's statement has generated lots of commentary. Legal Ethics Forum provides links to comments in the NY Times, by Berkeley students, and readers at Balkinization HERE

Images: Christopher Edley, John Yoo, protest poster