Via Faiz Shakir, a New York Times editorial argues that in light of his role as an author of several of the now-infamous “torture memos” congress should impeach Judge Jay Bybee:
These memos make it clear that Mr. Bybee is unfit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution. Congress should impeach him.
I completely agree. I’m coming around to the view that criminal punishment for bad actors may be less necessary than it seemed to me in the past, but there definitely needs to be some level of accountability. The idea of the author of one of these memos sitting on the federal bench makes a farce of the whole legal system. One doubts the votes would be there to remove Bybee in the Senate, but even if that’s the case I wouldn’t mind seeing Senators go on record on this issue.