Professor Yoo Publishes Op-Ed
March 15, 2009
Visiting Professor John Yoo published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, entitled “Closing Arguments: Security vs. freedom: A balance kept.” The article addresses the controversy surrounding the recent release of legal memoranda written in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Professor Yoo argues that lawyers working for the Bush administration were successful in their goal of preventing another terrorist attack while keeping any reduction in civil liberties far less than in previous U.S. wars. Yoo writes, “Critics have exaggerated the threat to civil liberties today. This is not to say that constraints on the executive branch should not occur. The government’s powers have been expanded. Privacy has been slightly reduced, though much more by the sheer march of communications technology than by the government.” Read article….