I am a UC Berkeley graduate, 2005 in physics to be precise, and yesterday I submitted a letter to CAL's chancellor asking for the termination of John Yoo's appointment. The text of this letter is below the fold, but first I would like to respond to a point raised in today's diary Defending John Yoo. As the author is also a Berkeley graduate and fellow Kossack:
The author states:
"Yoo's interpretation of the law was incorrect in my view and goes against over 200 years of constitutional law as well as customary international law and treaty law. It was wrong. His interpretations will not stand the test of time or the rigors of academic or legal scrutiny but none of those rises to the level of calling for a revocation of tenure."
This is indeed true, and brings up the real reason why Yoo should be fired besides for the sheer disgusting nature of his hate ideology: he is a law professor who not only completely disregarded, and therefore broke, the law, but is directly responsible for the torture, and most likely murder, of human beings. As has been evidenced by the admission of his opinions for the justification of waterboarding.
If this brand of incompetence isn't enough to get you fired from being a law professor anywhere (much less the liberal capital if the world), then something is sincerely wrong with our tenure system. The US academic structure is not the Bush administration: incompetence, flouting that which you are sworn to uphold, and murder are not rewarded!
Teaching law is clearly not apolitical like teaching mathematics for example. There is plenty of opportunity for an opportunist to inject an ideological agenda masquerading as "interpretation." Our University structure, and education in general, should teach tolerance and respect for humanity, not hate and murder, it's pretty simple when shown for what it is.
Chancellor Birgeneau,
Hello, my name is -----, and I am a proud CAL alumni (class of 2005 in Physics). I am writing to express my concern and dismay at the continued association of Jon Yoo with CAL. I am proud of the traditions of free speech and diversity at CAL, both in our student body and faculty; however, there is quite a difference between being free to speak one's thoughts and ideas in a reasoned manner and inspiring others to commit acts of violence. It has been known for some time that Professor Yoo was involved in crafting the legal rationale behind of the now infamous memos condoning what amounts to torture under the Geneva Convention. The scope of Professor Yoo's involvement was unknown however, and I was willing to assume that he might have played a minor role. A front page article in today's New York Times entitled "'03 U.S. Memo Approved Harsh Interrogations," has dispelled this idea, revealing Professor Yoo to be the primary architect of this policy. The article, as so many others before it, clearly state Mr. Yoo's position as a professor at our fine institution, thus linking CAL and torture in the mind of the reader. This image is antithetical to everything CAL has stood for, antithetical to everything which drew myself, like so many thousands of other students from all over the world, to its beautiful campus, and antithetical to the beliefs and ideals our distinguished faculty. Therefore, I humbly request that Professor Yoo be removed from the CAL faculty.
I believe that continuing Professor Yoo's tenure at CAL implies our tacit complicity with his actions and views, which includes the inhumane treatment of other human beings. Sentiments like these lay the groundwork for atrocities like those we saw at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and, to a larger extent, serve to both incite hostility towards our country and institutions, and degrade our civilized society.
Thank you for your time.