Mukasey criticizes Bybee torture memo during AG confirmation hearing News
Mukasey criticizes Bybee torture memo during AG confirmation hearing

[JURIST] US Attorney General nominee Michael B. Mukasey [White House fact sheet; firm profile] told the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website] Wednesday that he opposes presidential authorization of torture, calling the controversial "Bybee Memo" [PDF text; PBS backgrounder] "unnecessary" and "a mistake." The 2002 memo, in which the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel defined torture as physical pain equivalent in "intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily functions, or even death," was never repudiated by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [JURIST news archive]. Mukasey addressed other topics of concern [JURIST report] during the confirmation hearing questioning, stating that he will recuse himself from matters related to close friend and presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani [official profile], and that he is willing to resign if his legal and ethical objections to administration policy are ignored. AP has more.

During his opening statement [text; JURIST report] of the hearing on his nomination [witness list], Mukasey said that he will hold Constitutional limits in high regard and will work to balance national security and civil liberties. On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] said that the Senate will likely approve Mukasey without undue delay [JURIST report].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 signed into law

US President Millard Filmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 on September 18 of that year, obliging law enforcement to arrest escaped slaves in all US states, including those where slavery was not legal. Free black men and women were endangered by the act's passage as they were at risk of being falsely identified as escaped slaves. The act heightened tensions between abolitionists in the North and slaveholders in the South, contributing to what would become the Civil War eleven years later. Learn more about the Fugitive Slave Act from the National Constitution Center.

Jurist Joseph Story born

On September 18, 1797, future US Supreme Court Justice, Harvard law professor, and legal author Joseph Story was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts. West Virginia University law professor James Elkins notes that Story was also a poet; learn more about Story and read a couple of his poems here.

Anti-Corn Law League created in UK

On September 18, 1838, the Anti-Corn Law League was created in the United Kingdom. As the name suggests, the purpose of the association was to press for the abolition of British Corn Laws, which were indeed repealed in 1846. After the repeal, the organization worked to oppose other protectionist measures in the UK. The weekly news publication, The Economist, was founded as part of the anti-corn law movement.

Jurist Joseph Story born

On September 18, 1797, future US Supreme Court Justice, Harvard law professor, and legal author Joseph Story was born at Marblehead, Massachusetts.

West Virginiia University law professor James Elkins notes that Story was also a poet - learn more about Story and read a couple of his poems here.