Yoo-Hoo, Johnboy, Over Here, In The Courtroom

Apparently somebody cares that they drove Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, crazy for life.

In 2002, Justice Department lawyer John Yoo wrote a memo recommending that Jose Padilla, arrested in Chicago in the wake of 9/11 and held on suspicion of plotting a dirty-bomb attack, be classified as an enemy combatant. Yoo also wrote memos arguing that American law does not prevent the president from ordering such enemy combatants tortured. This January, after enduring years of abuse in prison, Padilla sued Yoo for violating his constitutional rights.

And a week ago, Judge Jeffrey White ruled that Padilla's allegations were plausible enough to justify denying Yoo's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. White was appointed by George W. Bush the year Yoo was writing his memos.
White's decision is the first of its kind: Until now, although other lawsuits have been brought, no government official has faced personal liability for his role in the torture or deaths of detainees. But it probably won't be the last.

...The continued pressure emanating from the federal courts could push Congress to establish a truth commission or even Attorney General Holder to appoint a special prosecutor. Accountability for torture has slipped out of the news lately. But it will come back.