LA Times: Human rights advocate named State Department's top lawyer

[SemiCharmedQuark]

"Reporting from Washington -- Harold Hongju Koh, an outspoken advocate of human rights and international law, has been chosen to be the top lawyer at the State Department.

Koh, dean at the Yale Law School, has been one of the most vocal critics of the Bush administration's approach to the detention and trial of terrorism suspects, calling a 2002 memo justifying harsh
interrogation methods a "stain on our national reputation.""
...

"John Radsan, who was assistant CIA general counsel from 2002 to 2004, said Koh approached issues related to the handling of accused terrorists as "a pure civil libertarian."

He said Koh is at the other end of the ideological spectrum from John C. Yoo, a visiting professor at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, who became well known during the Bush administration for writings that justified harsh physical treatment of terrorism suspects.

"He's the anti-Yoo," said Radsan, who is now a professor at William Mitchell College of Law."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-justice-koh25-2009mar25,0,5808722.story

[Thrill]

1. He's made some excellent appointments at DOJ