President Barack Obama has ended six years of American torture of suspected terrorists arising from the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. The torture was originally outlined and sanctioned in 2002 by a series of memos drafted by lawyers in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. Were these lawyers simply giving the President their best legal advice? Or was their work part of a larger conspiracy to distort the law and authorize torture?
Attorney General Eric Holder announced an investigation of CIA interrogators who exceeded the authority provided by the “torture memos.” But the officials who ordered these actions, and the lawyers who provided the legal cover have not been held accountable.
Tortured Law, a 10-minute documentary by Alliance for Justice, examines the role lawyers played in authorizing torture, and calls upon Attorney General Holder to conduct a full investigation of those who ordered, designed, and justified torture. Tortured Law is the recipient of a 2010 VSM Excellence Award.