Sotomayor In Action

This is video of Sonia Sotomayor questioning a Bush Justice Department lawyer about when is it legal to torture. The attorney told the Second Curcuit Court bench under the interests national security and foreign policy torture is acceptable. The attorney later backed off that stance from grilling by Sotomayor. The defense of torture argument quickly falls apart in a legal setting.

The case the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was hearing was Arar v. Ashcroft. Maher Arar was captured by the C.I.A. and sent to Syria to be tortured into a confession. The C.I.A. and Syrians eventually realized they had the wrong Maher Arar and released him.

Arar has duel Canadian and Syrian citizenship. The Canadian government has asked the United States to clear Arar's name. President Obama's brand of change is to continue to keep Arar on the terrorist watchlist. To quote Pete Townsend, "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."