On February 7, 2008, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey rejected calls to launch a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into the CIA's admitted use of waterboarding on three terror detainees. In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Mukasey said that because the CIA had relied on a DOJ opinion that found waterboarding to be legal, it would not be appropriate to hold an investigation. After the election of President Barack Obama, calls for a criminal investigation were renewed, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) urging a DOJ investigation of former president George W. Bush for violating federal anti-torture laws. The Obama administration has not heeded these calls.



Learn more about waterboarding and the presidency of George W. Bush from the JURIST news archive, and examine the arguments on both sides of the debate from Contributing Editors Jeffrey Addicott and Marjorie Cohn on JURIST Forum.