Law Professors
John Yoo Gets Punked by Comedian in Torture Pose
Posted Jul 24, 2009 11:33 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A comedian who interrupted the class of former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, now a visiting law professor at Chapman University law school, didn’t exactly appear to be a class clown.
Instead the comedian from the Australian TV show The Chaser’s War on Everything showed up in Yoo’s class dressed in a black hooded robe so as to resemble one of the Abu Ghraib detainee photos. The comedian was making a pointed reference to Yoo’s work on controversial Justice Department memos approving harsh interrogation techniques of terrorism suspects.
Legal Blog Watch posted a video of the incident, described on the Wired blog Threat Level.
Standing on his chair and holding his arms outstretched, the comedian says, “Actually, professor, I’ve got one question. Uhm, how long can I be required to stand here till it counts as torture?”
Rather than answer, Yoo ended his class and apologized to the students. The comedian then talks again: “If this is awkward for you, it’s very uncomfortable for me, I can tell you. … I’d love to move but every time I do, my balls get buzzed.”
Watch the video here:
- How B of A’s GC Got Fired: Leave Now, and Leave Your BlackBerry Behind
- Schools Ranked by 'Super Lawyers' Produced
- Law Firm Price Wars Break Out as Some Try ‘Loss Leader’ Bids for Work
- Five Questions for Law Firms Abandoning Lockstep Compensation
- Judge Jails 2 Attorneys for Contempt in 4 Days
- Reed Smith Will Ask Nonequity Partners to Pony Up Possibly 15% of Pay
- Court Deputy Ordered to Apologize or Face Jail After Taking Lawyer's Paperwork
- Skadden Jumps on the Bonus Bandwagon
- ABA Executive Director Resigns
- Nasty Attitude to Co-Worker, Naughty Word in E-Mail Cost 2 Their Jobs
Should Supreme Court Justices Be Able to Review News Accounts Before Publication?
Comments
B. McLeod
Jul 24, 2009 1:21 PM CST
Ha! So, at least we know Yoo actually does know how to apologize.
Flag this comment
AndytheLawyer
Jul 24, 2009 2:39 PM CST
If I said “balls” in my post, it would be flagged and deleted. What makes Debra Cassens Weiss so special?
Flag this comment
B. McLeod
Jul 24, 2009 5:57 PM CST
I think I said that once in a post about telekentic toys, and it was not removed.
Flag this comment
John
Jul 25, 2009 5:36 PM CST
I love how the Chapman law students complain:
“Shutup, you’re cutting into our time!”
“Let us have our class!”
Ha! Amusing.
Of course, as I went to a private school with a tuition similar to Chapman . . . maybe I would have complained about them wasting my money.
Then again, I probably would have paid just as much to see the above occur. Brilliant!
Apparently these guys are known for their pranks, too. Like the time they got an airline to page “Terry Wrist” and “Al Kyder” in an Aussie airport . . . or when they drove a fake caravan with a fake Osama Bin Laden through a $250 million security checkpoint for some world leaders summit.
Wish we had that show in the US . . .
Flag this comment
B. McLeod
Jul 26, 2009 1:22 AM CST
Give me a break. They’re sitting there, of their own volition, being lectured by a toady. I say, give ‘em a quarter and let ‘em buy some class.
Flag this comment
hate mcleod
Jul 26, 2009 2:35 AM CST
Wow! 3 McClod comments on such a newsworthy topic! Thank you for your brill-aint comments!
Flag this comment
B. McLeod
Jul 26, 2009 5:50 PM CST
You know, #6, nobody forces you to come to this site and read the comments. If your eye sins against you, rip it out and stomp on it. Maybe that will heighten your other senses.
Flag this comment
Cameron
Jul 27, 2009 12:02 AM CST
You know, #1,3,5,7, you seem to have diarrhea of the mouth. It is a little hard to read other people’s comments since your banal, boring and oftentimes ridiculous comments are so entangled in every comments section. You are not an editor or official commentator of the ABA Journal blog and frankly you are annoying many other users.
Flag this comment
AndytheLawyer
Jul 27, 2009 9:04 AM CST
The real mystery isn’t how John Woo responded to a mildly insulting prank in a law school class. It’s why Yoo hasn’t been extradited to The Hague to be tried for war crimes. I don’t see a lot of difference between him and Hans Frank—Adolph Hitler’s lawyer, who was tried at Nuremburg and hanged in 1946.
Flag this comment
norm
Jul 30, 2009 7:19 PM CST
What’s disgusting about this scene is seeing Yoo in a classroom “teaching” students about the law. Shame on the law school compromising its integrity by trading on Yoo’s notoriety.
Flag this comment
Add a Comment
We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy.
Commenting has expired on this post.