FREE SPEECH ZONE | Sad clouds hang over St. Thomas Law graduation

By Roger Cuthbertson and Coleen Rowley | June 28, 2010

UPDATED 6/29/2010 Clouds hung over the St. Thomas School of Law graduation on May 8, 2010, in more ways than one.  The University of St. Thomas Law School held its graduation ceremony at Orchestra Hall, a few blocks from their campus.  So most of the celebrants parked at the campus and walked the few blocks to Orchestra Hall.  They thus got an opportunity to pass by our anti-torture demonstration at the northwest corner of Orchestra Hall.  Although many attending the graduation seemed intent on ignoring the signs, some seemed surprised and at least one graduate voiced his approval, saying he had recently completed a paper on torture.  The protest focused on the actions of Professor Robert Delahunty, pictured above, who walked quickly by and did not seem happy to be reminded of his past.        Robert Delahunty is currently a professor at St. Thomas University School of Law, teaching courses on Constitutional Law and on Conflict Resolution.  However, prior to becoming a law professor at UST, Delahunty worked in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice, for President George W. Bush.   After 9-11, when people high in the Bush Administration needed legal cover for their decisions to depart from the Geneva Conventions and other international treaty law, to conduct “extraordinary renditions” (kidnappings) to “black sites” and “enhanced” or “harsh” interrogations (considered torture by most legal scholars), they turned to their OLC lawyers to produce what they hoped would be a “golden shield” for their illegal actions.  John Yoo and Robert Delahunty co-authored some of the early memos that served as the cornerstones to “legalize” the Bush Administration’s orders. Continue Reading