Canadian Media See Controversy in Law School Hire of Deputy AG Who Signed Rendition Order

The ABA Journal reports on the controversy about an American law professor’s involvement in the “war on terror” during the Bush administration — and, surprisingly enough, this time it is not about John Yoo and UC Berkeley.

 
Former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson is joining the University of Georgia law school as a professor. Thompson, who recently retired as general counsel for PepsiCo, served in the Bush Justice Department.  The controvesy surrounds Thompson’s signature on rendition papers for Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen detained at the airport in New York and sent to Syria for interrogation. Arar says he was beaten and tortured before Syria released him.

The Center for Constitutional Rights has issued a statement earlier this week expressing “profound concern” about the University of Georgia law school’s decision to hire Thompson.