”Longstanding principles of law hold that an American corporation is entitled to rely on assurances of legality from officials responsible for government activities. The public officials in question might be right or wrong about the advisability or legality of what they are doing, but it is their responsibility, not the company’s, to deal with the consequences if they are wrong.”
That’s from John Ashcroft. So, I am sure that when in the final course of determining that waterboarding is indeed torture by legal definition, Misters Ashcroft, Gonzales and Mukasey (et al.), being the responsible parties who told CIA agents and soldiers that waterboarding is legal, will be dealt with accordingly. Right?
Small problem: [Ashcroft is] wrong on the law. Companies that deal with the government in fact are not entitled to rely on promises made by government officials, and it is common for companies to lose major legal cases despite the fact that they relied on what they believed to be valid advice from government officials.What Ashcroft wrote probably sounds like a reasonable rule to the average person: it’s not fair for a company to be penalized for doing something the government told it to do. The real rule, at least as reasonable as Ashcroft’s, is exactly the opposite.
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A mistaken or corrupt government official does not have the power to make an illegal act legal.
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[It] is very common for the citizen who relies on an erroneous representation by a government official to get to get the shaft, high and hard.
D’oh! Oh, yeah, John…I think it’s something like: “ignorance of the law is no defense.” And therefore, jail time all round – torturers and toture pushers alike.
[A]ctions aren’t made lawful by the president’s saying they are lawful; actions are lawful if they are within the law.
Somebody should tell George.
One corollary to this legal rule: anyone who is shafted by relying on the mistaken legal interpretation of a government official usually cannot sue the government for relief because the sovereign is immune from suit, but such an injured citizen may have a legal recourse: a suit against the personal assets of the government official who made the mistake.
And by the way, this not only applies to the waterboarding question, it applies as well to the telecom immunity B.S.
We need to change that sovereign immunity rule.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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