Government,
Letters
Mar. 30, 2011
In Support of Unlimited Executive Power
Stephen Rohde responds to "Jewish Bar Examines Nazi Judges' Blind Eye."
Stephen F. Rohde
Email: rohdevictr@aol.com
Stephen is a retired civil liberties lawyer and contributor to the Los Angeles Review of Books, is author of American Words for Freedom and Freedom of Assembly.
In response to "Jewish Bar Examines Nazi Judges' Blind Eye" (March 17) - side by side with Nazi judges, were Nazi lawyers. Carl Schmitt promoted reactionary views of executive power to justify the autocratic power of the Führer. Schmitt's anti-liberal jurisprudence and anti-Semitism led him to enthusiastically support the Nazis after 1933. He quickly became the "Crown Jurist" of National Socialism, defending Hitler's extra-judicial killings of political opponents and purging Jewish thinking from German jurisprudence. After the war, Schmitt not only remained unrepentant, but also promoted the discredited claim that the crucifixion of Jesus was the outcome of "Jewish" pressure on the Roman authorities.
Where have we recently heard of government lawyers compliantly issuing legal memos using deeply flawed theories to justify unlimited executive power in time of war, including torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment? STEPHEN ROHDE LOS ANGELESSubmit your own column for publication to Diana Bosetti
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