Judge Bybee Lawyers Up

It look like things are getting pretty serious for 9th Circuit Judge, part time Boyd School of Law Professor, "Torture Judge," and (as we prefer to think of him) "Protector of the Homeland" Jay Bybee. Bybee is among the former Bush administration lawyers under review for war crimes by Baltasar Garzon , the same Spanish judge who once ordered Augusto Pinochet's arrest.

So, what prominent Nevada attorney has Bybee retained to protect his interests? Yeah, right. Bybee went big for this one, hiring Maureen Mahoney (pictured) from Vault 10 firm Latham & Watkins to negotiate the European inquiry and other probes into his role at the Justice Department, where he signed off on the so-called torture memos in 2002.

We were surprised that a Spanish judge was able to open an inquiry into the actions of a sitting appellate judge in the United States, especially one that the Judge would have to defend. Then again we skipped International Law in school, choosing instead to take Legal Blogging our last semester. You're welcome.

(Cal Law (free registration required) via CityLife Blog; Thanks, asdf)

UPDATE

Here's the article via How Appealing (no registration required). Thanks anon!