CHICAGO – Federal Judge Wayne R. Andersen issued an historic ruling on Friday in Chicago, allowing a lawsuit that charges former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with authorizing torture to go forward. Rumsfeld argued that, as a high-placed government official, he was immune from allegations of torture and that the Constitution allowed a person in his position to order interrogation techniques that are widely considered by human rights experts to be torture. The Court rejected both arguments and held that high-placed cabinet officials can be held personally liable if they authorize the use of torture.
Read more.