ABSTRACT
In the immediate aftermath of the terrible attacks of 11 September 2001, a group of bright, well-educated US government legal advisors articulated justifications for the use of 'aggressive' interrogation techniques by US security agents that amounted to torture. This chapter reviews the attempts by lawyers in the Bush Administration to undermine the anti-torture norms of international and American law. It is a description of ways of thinking about law and legal education that have the capacity to enliven the study of law and elicit the intellectual 'play' in practice. The chapter shows that the perception that North American legal education is deficient, or even 'in crisis', seems to be perennial, and review suggestions for 'reform' dating back to the beginning of the last century. The chapter concludes with a call for the personal and professional responsibility of lawyers that is essential to any strong conception of a rule of law in international society.
