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Jack Balkin, "A Body of Inquiries"

GC:  We should have a truth commission and institutional reforms rather than a criminal investigation of high ranking Bush administration officials who might have approved torture policies and illegal treatment of detainees.  


:IC: We should have a truth commission to document abuses of power by high ranking Bush administration officials.

:P1: Truth commissions would show our committment to human rights.
:P2: Truth commissions would counteract the tendency toward secret laws.
:P3: Truth commissions would create a public record of the misconduct.


:IC:  The South African model for truth and reconciliation is not the right one for us.

:P1:  South Africa's experience of apartheid involved human right violations against the population and needed to reconcile tensions between groups and among individuals.  
:P2:  Our experience with the torture cases does not involve these features.


:IC: We should not pursue criminal prosecution of abuses of power by high ranking Bush administration officials.


:IIC: The barriers to prosecution are too great.
:P1: Bush officials used the Justice Department's legal advice so they might be able to claim immunity.
:P2: Bush officials might be able to claim immunity from the Military Commissions Act of 2006.


:IC: We should reform the Justice Department and military rules and policies related to torture and immunity.