Who Is Yale Law School's Most Disgraceful Graduate?A gallery of seven rogues and a poll.

6. JOHN YOO

Positions: Professor of Law, UC Berkeley; former deputy assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice.

The case for disgrace: Yoo — who, incidentally, was a college pal of Wurtzel (see supra), as well as her editor at the Harvard Crimson — is most (in)famous as author of the so-called torture memos. Critics of the memos have argued that Yoo’s faulty reasoning in the memos was used to justify war crimes, the commission of which diminished America’s international stature during the Bush Administration.

The case against: Love him or hate him, John Yoo — a former law clerk to Justice Thomas (see supra), a tenured professor at a top law school, and the author of three books — is clearly brilliant. How many people can make the super-snarky, quick-on-his-feet Jon Stewart look foolish? (And no, you don’t have to take my fellow Filipina Michelle Malkin’s word for it; even Stewart himself admitted that Yoo got the best of him.)

At Boalt Hall, Yoo is adored and respected by students, including many liberal students, for being a superb teacher in the classroom. In person, he’s warm and charming — as even the uber-liberal Wurtzel will attest. He also has an excellent sense of humor. (Scroll through our John Yoo archives to read some of the very funny things he has said in the past, often in response to Above the Law media inquiries.)

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