UC Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo, while working for the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, authored an infamous January 2002 memo in which he argued that terrorism suspects are not covered by the War Crimes
Act or the Geneva Conventions. Yoo's arguments provide legal cover for the use of torture against detainees, and conclude that U.S. soldiers can't be tried for war crimes. Yoo was also central to authoring the USA PATRIOT Act.