Name	Jay Bybee
Office	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Appointer	George W. Bush
Term start	March 21, 2003
Predecessor	Procter Hug
Birth date	October 27, 1953
Birth place	Oakland, California, U.S.
Spouse	Dianna Greer (1986–present)
Alma mater	}}

Jay Scott Bybee (born October 27, 1953) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has published numerous articles in law journals and taught law school; his primary interests are in constitutional and administrative law. While serving in the Bush administration as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, he signed the controversial torture memos.

Education and career overview[link]

Bybee graduated ''magna cum laude'' and with Highest Honors from Brigham Young University in 1977, majoring in Economics. He earned his Juris Doctor ''cum laude'' from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1980. While in law school, he served on the editorial board of the BYU Law Review. Thereafter, Bybee spent one year as law clerk to judge Donald S. Russell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Following three years of private practice in Washington, D.C., Bybee worked for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1984 to 1989, first in the Office of Legal Policy and then in the Civil Division. From 1989 to 1991, Bybee served as Associate Counsel to President George H. W. Bush.

From 1991 to 1999, Bybee was on the faculty of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University; subsequently, he taught at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. From 2001 to 2003, Bybee served as Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel.

President George W. Bush nominated Bybee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and he was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 13, 2003. He received his commission on March 21, 2003, and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor administered the oath of office at the Supreme Court on March 28, 2003.

Personal life[link]

Born in Oakland California, on October 27, 1953, Bybee was largely raised in Clark County, Nevada. His family subsequently moved to Nashville, Tennessee, then Louisville, Kentucky. Bybee is an Eagle Scout. A lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Bybee served a mission for the LDS Church in Santiago, Chile from 1973 to 1975.

Bybee is married to Dianna Greer Bybee, a former high school teacher.

Professor Bybee[link]

From 1991 to 1999, Bybee taught at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University; subsequently, he was a founding faculty member of the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he taught from 1999 to 2001. At both schools, he taught constitutional law, administrative law, and civil procedure. In 2000, Bybee was voted Professor of the Year. His particular areas of expertise are Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, and the Federal Courts.

Legal scholarship[link]

Bybee has co-authored two books, ''Powers Reserved for the People and the States: A History of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments''(2006) (with Thomas B. McAffee and A. Christopher Bryant) and ''Religious Liberty Under the Free Exercise Clause'' (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Legal Policy 1986) (with Lowell V. Sturgill). Bybee has also written more than 20 law review articles, notes, comments, and book chapters.

Office of Legal Counsel[link]

Bybee served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in the United States Justice Department from November 2001 to March 2003.

Bybee memo [link]

During Jay Bybee's tenure at the OLC, the CIA acting General Counsel John A. Rizzo requested legal advice on detainee interrogation. That request was routed to the OLC by then White House General Counsel Alberto Gonzalez who desired the "ability to quickly obtain information from captured terrorists and their sponsors." The CIA inquired whether, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it could aggressively interrogate suspected high-ranking Al-Qaeda members captured outside the United States in ways many regard as torture. In effect, the CIA was asking for an interpretation of the statutory term of "torture" as defined in . That section implements, in part, the obligations of the United States under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Bybee signed that legal memorandum which defined "enhanced interrogation techniques" in ways that are regarded as torture by the Justice Department, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, some medical experts in the treatment of torture victims, some intelligence officials, and American allies. This memo has been the source of controversy and calls for his impeachment. Bybee is currently the subject of a war crimes investigation in Spain.

A recently declassified memo indicates that some in the Bush State Department believed that the methods were illegal under domestic and international law, and constituted war crimes.

Secretary of State Colin Powell strongly opposed the invalidation of the Geneva Conventions, while U.S. Navy general counsel Alberto Mora campaigned internally against what he saw as the "catastrophically poor legal reasoning" of the memo. Philip D. Zelikow, former State Department adviser to Condoleezza Rice, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee, "It seemed to me that the OLC interpretation of U.S. Constitutional Law in this area was strained and indefensible. I could not imagine any federal court in America agreeing that the entire CIA program could be conducted and it would not violate the American Constitution." Zelikow also alleged that Bush administration officials not only ignored his memos, but attempted to destroy them.

Office of Professional Responsibility investigation[link]

In July 2009, after a five year inquiry, the Office of Professional Responsibility released a report, later modified by the Justice Department, saying Jay Bybee and John Yoo committed "professional misconduct" by providing legal advice that was in possible violation of international and federal laws on torture. The OPR initial report recommended that both Bybee and Yoo be referred to the bar associations of the states where they were licensed for further disciplinary action and possible disbarment. Associate Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Justice David Margolis examined the OPR report and wrote that Bybee and Yoo had used "poor judgement" but did not "knowingly or recklessly provide incorrect legal advice or ... provide advice in bad faith."

The law firm of Latham & Watkins donated $3.2 million in legal services to Bybee during the investigation. Three other firms donated a total of almost $150,000 in services.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals[link]

Bybee was first nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the largest U.S. appellate court, on May 22, 2002. The Senate recessed for mid-term elections without acting on the nomination, which was "returned without action" in November 2002 under Senate Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6.

President George W. Bush resubmitted his nomination on January 7, 2003. The Senate Judiciary Committee reported favorably on Bybee's nomination by a 12-6 vote (10 Republicans and 2 Democrats for, 6 Democrats against) in late February and forwarded the nomination to the full Senate for consideration. Senate deliberations took place on March 13, 2003. The Senate confirmed Bybee's nomination by a vote of 74-19 the same day. Bybee received his commission on March 21, 2003. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor administered the oath of office at the U.S. Supreme Court building on March 28, 2003.

One senator remarked that "the fact that Jay Bybee was confirmed during one of the most contentious periods in the history of the United States Senate in terms of judicial nominees is a credit to his experience and integrity." Democratic Senator Charles Schumer noted that he supported Bybee's confirmation specifically because the judge's conservative views would help to moderate "the most liberal court in the country."

Some critics decried his confirmation, calling Bybee "an extremist who takes an overly limited view of federal power" and criticizing his "narrow view of individual rights", including abortion and gay marriage.

Significant opinions[link]

On January 13, 2005, in a 2-1 decision, Bybee wrote for the majority in United States v. Bruce. This case further refined the rules for defining whether or not an individual is an Indian. The current two-prong Rogers approach requires that the individual's degree of Indian blood as well as her tribal or government recognition as an Indian be taken into consideration. The Court concluded that Violet Bruce was an Indian.

On August 2, 2005, Bybee was one of three judges on a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that ruled on ''John Doe v. Kamehameha Schools''. With Robert Beezer, Bybee issued the majority decision that the schools' admissions policy constitutes "unlawful race discrimination." The two judges said the private school's policy violates federal civil rights law. Susan Graber issued a partial dissent. This ruling however was overturned on December 5, 2006, by an 8-7 decision, when a 15-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard an appeal by Kamehameha Schools.

On January 10, 2006, in an en banc decision, Judge Bybee wrote the opinion for the majority in the case of Smith v. Salish Kootenai College. In that case, James Smith sought to have a case heard in federal court which he had previously brought in a tribal court; when he disagreed with that court's decision, he claimed that the tribal court had had no jurisdiction in the first place. In an 8-3 decision, the Court upheld the tribal court's jurisdiction over the subject matter, thereby strengthening tribal courts' rights to claim jurisdiction.

On September 11, 2006, Bybee wrote the majority opinion in Kesser v. Cambra, granting habeas corpus to the defendant by a 6-5 vote. Richard Kesser had been convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his former wife and was sentenced to life without parole. During Kesser's trial in 1995, the prosecutor had eliminated three American Indian jurors and one Asian juror for racial reasons. Effectively granting Kesser a new trial, this decision laid out the current Batson analysis in the Ninth Circuit.

On November 7, 2006, Bybee wrote on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel in the case of Lankford v. Arave. Mark Lankford had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death nearly two decades earlier. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted habeas corpus based on ineffective assistance of counsel and faulty jury instructions and noted that there was support for Lankford's theory that his brother actually committed the murders in question.

On August 21, 2008, in U.S. v. Craighead, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the defendant's rights had been violated when he was interrogated in his own home without first being read his Miranda rights. In that case, numerous law enforcement officers had descended on the defendant's home because he was suspected of having downloaded child pornography. In a decision written by Bybee, the Court held that the defendant's interrogation had been custodial and therefore violated his Fifth Amendment rights.

On November 7, 2008 (but amended twice in January 2009), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals tackled the issue of the due process rights of individuals who found themselves inaccurately placed on the California Child Abuse Central Index (CCACI), a registry for accused and known child abusers. In Humphries v. County of Los Angeles, Craig and Wendy Humphries fought to have their names removed from the CCACI after the courts had cleared them completely of abuse charges brought by a rebellious child. Because the state of California had no system in place for removing names that did not belong on the CCACI, the Court held that the CCACI violated the due process rights of those who had been falsely accused but could not get their names removed from the CCACI.

On December 30, 2008, Bybee wrote the opinion for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Gonzalez v. Duncan. In that case, Cecilio Gonzalez had failed to reregister as a sex offender within five working days of his birthday and, because of prior convictions, had been sentenced to twenty-seven years to life under California's Three strikes law. The Court held that the sentence was grossly disproportionate to the crime.

Bibliography[link]

Jay Bybee, Thomas B. McAffee and A. Christopher Bryant. ''Powers Reserved for the People and the States: A History of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments''. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2006.) ISBN 0313313725

Jay Bybee, ''Religious Liberty Under the Free Exercise Clause''. (Washington, D.C.: Office of Legal Policy, Dept. of Justice, 1988)

William Rehnquist, the Separation of Powers, and the Riddle of the Sphinx, 58 STAN. L. REV.1735 (2006) (with Tuan N. Samahon).

Judging the Tournament, 32 FLA. ST. U. L. REV. 1055 (2005) (with Thomas J. Miles)

Of Orphans and Vouchers: Nevada’s “Little Blaine Amendment” and the Future of Religious Participation in Public Programs, 2 NEV. L.J. 551 (2002) (with David W. Newton)

Printz, the Unitary Executive, and the Fire in the Trash Can: Has Justice Scalia Picked the Court’s Pocket?, 77 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 269 (2001)

Common Ground: Robert Jackson, Antonin Scalia, and a Power Theory of the First Amendment,75 TUL. L. REV. 251 (2000)

The Tenth Amendment Among the Shadows: On Reading the Constitution in Plato’s Cave, 23 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL’Y 551 (2000)

Domestic Violence Clause, in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION (Leonard W. Levy et al. eds., 2d ed. 2000)

Child Support Recovery Act (1992), in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION (Leonard W. Levy et al. eds., 2d ed. 2000)

Agency Expertise, ALJ Independence, and Administrative Courts: The Recent Changes in Louisiana’s Administrative Procedure Act, 59 LA. L. REV. 431 (1999)

The Equal Process Clause: A Note on the (Non).Relationship Between Romer v. Evans and Hunter v. Erickson, 6 WM. & MARY BILL RTS. J. 201 (1997)

Insuring Domestic Tranquility: Lopez, Federalization of Crime, and the Forgotten Role of theDomestic Violence Clause, 66 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 1 (1997)

Who Executes the Executioner? Impeachment, Indictment and Other Alternatives to Assassination, 2 NEXUS 53 (1997)

Ulysses at the Mast: Democracy, Federalism, and the Sirens’ Song of the Seventeenth Amendment, 91 NW. U.L. REV. 500 (1997)

Substantive Due Process and Free Exercise of Religion: Meyer, Pierce and the Origins of Wisconsin v. Yoder, 25 CAP. U.L. REV. 887 (1996)

Taking Liberties with the First Amendment: Congress, Section 5, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 48 VAND. L. REV. 1539 (1995)

Advising the President: Separation of Powers and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 104 YALE L.J. 51 (1994)

George Sutherland, in THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES: ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES, 1789-1993 (Clare Cushman ed. 1993)

Owen J. Roberts, in THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES: ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES, 1789-1993 (Clare Cushman ed. 1993)

Utah’s Horseman: George Sutherland, 13 SUP. CT. HIST. Q. 14 (No. 2, 1992)

Note, Reverse Political Checkoff Per Se Illegal as Violation of Federal Election Campaign Act, 1980 BYU L. REV. 403

Comment, Profits in Subrogation: An Insurer’s Claim to Be More Than Indemnified, 1979 BYU L. REV. 145, reprinted in 30 FED’N INS. COUNS. Q. 249 (1980)

See also[link]

Bush Six

John Yoo

References [link]

External links [link]

4 Torture Memos Released 16Apr2009 in response to FOIA suit by ACLU.

"Bybee memo"

"The Law Required It", Newsweek interview with OLC's 2003 replacement, Jack Goldsmith.

"Sen. Ensign Floor Statement", March 13, 2003

Category:1953 births Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:Eagle Scouts Category:J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Category:Living people Category:Louisiana State University faculty Category:People from Oakland, California Category:United States Assistant Attorneys General Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by George W. Bush

Name	John Yoo
Birth date	July 10, 1967
Birth place	Seoul, South Korea
Known for	Legal views on warrantless searches, domestic surveillance, torture memos (also known as "enhanced interrogation techniques") and expansive executive power
Alma mater	Harvard University, B.A. Yale Law School, J.D.
Occupation	Law professor, former official in the United States Department of Justice
Title	Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice
Term	2001 to 2003
Spouse	Elsa Arnett
Awards	Federalist Society Paul M. Bator Award (2001)
Footnotes	}}

John Choon Yoo (born July 10, 1967) is an American attorney, law professor, and author. As a former official in the United States Department of Justice during the George W. Bush administration, he became known as the author of the Torture Memos on the use of what the CIA called enhanced interrogation techniques.

Career [link]

John Yoo has been a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law since 1993. He wrote two books on presidential power and the war on terrorism, and many articles in scholarly journals and newspapers. He has held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Trento and has been a visiting law professor at the Free University of Amsterdam, the University of Chicago, and Chapman University School of Law. Since 2003, Yoo has been a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. He writes a monthly column, entitled "Closing Arguments", for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and is author of the book ''Crisis and Command''.

Yoo was a law clerk for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He also served as general counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Yoo is best known for his work from 2001 to 2003 in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in the George W. Bush Administration. In the Justice Department, Yoo's expansive view of presidential power led to a close relationship with Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Yoo played an important role in developing a legal justification for the Bush administration's policy in the war on terrorism, arguing that prisoner of war status under the Geneva Conventions does not apply to "enemy combatants" captured during the war in Afghanistan and held at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, asserting executive authority to undertake waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" regarded as torture by the current Justice Department. Yoo also argued that the president was not bound by the War Crimes Act and provided a legal opinion backing the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

Yoo's legal opinions were not shared by some within the Bush Administration. Secretary of State Colin Powell strongly opposed what he saw as an invalidation of the Geneva Conventions, while U.S. Navy general counsel Alberto Mora campaigned internally against what he saw as the "catastrophically poor legal reasoning" and dangerous extremism of Yoo's opinions. In December 2003, Yoo's memo on permissible interrogation techniques, also known as the Bybee memo, was repudiated as legally unsound by the OLC, then under the direction of Jack Goldsmith. In June 2004, another of Yoo's memos on interrogation techniques was leaked to the press, after which it was repudiated by Goldsmith and the OLC.

Yoo's contribution to these memos has remained a source of controversy after his departure from the Justice Department; he was called to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in 2008 in defense of his role. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) began investigating Yoo's work in 2004 and in July 2009 completed a report that was sharply critical of his legal justification for waterboarding and other interrogation techniques. The OPR report cites testimony Yoo gave to Justice Department investigators where he claims that the "president's war-making authority was so broad that he had the constitutional power to order a village to be 'massacred'" The OPR report concluded that Yoo had "committed 'intentional professional misconduct' when he advised the CIA it could proceed with waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques against Al Qaeda suspects," although the recommendation that he be referred to his state bar association for possible disciplinary proceedings was overruled by David Margolis, another senior Justice department lawyer. In 2009, Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón Real launched an investigation of Yoo and five others (known as The Bush Six) for war crimes.

Biography[link]

Yoo emigrated with his parents from South Korea to the United States as an infant. He grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating from the Episcopal Academy in 1985. He earned a B.A. degree summa cum laude in American history from Harvard University in 1989 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1992. Yoo was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania in 1993. From 1995 to 1996, he was general counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yoo is a member of the Federalist Society. He is married to Elsa Arnett, the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett.

Publications[link]

Yoo's writings and areas of interest fall into three broad areas: American foreign relations; the Constitution's separation of powers and federalism; and international law. In foreign relations, Yoo has argued that the original understanding of the Constitution gives the President the authority to use armed force abroad without congressional authorization, subject to Congress's power of the purse; that treaties do not generally have domestic legal force without implementing legislation; and that courts are functionally ill-suited to intervene in foreign policy disputes between the President and Congress. With the separation of powers, Yoo has argued that each branch of government has the authority to interpret the Constitution for itself, which provides the justification for judicial review by the federal courts. In international law, Yoo has written that the rules governing the use of force must be understood to allow nations to engage in armed intervention to end humanitarian disasters, rebuild failed states, and stop terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Yoo's academic work also includes his analysis of the history of judicial review in the U.S. Constitution. Yoo's book, ''The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs after 9/11'', was praised in an Op-Ed in ''The Washington Times'', written by Nicholas J. Xenakis, an assistant editor at ''The National Interest''. It was quoted by Senator Joe Biden during the Senate hearings for then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, who "pressed Alito to denounce John Yoo's controversial defense of presidential initiative in taking the nation to war." Yoo is known as a public opponent of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Yoo has authored three books:

He has also contributed chapters to other books, including:

Legal opinions[link]

Regarding torture of detainees and children of detainees[link]

After he left the Department of Justice, it was revealed that Yoo had authored memos, including co-authoring the Torture Memo of August 1, 2002, defining torture and American habeas corpus obligations narrowly. In addition, a new definition of torture was issued. Most actions that fall under the international definition do not fall within this new definition advocated by the U.S. Several top military lawyers, including Alberto J. Mora, reported that policies allowing methods equivalent to torture were officially handed down from the highest levels of the administration, and led an effort within the Department of Defense to put a stop to those policies and instead mandate non-coercive interrogation standards.

On December 1, 2005, Yoo appeared in a debate in Chicago with University of Notre Dame law professor Doug Cassel. During the debate Cassel asked Yoo, "If the President deems that he's got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person's child, there is no law that can stop him?", to which Yoo replied "No treaty." Cassel followed up with "Also no law by Congress — that is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo...", to which Yoo replied "I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that."

On June 26, 2008, Yoo and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and former counsel David Addington testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a contentious hearing on detainee treatment, interrogation methods and the extent of executive branch authority. In this hearing, Rep. John Conyers repeatedly asked Yoo to clarify his remarks on the presidential power to authorize torture:

Regarding the Fourth amendment[link]

Yoo also authored the October 23, 2001 memo asserting that the President had sufficient power to allow the NSA to monitor the communications of US citizens on US soil without a warrant because the fourth amendment does not apply. Or, as another memo says in one of its footnotes, "Our office recently concluded that the Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations." That interpretation is used to assert that the normal mandatory requirement of a warrant, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, could be ignored.

In a 2006 book and a 2007 law review article, Yoo defended President Bush's terrorist surveillance program, arguing that "the TSP represents a valid exercise of the President's Commander-in-Chief authority to gather intelligence during wartime." He claimed that critics of the program misunderstand the separation of powers between the President and Congress in wartime because of a failure to properly understand the differences between war and crime, and a difficulty in understanding the new challenges presented by a networked, dynamic enemy such as al Qaeda. "Because the United States is at war with al Qaeda, the President possesses the constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief to engage in warrantless surveillance of enemy activity." In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece in July 2009, Yoo found it "absurd to think that a law like FISA should restrict live military operations against potential attacks on the United States."

Unitary executive theory[link]

Yoo suggested that since the primary task of the President during a time of war is protecting US citizens, the President has inherent authority to subordinate independent government agencies, and plenary power to use force abroad. Yoo contends that the Congressional check on Presidential war making power comes from its power of the purse, and that the President, and not the Congress or courts, has sole authority to interpret international treaties such as the Geneva Conventions "because treaty interpretation is a key feature of the conduct of foreign affairs". His positions on executive power are controversial because the theory can be interpreted as holding that the President's war powers place him above any law.

In the Clinton administration[link]

Yoo was a strong critic of what he viewed as the Clinton administration's use of the powers of what he termed the "Imperial Presidency". For instance, Yoo wrote:

Yet, Yoo has defended both Republican and Democratic Presidents, including President Clinton, in their decisions to use force abroad without congressional authorization. He wrote in ''The Wall Street Journal'' on March 15, 1999 that Clinton's decision to attack Serbia was constitutional, and criticized Democrats in Congress for not suing Clinton as they had sued Presidents Bush and Reagan to stop the war:

Yoo further stated, in regard to the Clinton administration's use of executive power:

Yoo declared in 2000, at a conference regarding executive power:

Yoo has been a defender of executive privilege, but only for protecting national security, diplomatic and military secrets. He criticized the Clinton administration for misusing the privilege to protect the personal, rather than official, activities of the President, in the Monica Lewinsky affair:

Yoo also criticized President Clinton for contemplating the defiance of a judicial order. Yoo suggested that Presidents could act in conflict with the Supreme Court, but that such measures were justified only during emergencies, and not to defend against a President's personal sexual affairs:

In the George W. Bush administration[link]

Following his tenure as an appointee of the George W. Bush Administration, Yoo criticized certain views on the separation of powers doctrine as allegedly being historically inaccurate and problematic for the Global War on Terrorism, stating, for instance:

and

War crimes accusations[link]

Glenn Greenwald has argued that Yoo could potentially be indicted for crimes against the laws and customs of war, the crime of torture, and/or crimes against humanity. Criminal proceedings to this end have begun in Spain: in a move that could lead to an extradition request, Judge Baltasar Garzón in March 2009 referred a case against Yoo to the chief prosecutor.

On November 14, 2006, invoking the principle of command responsibility, German attorney Wolfgang Kaleck filed a complaint with the German Federal Attorney General (''Generalbundesanwalt'') against Yoo, along with 13 others for his alleged complicity in torture and other crimes against humanity at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantánamo Bay. Wolfgang Kaleck acted on behalf of 11 alleged victims of torture and other human rights abuses, as well as about 30 human rights activists and organizations. The co-plaintiffs to the war crimes prosecution included Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Martín Almada, Theo van Boven, Sister Dianna Ortiz, and Veterans for Peace. Responding to the so-called "torture memoranda" Scott Horton pointed out

the possibility that the authors of these memoranda counseled the use of lethal and unlawful techniques, and therefore face criminal culpability themselves. That, after all, is the teaching of ''United States v. Altstötter'', the Nuremberg case brought against German Justice Department lawyers whose memoranda crafted the basis for implementation of the infamous "Night and Fog Decree."

Legal scholars speculated shortly thereafter that the case has little chance of successfully making it through the German court system.

Jordan Paust of the University of Houston Law Center concurred, responding to Attorney General Mukasey's refusal to investigate and/or prosecute anyone that relied on these legal opinions:

it is legally and morally impossible for any member of the executive branch to be acting lawfully or within the scope of his or her authority while following OLC opinions that are manifestly inconsistent with or violative of the law. General Mukasey, just following orders is no defense!

On January 4, 2008, John Yoo was sued in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Case Number 08-cv-00035-JSW) by José Padilla and his mother. The complaint seeks $1 in damages based on the alleged torture of Padilla attributed by the complaint to Yoo's torture memoranda. Judge Jeffrey S. White allowed the suit to proceed, rejecting all but one of Yoo's immunity claims. Padilla's lawyer says White's ruling could have a broad impact for all detainees.

Yoo's torture memoranda had been almost immediately retracted by Jack Goldsmith upon his October 2003 assumption of the duties of chief of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice. The Padilla complaint, on page 20, cites Goldsmith's 2007 book ''The Terror Presidency'' in support of its case. Goldsmith's book and his interviews while marketing the book claimed that the legal analysis in Yoo's torture memoranda was incorrect and that there was widespread opposition to the memoranda among some lawyers in the Justice Department, providing the basis for the lawsuit. The claim is that Yoo caused Padilla's damages by authorizing his alleged torture through his memoranda.

Retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, General Colin Powell's former chief of staff (in both the Persian Gulf War and while Powell was Secretary of State in the Bush Administration), has stated the following regarding Yoo: "Haynes, Feith, Yoo, Bybee, Gonzales and — at the apex — Addington, should never travel outside the US, except perhaps to Saudi Arabia and Israel. They broke the law; they violated their professional ethical code. In the future, some government may build the case necessary to prosecute them in a foreign court, or in an international court."

Office of Professional Responsibility Report[link]

The Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility concluded in a 261 page report dated July 29, 2009 that Yoo committed "intentional professional misconduct" when he "knowingly failed to provide a thorough, objective, and candid interpretation of the law" and recommended a referral to the Pennsylvania Bar for disciplinary action. However, career Justice department lawyer David Margolis in a Memorandum dated January 5, 2010 countermanded the recommended referral. While Margolis was careful to avoid "an endorsement of the legal work" which he said was "flawed" and "contained errors more than minor" concluding that Yoo had exercised "poor judgment," still he did not find "professional misconduct" sufficient to authorize OPR "to refer its findings to the state bar disciplinary authorities." Yoo contended that the Office of Professional Responsibility had manifested "rank bias and sheer incompetence," intended to "smear my reputation," and that Margolis "completely rejected its recommendations."

See also[link]

Extraordinary rendition by the United States

Jay Bybee

The Imperial Presidency

U.S. Army and CIA interrogation manuals

List of federal political scandals in the United States

References[link]

External links[link]

Category:1967 births Category:American Enterprise Institute Category:American foreign policy writers Category:American legal scholars Category:American legal writers Category:American political writers Category:American politicians of Korean descent Category:George W. Bush administration controversies Category:George W. Bush Administration personnel Category:Harvard University alumni Category:South Korean emigrants to the United States Category:Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Category:Living people Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty Category:War on Terror Category:Yale Law School alumni

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origin	Hong Kong
birth date	May 01, 1946
birth place	Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
occupation	Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Editor
spouse	Annie Woo
hongkongfilmwards	Best Picture1986 ''A Better Tomorrow'' Best Director1989 ''The Killer'' Best Film Editing1990 ''Bullet in the Head''1992 ''Hard-Boiled''
awards	Saturn Award for Best Direction1997 ''Face/Off'' }}

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T	吳宇森
P	Wú Yǔsēn
Mi
Myr	Wú Yǔsēn
W	Wu Yü-Sen
J	Ng4 Jyu5 Sam1
Y	Ǹgh Yúhsám
Ci	}}

John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (born 1 May 1946) is a Hong Kong film director, writer, and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, ''A Better Tomorrow'', ''The Killer'', ''Hard Boiled'' and ''Red Cliff''. His Hollywood films include ''Hard Target'', ''Broken Arrow'', ''Face/Off'' and ''Mission: Impossible 2''. He also created the comic series ''Seven Brothers'', published by Virgin Comics. Woo was described by Dave Kehr in ''The Observer'' in 2002 as "arguably the most influential director making movies today". Woo cites his three favorite films as David Lean's ''Lawrence of Arabia'', Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'' and Jean-Pierre Melville's ''Le Samouraï''.

Early life[link]

Woo was born amidst the chaos of the Chinese Civil War in 1946. The Christian Woo family, faced with persecution during Mao Zedong's early anti-bourgeois purges after the communist revolution in China, fled to Hong Kong when he was five. Impoverished, the Woo family lived in the slums at Shek Kip Mei. His father was a teacher, though rendered unable to work by tuberculosis, and his mother was a manual laborer on construction sites. The family was rendered homeless by the big Shek Kip Mei fire of 1953. Charitable donations from disaster relief efforts enabled the family to relocate; however, violent crime had by then become commonplace in Hong Kong housing projects.

At age three he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Following surgery on his spine, he was unable to walk correctly until eight years old, and as a result his right leg is shorter than his left leg. Woo went to Concordia Lutheran School and received a Christian education (his Christian background shows influences in his films). As a young boy, Woo had wanted to be a Christian minister. He later found a passion for movies influenced by the French New Wave especially Jean-Pierre Melville. Woo has said he was shy and had difficulty speaking, but found making movies a way to explore his feelings and thinking and would "use movies as a language".

The local cinema would prove a haven of retreat. Woo found respite in musical films, such as ''The Wizard of Oz'' and in American Westerns. He has stated the final scene of ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' made a particular impression on him in his youth: the device of two comrades, each of whom fire pistols from each hand, is a recurrent spectacle later found in his own work.

Woo married Annie Woo Ngau Chun-lung in 1976 and has three children. He has lived in the United States since 1993.

Hong Kong career[link]

In 1969, aged 23, Woo was hired as a script supervisor at Cathay Studios. In 1971, he became an assistant director at Shaw Studios, where he was mentored by the noted director Chang Cheh. His directorial debut in 1974 was the feature film ''The Young Dragons'' (鐵漢柔情, ''Tiě hàn róu qíng''). In the Kung fu action genre, it was choreographed by Jackie Chan and featured dynamic camera-work and elaborate action scenes. The film was picked up by Golden Harvest Studio where he went on to direct more martial arts films. He later had success as a comedy director with ''Money Crazy'' (發錢寒, ''Fā qián hàn'') (1977), starring Hong Kong comedian Ricky Hui.

By the mid-1980s, Mr. Woo experienced professional burnout. Several of his films were commercial disappointments. In response, he took residence in Taiwan. It was during this period of self-imposed exile that director/producer Tsui Hark provided the funding for Woo to film a longtime pet project called ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1986).

The story of two brothers—one a law enforcement officer, the other a criminal—the film became a financial blockbuster. ''A Better Tomorrow'' gained prominence as a defining achievement in Hong Kong action cinema for its combination of emotional drama, slow-motion gunplay, gritty atmospherics, and trenchcoat-and-sunglasses fashion appeal. Its signature narrative device of two-handed, two-gunned fire fight within confined quarters—often referred to as "gun fu"—would later inspire American filmmakers such as Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and the Wachowski brothers.

Woo would make several more Heroic Bloodshed films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, also with leading man Chow Yun-Fat. These violent gangster thrillers typically focus on men bound by honor and loyalty, at odds with contemporary values of impermanence and expediency. The protagonists of these films, therefore, may be said to present a common lineage with the Chinese literary tradition of loyalty among generals depicted in classics such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Mr. Woo gained international recognition with the release of ''The Killer'' (1989). Widely praised by critics and audiences for its action sequences, acting and cinematography, ''The Killer'' became the most successful Hong Kong film in American release since Bruce Lee's ''Enter the Dragon'' (1973) and garnered Mr. Woo an American cult following. ''Bullet in the Head'' followed a year later, which Mr. Woo has stated he still considers his most personal work. ''Bullet in the Head'' did not meet financial expectations.

Among the director's American admirers are Martin Scorsese and Sam Raimi (who has compared Woo's mastery of action to Hitchcock's mastery of suspense). Mr. Woo accepted a contract to work in America at a time when the 1997 handover of Hong Kong was imminent.

His last Hong Kong film before emigrating to the United States was ''Hard Boiled'' (1992), the antithesis of his earlier glorification of gangsters. Memorable among its preponderance of action scenes is an approximate 30 minute sequence of gun-play set within a hospital. The director pointedly depicts the vulnerability of patients caught in the crossfire. One particular long take follows two characters for an elapsed time of 2 minutes and 42 seconds as they move between hospital floors. On the Criterion DVD and laserdisc, this chapter is referenced as "2 minutes, 42 seconds." The film climax extols the virtues of its leading man, a law enforcement agent, Chow Yun-Fat, who is seen to comfort an infant with a lullaby while engaged in fire fight with his criminal pursuers. He heroically takes leave of this carnage when he leaps to safety from a window, babe gallantly in arms.

''John Woo: Interviews'' (ISBN 1-57806-776-6) is the first authoritative English-language chronicle of Woo’s career. The volume includes a new 36-page interview with Woo by editor Robert K. Elder, which documents the years 1968 to 1990, from Woo’s early career in working on comedies and kung fu films (in which he gave Jackie Chan one of his first major film roles), to his gunpowder morality plays in Hong Kong.

American career[link]

An émigré in 1993, the director experienced difficulty in cultural adjustment while contracted with Universal Studios to direct Jean-Claude Van Damme in ''Hard Target''. As characteristics of other foreign national film directors confronted the Hollywood environment, Mr. Woo was unaccustomed to pervasive management concerns, such as limitations on violence and completion schedules. When initial cuts failed to yield an "R" rated film, the studio assumed control of the project and edited footage to produce a cut "suitable for American audiences". A "rough cut" of the film, supposedly the original unrated version, is still circulated among his admirers.

A three year hiatus saw Mr. Woo next direct John Travolta and Christian Slater in ''Broken Arrow.'' A frenetic chase-themed film, the director once again found himself hampered by studio management and editorial concerns. Despite a larger budget than his previous ''Hard Target,'' the final feature lacked the trademark Woo style. Public reception saw modest financial success.

Reluctant to pursue projects which would necessarily entail front-office controls, the director cautiously rejected the script for ''Face/Off'' several times until it was rewritten to suit him. (The futuristic setting was changed to a contemporary one.) Paramount Pictures also offered the director significantly more freedom to exercise his speciality: emotional characterisation and elaborate action. A complex story of adversaries—each of whom surgically alters their identity—law enforcement agent John Travolta and terrorist Nicolas Cage play a cat-and-mouse game, trapped in each other's outward appearance.

''Face/Off'' opened in 1997 to critical acclaim and strong attendance. Grosses in the United States exceeded $100 million. As a result, John Woo is generally regarded as the first Asian director to find a mainstream commercial base. In 2003, Mr. Woo directed a television pilot entitled ''The Robinsons: Lost in Space'' for The WB Television Network, based on the 1960s television series ''Lost in Space''. The pilot was not purchased, although bootleg copies have been made available by fans.

John Woo has made three additional films in Hollywood: ''Mission: Impossible II'', ''Windtalkers'' and ''Paycheck''. ''Mission: Impossible II'' was the highest-grossing film of 2000, but received mixed reviews. ''Windtalkers'' and ''Paycheck'' fared poorly at the box office and were summarily dismissed by critics.

Recently, John Woo directed and produced a videogame called ''Stranglehold'' for games consoles and PC. It is a sequel to his 1992 film, ''Hard Boiled''. He also produced the 2007 anime movie, ''Appleseed: Ex Machina'', the sequel to Shinji Aramaki's 2004 film ''Appleseed''.

Return to Hong Kong[link]

In 2008, Woo returned to Asian cinema with the completion of the epic war film ''Red Cliff'', based on an historical battle from ''Records of the Three Kingdoms''. Produced on a grand scale, it is his first film in China since he emigrated from Hong Kong to the United States in 1993. Part 1 of the film was released throughout Asia in July, 2008, to generally favourable reviews and strong attendance. Part 2 was released in China in January, 2009.

John Woo was presented with a Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2010.

Future film projects[link]

His future film on Mighty Mouse will either be animated or live-action with CGI. He will also direct a remake of ''Papillon''. There are persistent rumours that Woo will direct a film version of the videogame ''Metroid''. He had optioned the rights at one point, but the option has long since expired.

Woo's next projects are ''The Divide'', a western concerning the friendship between two workers, one Chinese, the other Irish, on the transcontinental rail-road, while ''The Devil's Soldier'' is a biopic on Frederick Townsend Ward, an American brought to China in the mid 19th century by the Emperor to suppress rebellion. ''Rendezvous in Black'' will be an adaptation of the drama/thriller novel of the same name, and ''Psi-Ops'' is a science fiction thriller about a telepathic agent, a remake of ''Blind Spot''.

In May 2008, Woo announced in Cannes that his next movie would be ''1949'', an epic love story set between the end of World War II and Chinese Civil War to the founding of the People's Republic of China, the shooting of which would take place in China and Taiwan. Its production was due to begin by the end of 2008, theatrical release planned in December 2009. However, in early April 2009, John Woo's 1949 is cancelled due to script right issues. Also reports indicate that Woo may be working on another World War II film, this time about the American Volunteer Group, or the Flying Tigers. The movie is tentatively titled "Flying Tiger Heroes" and Woo is reported as saying it will feature "The most spectacular aerial battle scenes ever seen in Chinese cinema." Whether this means that John Woo will not be directing the rumoured Romeo and Juliet war film, or it has been put on the back burner. Woo has stated that Flying Tiger Heroes would be an "extremely important production" and will "emphasise US-Chinese friendship and the contributions of the Flying Tigers and the Yunnan people during the war of resistance." Woo has announced he will be using IMAX cameras to film the ''Flying Tigers'' project. ''“It has always been a dream of mine to explore shooting with IMAX cameras and to work in the IMAX format, and the strong visual element of this film is incredibly well-suited to the tastes of cinemagoers today [...] Using IMAX for Flying Tigers would create a new experience for the audience, and I think it would be another breakthrough for Chinese movies.”''

In popular culture[link]

In the video game ''Max Payne'' there are many homages and references to John Woo.

In the PC game ''F.E.A.R.'', the developers admitted that they been inspired by John Woo action movies, in that they wanted the game's action sequences to play out as dramatic and elegant gunfights.

The Christian rock band Newsboys has a song "John Woo" which makes reference to the religious symbolism he often employs in his films.

In the 2010 film ''Kick Ass'', Nicolas Cage plays a ruthless vigilante who's trained his young daughter to fight and kill. In one scene, he tests her knowledge with trivia questions about various weapons. After answering each question correctly, she says, "Give me a hard one!" to which her father asks, "The name of John Woo's first full-length feature?" She answers that question correctly as well.

During the Season 1 finale of the animated television series ''The Venture Bros.'', there is an entire scene devoted to smashing as many John Woo references as humanly possible into 30 seconds.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic story arc "Bodycount" is a tribute to John Woo's films.

In ''The Simpsons'' episode Half-Decent Proposal, Homer tells Artie Ziff that that he can spend a weekend with Marge, "but no funny stuff. And by "funny stuff" I mean hand-holding, goo-goo eyes, misdirected woo - which is pretty much any John Woo film... "

The 2004 Super Sentai film ''Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger The Movie: Full Blast Action'' has many homages to John Woo's works:

* The subplot of an artificial virus and antidote being used for extortion is borrowed from ''Mission: Impossible II''. Hoji's bike chase scene is loosely based on that film as well.

* The nightclub where Ban meets Marie Gold is called "Better Tomorrow".

* Many of Deka Red's gunfights are inspired by Woo's action-packed films such as ''Hard Boiled''.

In the ''Avatar: the Last Airbender'' episode "The Beach," there is a tribute to Woo's signature dove shot when the character Zuko throws his outer shirt to the ground before beginning to play volleyball.

The Cowboy Bebop episode "Ballad of Fallen Angels" pays homage to Woo including a stand-off, the use of two guns and a battle in a church complete with doves.

Filmography[link]

Directed[link]

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="3" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#BOC4DE;" | Notes |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1968 |''Dead Knot'' | Also Writer |- |''Ouran'' | |- |1974 |''The Young Dragons'' | Also Writer |- |1975 |''The Dragon Tamers'' | Also Writer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1976 |''Princess Chang Ping'' | Also Writer |- |''Hand of Death'' | Also Writer |- |1977 |''Money Crazy'' | Also Writer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1978 |''Hello, Late Homecomers'' | Also Writer |- |''Follow the Star'' | |- |1979 |''Last Hurrah for Chivalry'' | Also Writer |- |1980 |''From Riches to Rags'' | |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1981 |''To Hell with the Devil'' | Also Writer |- |''Laughing Times'' | Also Writer |- |1982 |''Plain Jane to the Rescue'' | |- |1984 |''The Time You Need a Friend'' | Also Writer/Producer |- |1985 |''Run, Tiger, Run'' | Also Producer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1986 |''Heroes Shed No Tears'' | Also Writer/Producer |- |''A Better Tomorrow'' | Also Writer/ProducerHong Kong Film Award for Best FilmNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best DirectorNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay |- |1987 |''A Better Tomorrow II'' | Also Writer/Producer |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1989 |''Just Heroes'' | |- |''The Killer'' | Also WriterHong Kong Film Award for Best DirectorNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay |- |1990 |''Bullet in the Head'' | Also Writer/ProducerNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director |- |1991 |''Once a Thief'' | Also WriterNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director |- |1992 |''Hard Boiled'' | Also Writer |- |1993 |''Hard Target'' | Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Direction |- |align="left" rowspan="2"|1996 |''Broken Arrow'' | |- |''Once a Thief'' | TVAlso Executive Producer |- |1997 |''Face/Off'' | Saturn Award for Best Direction |- |1998 |''Blackjack'' | TVAlso Executive Producer |- |2000 |''Mission: Impossible II'' | |- |2001 |''Windtalkers'' | Also Producer |- |2003 |''Paycheck'' | Also Producer |- |2008 |''Red Cliff: Part I'' | Also Writer/ProducerNominated - Asian Film Award for Best Director |- |2009 |''Red Cliff: Part II'' | Also Writer/ProducerNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best FilmNominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director |- |2010 |''Reign of Assassins'' | Also Producer |}

Producer[link]

Peace Hotel (1995)

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1996)

The Replacement Killers (1998)

The Big Hit (1998)

Red Skies (2002)

Bulletproof Monk (2003)

The Glass Beads (2005)

Blood Brothers (2007)

Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina (2007)

My Fair Gentleman (2009)

Reign of Assassins (2010)

A Better Tomorrow (2010)

Seediq Bale (2011)

Second Sight (2011)

The Killer (2012)

Writer[link]

Hello, Late Homecomers (1978)

A Better Tomorrow (2010)

Television Work[link]

Once a Thief

Other works[link]

''Airport '98'' (Nike commercial) (1998)

''Hostage'' (branded content short film for BMW) (2002)

''7 Brothers'' (graphic novel) (2006–2007)

''Stranglehold'' (video game) (2007)

''Power Up Hong Kong'' (TVB promotion clip/station campaign) (2009)

See also[link]

Cinema of China

Cinema of Hong Kong

References[link]

Further reading [link]

In English [link]

Bliss, Michael. ''Between the Bullets: The Spiritual Cinema of John Woo''. Filmmakers series, no. 92. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8108-4110-X.

Brown, Andrew M. J. ''Directing Hong Kong: The Political Cinema of John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai''. Political Communications in Greater China: the Construction and Reflection of Identity. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2001. ISBN 0-7007-1734-X.

Crawford, Kevin R. "Mixing violence and religion in 'The Reckoning' : The Scripting of a Postmodern Action Thriller inside the John Woo-film noir Paradigm". Digital Dissertation/Theses, 2007. .

Fang, Karen Y. ''John Woo's A Better Tomorrow''. The New Hong Kong Cinema. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004. ISBN 962-209-652-2.

Hall, Kenneth E. ''John Woo: The Films''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0619-4.

Heard, Christopher. ''Ten Thousand Bullets: The Cinematic Journey of John Woo''. Los Angeles: Lone Eagle Publishing Co., 2000. ISBN 1-58065-021-X.

Woo, John, and Robert K. Elder (ed.). ''John Woo: Interviews''. Conversations with Filmmakers Series. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 2005. ISBN 1-57806-775-8, ISBN 1-57806-776-6.

In other languages [link]

Berruezo, Pedro J. ''John Woo y el cine de acción de Hong Kong''. Biblioteca Dr. Vértigo, 23. [Barcelona]: Ediciones Glénat, 2000. ISBN 84-8449-043-2. Bertolino, Marco, and Ettore Ridola. ''John Woo: la violenza come redenzione''. Recco, Genova: Le mani, 1998. ISBN 88-8012-098-0. Gaschler, Thomas, and Ralph Umard. ''Woo Leben und Werk''. München: Belleville, 2005. ISBN 3-933510-48-1. Nazzaro, Giona A., and Andrea Tagliacozzo. ''John Woo: la nuova leggenda del cinema d'azione''. Contatti, 199. Roma: Castelvecchi, 2000. ISBN 88-8210-203-3. Spanu, Massimiliano. ''John Woo''. Il castoro cinema, 203. Milano: Castoro, 2001. ISBN 88-8033-192-2. Vié-Toussaint, Caroline. ''John Woo''. Paris: Dark star, 2001. ISBN 2-914680-01-5.

External links[link]

A Better Tomorrow Review at subtitledonline.com

John Woo at HKcinema.net

Hardboiled.de (via Internet Archive)

A John Woo Retrospective

John Woo - The Independents

John Woo Interviews

Ten HARD BOILED Moments - The Best of John Woo

Allegory and symbolism in John Woo's cinematic arts : themes and aesthetics

Director John Woo to direct WWII fighter epic in China based on Flying Tiger's exploits.

John Woo interview with Underground Republik

Interview by Aynne Kokas Asia Pacific Arts, 19 November 2009

Category:1946 births Category:Living people

Category:Hong Kong film producers Category:Hong Kong screenwriters Category:American Lutherans Category:Best Director HKFA Category:Hong Kong emigrants to the United States Category:Hong Kong people with disabilities Category:Hong Kong Protestants Category:Hong Kong film directors

an:John Woo ca:John Woo da:John Woo de:John Woo es:John Woo fa:جان وو fr:John Woo ko:오우삼 id:John Woo it:John Woo sw:John Woo hu:John Woo nl:John Woo ja:ジョン・ウー no:John Woo pl:John Woo pt:John Woo ro:John Woo ru:Ву, Джон fi:John Woo sv:John Woo th:จอห์น วู uk:Джон Ву vi:Ngô Vũ Sâm zh-yue:吳宇森 zh:吴宇森

name	Rachel Maddow
birthname	Rachel Anne Maddow
birth date	April 01, 1973
birth place	Castro Valley, California, U.S.
education	B.A., Stanford UniversityD.Phil, University of Oxford
occupation	News anchorPolitical commentatorTelevision host
credits	''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (MSNBC)''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (Air America Radio)
url	}}

Rachel Anne Maddow (; born April 1, 1973) is an American television host, political commentator, and author. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, ''The Rachel Maddow Show'', on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America Radio. Maddow is the first openly gay anchor of a prime-time news program in the United States.

Asked about her political views by the ''Valley Advocate'', Maddow replied, "I'm undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I'm in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform."

Early life and education [link]

Maddow was born in Castro Valley, California. Her father, Robert B. "Bob" Maddow, is a former United States Air Force captain who resigned his commission the year before her birth and found civilian work as a lawyer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Her mother, Elaine Maddow (née Gosse), is a school program administrator from Newfoundland, Canada. She has one older brother, David. Her father is of Russian and Dutch descent and her mother is of English and Irish ancestry. Maddow's mother was raised a strict Roman Catholic, and Maddow herself grew up in a community that her mother has described as "very conservative." Maddow was a competitive athlete and played three sports in high school. Referencing John Hughes films, she describes herself in high school as "a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl."

A graduate of Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California, she attended Stanford University. While a freshman, she was outed by the college newspaper when an interview with her was published by the student newspaper before she could tell her parents. Maddow earned a degree in public policy from Stanford in 1994. At graduation she was awarded the John Gardner Fellowship. She was also the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship and began her postgraduate study in 1995 at Lincoln College, Oxford. In 2001, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in politics from Oxford University. Her thesis is titled ''HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons'' (supervisor: Dr Lucia Zedner). She was the first openly gay American to win a Rhodes scholarship.

Radio career [link]

Maddow's first radio hosting job was at WRNX (100.9 FM) in Holyoke, Massachusetts, after she entered and won a contest the station held to find a new on-air personality. She was hired to co-host WRNX's morning show, ''The Dave in the Morning Show''. She went on to host ''Big Breakfast'' on WRSI, in Northampton, Massachusetts, for two years. She left the show in March 2004 to join the new Air America. There she hosted ''Unfiltered'' along with Chuck D (of the hip hop group Public Enemy) and Lizz Winstead (co-creator of ''The Daily Show''), until its cancellation in March 2005. Two weeks after the cancellation of ''Unfiltered'' in April 2005, Maddow's weekday two-hour radio program, ''The Rachel Maddow Show'', began airing; in March 2008 it gained an hour, broadcasting from 6 to 9 p.m. EST with David Bender filling in the third hour for the call-in section, when Maddow was on TV assignment. In September 2008, the show's length returned to two hours when Maddow began a nightly MSNBC television program. In February 2009, after renewing her contract with Air America, Maddow returned to the 5 am hour-long slot. Her last Air America show was on January 21, 2010, two weeks before its owners filed for bankruptcy.

Television career [link]

In June 2005, Maddow became a regular panelist on MSNBC's ''Tucker.'' During and after the November 2006 election, she was a frequent guest on CNN's ''Paula Zahn Now.'' In January 2008, Maddow was given the position of MSNBC political analyst and was a regular panelist on MSNBC's ''Race for the White House'' with David Gregory and MSNBC's election coverage, as well as a frequent contributor on ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann.''

In April 2008, Maddow was the substitute host for ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', her first time hosting a program on MSNBC. Maddow described herself on air as "nervous." Keith Olbermann complimented her work and she was brought back to host "Countdown" in May 2008. The day she hosted was the highest rated news program among people 25 to 54 years of age, a demographic key to ratings. For her success, the next Monday Olbermann ranked Maddow third in his show's segment "World's Best Persons". Maddow filled in again on ''Countdown'' for eight and a half broadcasts while Olbermann was on vacation in July 2008 and the second half of the show on July 21. Maddow also filled in for David Gregory as host of ''Race for the White House''.

''The Rachel Maddow Show'' [link]

In August 2008, MSNBC announced ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' would replace ''Verdict with Dan Abrams'' in the channel's 9 p.m. slot the following month. Following its debut, the show topped ''Countdown'' as the highest rated show on MSNBC on several occasions. After being on air for more than a month, Maddow's program doubled the audience that hour.

Early reviews for her show were mostly positive. ''Los Angeles Times'' writer Matea Gold stated Maddow "finds the right formula on MSNBC," and ''The Guardian'' writes Maddow has become the "star of America's cable news." ''Associated Press'' columnist David Bauder said she's "[Keith] Olbermann's political soul mate" and the Olbermann-Maddow shows are a "liberal two-hour block."

Public image and publicity[link]

Maddow has been profiled in People, the Guardian, and the New York Observer, has appeared on “The View” and “Charlie Rose”

Keith Olbermann played a pivotal role in Maddow's hiring at MSNBC. Olbermann was able to pressure Phil Griffin to give Maddow Dan Abram's slot. A fan of Maddow's, Olbermann was able to use his influence, which had become greater as his ratings rose.

A 2011 Hollywood Reporter profile of Maddow said that she was able to deliver news "with agenda, but not hysteria.” A Newsweek profile noted that “At her best, Maddow debates ideological opponents with civility and persistence...But for all her eloquence, she can get so wound up ripping Republicans that she sounds like another smug cable partisan.". Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik has accused Maddow of acting like 'a lockstep party member.'”

A Time profile called her a “whip-smart, button-cute leftie.” It said that she radiates an essential decency and suggested that her career rise might signify that “nice is the new nasty.”

Political views[link]

Distinguishing herself from others on the left, Maddow said she's a "national security liberal" and in a different interview that she's not "a partisan." ''The New York Times'' called her a "defense policy wonk" who is writing a book on the role of the military in postwar American politics. During the 2008 presidential election, Maddow did not formally support any candidate. Concerning Barack Obama's candidacy, Maddow said during the primaries, "I have never and still don't think of myself as an Obama supporter, either professionally or actually."

In March 2010, Republican Scott Brown, the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts, speculated that Maddow was going to run against him for his seat in 2012. He used this premise for a fundraising email that read "...The Massachusetts political machine is looking for someone to run against me. And you're not going to believe who they are supposedly trying to recruit — liberal MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow." Maddow said Brown's speculation was false. On her March 23, 2010, TV program, Maddow said, "I have the best job in the world. I am not running for office. Scott Brown didn't ask me if I was running or planning to run for office, before he wrote a fundraising letter with my name. No, it's completely made up by him." Despite her comments, the next day Brown continued along the same line, telling a Boston radio station, "Bring her on." To help put an end to the matter, Maddow ran a full-page advertisement in the ''Boston Globe'' confirming she was not running, and separately demanded Brown's apology. She added that despite repeated invitations over the months, Brown had refused to appear on her TV program.

Personal life [link]

Maddow lives in Manhattan and western Massachusetts with her partner, artist Susan Mikula. The couple met in 1999, when Mikula hired Maddow to do yard work at her home. Maddow was working on her doctoral dissertation at the time. Their first date was at a National Rifle Association "Ladies' Day on the Range" event. Although Massachusetts and New York recognize same-sex marriage, as of 2009 Maddow and Mikula had no plans to marry.

Honors and awards [link]

Maddow was named in ''Out'' magazine's "Out 100" list of the "gay men and women who moved culture" in 2008. Maddow was voted "Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year (American)" in AfterEllen's 2008 Visibility Awards. Maddow won a Gracie Award in 2009, presented by the American Women in Radio and Television. In 2009, Maddow was nominated for GLAAD's 20th Annual Media Awards for a segment of her MSNBC show, "Rick Warren, Change To Believe In?", in the Outstanding TV Journalism Segment category. On March 28, 2009, Maddow received a Proclamation of Honor from the California State Senate, presented in San Francisco by California State Senator Mark Leno. In April 2009, she was listed at number four in ''Out'' magazine's Annual Power 50 List. Maddow placed sixth in the "2009 AfterEllen.com Hot 100" list (May 11, 2009) and third in its "2009 Hot 100: Out Women" version. Maddow was included on a list of openly gay media professionals in The Advocate's "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009. In 1994, Maddow was an Honorable Mention in the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Prize in Ethics. In June 2009, Maddow's MSNBC show was the only cable news show nominated for a Television Critics Association award in the ''Outstanding Achievement in News and Information'' category. In March 2010, Maddow won at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in the category, ''Outstanding TV Journalism- Newsmagazine'' for her segment, "Uganda Be Kidding Me". Maddow was the 2010 commencement speaker and was given an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree at Smith College in Northampton, MA in May 2010. In July 2010, Maddow was presented with a ''Maggie Award'' for her ongoing reporting of healthcare reform, the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and the anti-abortion movement. In August 2010, Maddow won the ''Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award'', which was presented by The Interfaith Alliance. Past honorees included Larry King, Tom Brokaw, and the late Peter Jennings. In November 2011, she was included on the list of "Over-Rated Thinkers" by the editors of ''The New Republic''. In February 2012, Maddow was presented the John Steinbeck Award by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University.

Bibliography[link]

References [link]

External links [link]

Profile and show at MSNBC

Category:1973 births Category:Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American political pundits Category:American Rhodes scholars Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television personalities Category:American women journalists Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:Living people Category:MSNBC Category:NBC News Category:People from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Stanford University alumni Category:LGBT journalists Category:LGBT broadcasters

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Name	Harry Reid
Jr/sr	United States Senator
State	Nevada
Alongside	Dean Heller
Term start	January 3, 1987
Predecessor	Paul Laxalt
Office1	Senate Majority Leader
Deputy1	Dick Durbin
Term start1	January 3, 2007
Predecessor1	Bill Frist
Office2	Senate Minority Leader
Deputy2	Dick Durbin
Term start2	January 3, 2005
Term end2	January 3, 2007
Predecessor2	Tom Daschle
Successor2	Mitch McConnell
Office3	Senate Minority Whip
Leader3	Tom Daschle
Term start3	January 3, 2003
Term end3	January 3, 2005
Predecessor3	Don Nickles
Successor3	Dick Durbin
Leader4	Tom Daschle
Term start4	January 20, 2001
Term end4	June 6, 2001
Predecessor4	Don Nickles
Successor4	Don Nickles
Leader5	Tom Daschle
Term start5	January 3, 1999
Term end5	January 3, 2001
Predecessor5	Wendell Ford
Successor5	Don Nickles
Office6	Senate Majority Whip
Leader6	Tom Daschle
Term start6	June 6, 2001
Term end6	January 3, 2003
Predecessor6	Don Nickles
Successor6	Mitch McConnell
Leader7	Tom Daschle
Term start7	January 3, 2001
Term end7	January 20, 2001
Predecessor7	Don Nickles
Successor7	Don Nickles
State9	Nevada
District9	1st
Term start9	January 3, 1983
Term end9	January 3, 1987
Predecessor9	James David Santini (At-large)
Successor9	James Bilbray
Office10	25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada
Governor10	Mike O'Callaghan
Term start10	January 1971
Term end10	January 1975
Predecessor10	Edward Fike
Successor10	Robert Rose
Birth name	Harry Mason Reid
Birth date	December 02, 1939
Birth place	Searchlight, Nevada, United States
Party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Landra Gould
Children	1 daughter4 sons
Alma mater	Southern Utah UniversityUtah State UniversityGeorge Washington University
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Signature	Harry Reid Signature.svg
Website	Official site }}

Harry Mason Reid (born December 2, 1939) is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.

Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Nevada's 1st congressional district, and served in Nevada local and state government as city attorney of Henderson, a state legislator, the 25th Lieutenant Governor, and chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Early life, education, and early career[link]

Reid was born in Searchlight, Nevada, the third of the four sons of Inez Orena (née Jaynes), a laundress, and Harry Vincent Reid, a miner. His paternal grandmother was an English immigrant from Darlston, Staffordshire. Reid's boyhood home had no indoor toilet, hot water or telephone. Searchlight had no high school, so Reid boarded with relatives 40 miles away in Henderson, Nevada to attend Basic High School where he played football, and was an amateur boxer. While at Basic High he met future Nevada governor Mike O'Callaghan, who was a teacher there. Reid attended Southern Utah University and graduated from Utah State University where he double majored in political science and history. Reid also minored in economics from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. He then went to George Washington University Law School earning a J.D. while working for the United States Capitol Police.

Early political career[link]

State politics[link]

He returned to Nevada after law school and served as Henderson city attorney before being elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1968. In 1970, at age 30, Reid was chosen by O'Callaghan as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. Reid and his mentor O'Callaghan won the race and Reid served as lieutenant governor from 1971 until 1974, when he ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Alan Bible. He lost by fewer than 600 votes to former Governor Paul Laxalt. In 1975, Reid ran for mayor of Las Vegas and lost to Bill Briare.

Reid served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981. When Jack Gordon, LaToya Jackson's future agent and husband, offered Reid a $12,000 bribe to approve new games for casinos, Reid brought in the FBI to tape Gordon's bribery attempt and arrest him. After FBI agents interrupted the transaction as prearranged, Reid lost his temper and began choking Gordon, saying "You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!" Gordon was convicted in 1979 and sentenced to six months in prison. In 1981, Reid's wife found a bomb attached to the family station wagon; Reid suspected it was placed by Gordon.

U.S. Representative[link]

Prior to the 1980 Census, Nevada had only a single at-large member in the United States House of Representatives, but population growth in the 1970s resulted in the state picking up a second district. Reid won the Democratic nomination for the 1st district, based in Las Vegas, in 1982, and easily won the general election. He served two terms in the House, from 1983 to 1987.

U.S. Senate[link]

Elections[link]

In 1986, Reid won the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring two-term incumbent Republican Senator Paul Laxalt. He defeated former at-large Congressman Jim Santini, a Democrat who had turned Republican, in the November election. He coasted to reelection in 1992. However, he barely defeated 1st District Congressman John Ensign in 1998 in the midst of a statewide Republican sweep.

In 2004, Reid won reelection with 61 percent of the vote, gaining the endorsement of several Republicans.

Ensign was elected to Nevada's other Senate seat in 2000. He and Reid have a very good relationship, despite their bruising contest in 1998. The two frequently worked together on Nevada issues.

While Reid won the Democratic nomination with 75% of the vote in the June 8 primary, he faced a competitive general election for the 2010 Senate race in Nevada. Reid engaged in a $1 million media campaign to "reintroduce himself" to Nevada's voters. He defeated Republican challenger Sharron Angle in the general election.

Leadership[link]

From 1999 to 2005, Reid served as Senate Democratic Whip, as minority whip from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2003 to 2005, then as majority whip from 2001 to 2003 (except for a brief period from January–May 2001). From 2001 to 2003, he served as chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee.

Reid succeeded Tom Daschle as minority leader in 2005 and became majority leader after the 2006 elections. He was re-elected majority leader without opposition by the Democratic caucus on November 18, 2008, winning all 57 votes.

Committee assignments[link]

Select Committee on Intelligence (''Ex officio'')

Political positions[link]

Reid has scored a lifetime conservative rating of 19% from the American Conservative Union (ACU), and a 2008 liberal rating of 70% from the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). Other independent ratings include a 29% rating in 2003 from NARAL, the abortion pro-choice group, and a 57% rating from Planned Parenthood in 2006.

Reid has spearheaded several initiatives while in Congress. In 2006, Reid co-sponsored the "Prevention First Amendment" with Hillary Clinton, which would fund abortion prevention efforts, such as giving women broader access to contraception; however the bill faced Republican opposition and failed. In January 2007, Reid brought a Senate ethics reform bill to a vote to bar congressional members from accepting gifts, meals, and trips from lobbyists and organizations employing them, as well as barring Senators from borrowing corporate jets for travel and compelling them to disclose the names of sponsors, or authors, of bills and specific projects. The bill passed 96–2. In the 111th Congress, Reid shepherded the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through the Senate.

Regarding specific issues, Reid believes that ''Roe vs. Wade'' should be overturned and in 1999, he voted against an amendment that explicitly expressed support for ''Roe v. Wade''. He has stated that he believes in a restricted right to abortion, stating that "abortions should be legal only when the pregnancy resulted from incest, rape, or when the life of the woman is endangered." He has also voted several times to ban the "intact dilation and evacuation" or "partial-birth abortion" procedure. Reid has supported embryonic stem cell research.

Regarding same-sex marriage, Reid has stated he believes "...marriage should be between a man and a woman." He voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act but against the Federal Marriage Amendment.

In regard to local issues, Reid has firmly opposed the proposed Yucca Mountain federal nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Reid has opposed the legalization of online poker in the past, but has more recently changed his position, a move that some have argued was influenced by "the hundreds of thousands of dollars Las Vegas casinos contributed to his re-election campaign".

Reid called immigration reform one of his top priorities for the 110th Congress. He supports the DREAM Act the (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act), which would allow certain U.S. high school grads who had arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, conditional legal status so they could attend college or enlist in the military. They could then obtain permanent legal residency after completing two years of military service or two years of college. In June 2009, Reid announced his intention to enact a new guest worker program as part of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Reid has supported the use of force in the Middle East but in September 2007 he called for a drastic change in strategy. In January 1991 he voted to authorize the first Gulf War. quoting John F. Kennedy's 1963 State of the Union speech on the Senate floor, saying "the mere absence of war is not Peace." He also voted in support of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In March 2007 he voted in favor of "redeploying U.S. troops out of Iraq by March 2008", and later that year, he said, "As long as we follow [President Bush's] path in Iraq, the war is lost."

Reid has also advocated the outlawing of prostitution in Nevada, an unpopular position within the state.

Criticism[link]

Over the years Reid has been criticized at times by both sides of the political aisle. Liberal critics have argued that Reid was not doing enough to end the American military presence in Iraq, and that he allowed Senate Republicans to create a 60-vote bar for passage of bills without a Democratic fillibuster.

Reid has also been criticized for several potentially self-enriching tactics. In 2005, Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide for building a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that would make land he owned more valuable. Reid called funding for construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, "incredibly good news for Nevada" in a news release after passage of the 2005 transportation bill. He owned of land several miles from the proposed bridge site in Arizona. The bridge could add value to his real estate investment. A year later it was reported that Reid had used campaign donations to pay for $3,300 in Christmas gifts to the staff at the condominium where he resides; federal election law prohibits candidates from using political donations for personal use. Reid's staff stated that his attorneys had approved use of the funds in this manner, but that he nonetheless would personally reimburse his campaign for the expenses. Those reports notwithstanding, the conservative group Citizens United announced it had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission to investigate the matter.

A series of investigative reports in the ''Los Angeles Times'' suggested that Reid had introduced legislation and imposed pressure on regulatory agencies to advance the business interests of his close friend Harvey Whittemore, a Nevada attorney-lobbyist who contributed heavily to Reid's campaigns and leadership fund and who employed Reid's son Leif as his personal attorney. With Reid's help, Whittemore was able to proceed with construction of a $30 billion planned golf course development, Coyote Springs, a project heavily criticized by environmental groups for reasons including its projected effects on several endangered species.

In 2006, the National Republican Senatorial Committee attempted to associate Reid with the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal by pointing out he had "received more than $50,000 from four tribes with gaming interests between 2001 and 2004 after they hired Abramoff". Reid denied any wrongdoing, and media reported that the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan research group, had produced an analysis showing a general increase in the amount and number of contributions by Indian tribes since the late 1990s.

Reid apologized on January 9, 2010, for racially tinged comments he had made when Obama was campaigning for president. In private conversations, Reid had remarked that Obama could win the Presidency because the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama—to whom he referred as being "light-skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one". These comments had been recently revealed by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in ''Game Change'', their book about the 2008 election. In addition to his public apology, Reid called Obama to apologize; Obama accepted his apology, stating that as far as he was concerned, the book was closed on the incident. RNC Chairman Michael Steele and Senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl called on Reid to resign his leadership position in the Senate, citing Majority Leader Trent Lott resigning because of a statement relating to race. However, multiple experts said there was virtually no chance of such a thing happening. DNC Chairman Tim Kaine and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Jack Reed expressed support for Reid and confidence he would retain his leadership position, and another senior Democrat indicated Reid has "produced supportive statements from key African American leaders in the Congress and civil rights community".

In August 2010, Harry Reid spoke in front of National Council of La Raza: "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK. Do I need to say more?" The following day, Dr. Manny Alvarez and Republican Senator Marco Rubio, both of Hispanic descent, spoke out against Reid's remarks.

Cultural and political image[link]

Part of Harry Reid's confrontation with Frank Rosenthal while chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission is reenacted in the 1995 movie ''Casino''. Reid had a role in the movie ''Traffic'' (2000), in which he played himself. He appeared along with Senator Sam Brownback and then Senator Barack Obama in the 2007 documentary film ''Sand and Sorrow'', which details the genocide in Sudan.

Reid was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 2001.

An October 2007 ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' favorability poll indicated 51% of Nevadans viewed Reid unfavorably, with 32% indicating favorability, although in May 2007 Reid had a 46% favorable rating versus a 42% unfavorable one. A December 2007 ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' job approval poll showed 42% of Nevadans rating Reid "poor", 41% "excellent or good", and 16% "only fair".

Personal life[link]

In 1959, Reid married his high school sweetheart, Landra Gould. They have five children, a daughter and four sons. Their eldest son, Rory Reid, was an elected Commissioner for Clark County, Nevada of which he became Chairman of, and 2010 Democratic nominee in the election for Governor of Nevada. Another son recently ran for municipal office in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.

Reid (who was raised agnostic) and his wife (who was born to Jewish immigrant parents and grew up in Henderson), converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon or LDS Church) while he was a college student. In a 2001 interview he said, "I think it is much easier to be a good member of the Church and a Democrat than a good member of the Church and a Republican." He went on to say that the Democrats' emphasis on helping others, as opposed to what he considers Republican dogma to the contrary, is the reason he's a Democrat. He delivered a speech at Brigham Young University to about 20,000 students on October 9, 2007, in which he expressed his opinion that Democratic values mirror Mormon values. Several Republican Mormons in Utah have contested his faith because of his politics, such as his statements that the church's backing of California's Proposition 8 wasted resources.

In September 2011, Reid's wife was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment.

References[link]

External links[link]

Senator Harry Reid ''official U.S. Senate website''

Senator Harry Reid ''official campaign website''

Tough Reid, Eve Fairbanks, ''The New Republic'', April 15, 2009

{{U.S. Senator box| state=Nevada| class=3| before=Paul Laxalt| after=Incumbent| years=January 3, 1987–| alongside=Chic Hecht, Richard Bryan, John Ensign, Dean Heller}}

Category:1939 births Category:American federal police officers Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:Converts to Mormonism Category:Converts to Christianity from atheism or agnosticism Category:Democratic Party United States Senators Category:Gambling regulators Category:George Washington University Law School alumni Category:Lieutenant Governors of Nevada Category:Living people Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada Category:Nevada Democrats Category:Nevada lawyers Category:People from Searchlight, Nevada Category:Southern Utah University alumni Category:United States Senators from Nevada Category:Utah State University alumni

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