General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama is BOUND BY LAW to prosecute torture. [View all]branford
(4,462 posts)The Principles do not override the text of the Constitution or establish independent American jurisprudence limiting the prosecutorial discretion of the president.
You can cite to the Principles as to why you believe the president should commence torture prosecution, but I'll inquire once again, do you have any citations to American law that establishes that the president must initiate prosecutions, and if he does not, by what mechanism he can actually be compelled to do so.
Your argument can essentially be distilled to claiming that war crimes are so important to prosecute that Obama must do so. That is a moral argument. I've neither seen nor read anything that actually legally compels Obama to prosecute any practical means by which American high officials will ever appear before a foreign tribunal. (See, e.g., my posts #78 and #46 in this thread).