Jay Bybee

Jay Bybee
Bybee in 2002
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office December 31, 2019
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office March 21, 2003 – December 31, 2019
Appointed by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Procter Ralph Hug Jr.
Succeeded by	Lawrence VanDyke
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel
In office November 2001 – March 13, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Deputy	John Yoo
Preceded by	Randolph D. Moss
Succeeded by	Jack Goldsmith
Personal details
Born	(1953-10-27) October 27, 1953 (age 70) Oakland, California, U.S.
Education	Brigham Young University (BA, JD)

Jay Scott Bybee (born October 27, 1953) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior U.S. circuit judge of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has published numerous articles in law journals and has taught as a senior fellow in constitutional law at William S. Boyd School of Law.^[1] His primary research interests are in constitutional and administrative law.^[2]

While serving in the Bush administration as the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, Bybee signed the controversial "Torture Memos" in August 2002. These authorized "enhanced interrogation techniques" that were used in the systematic torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay detention camp beginning in 2002 and at the Abu Ghraib facility following the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003. These actions have been considered war crimes by other former members of the Bush administration.^[3]