The John Yoo firestorm is about to get hotter.

With a federal investigation into Yoo’s legal advice to the Bush administration apparently winding down, University of California Berkeley leaders are preparing for a difficult decision — whether to punish a professor for his off-campus work.

The dilemma is rare. At risk are the tenets of academic freedom that have long allowed college faculty members to speak their minds in the name of scholarship.

Yoo̢۪s case revolves around his advice on dealing with accused terrorists, including a notorious memo that provides legal justification for torture.

“I think this is simply a left-wing version of McCarthyism,â€Â said Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor who disagrees strongly with Yoo’s views on torture. “He should be judged solely on the merits of his academics.â€Â

But Berkeley administrators and faculty leaders said they would be concerned about Yoo teaching law students if he were found to have violated ethical or legal standards. Critics have called Yoo a yes-man for President George W. Bush, essentially telling him what he wanted to hear.

The code of conduct for UC Berkeley faculty states that criminal convictions could result in discipline, but it is less explicit about other transgressions. But some, including Berkeley law Dean Christopher Edley and a top faculty leader, have said they could punish Yoo regardless of whether he is tried and convicted in a court.

“A criminal conviction is not necessary,â€Â said Christopher Kutz, a law professor and vice chairman of the UC Berkeley Academic Senate.

A Justice Department spokesman said the federal investigation into Yoo̢۪s role is ongoing. He declined to estimate when the inquiry would wrap up.

Edley, who was on President Barack Obama̢۪s transition team and who has held positions in two Democratic administrations, said he and others on campus are conflicted about how to handle Yoo.

“I think that almost everybody is concernedâ€Â about how the debate will end, he said. “All of us need to work through the tension of the principles that preserve the excellence and independence of the university versus the principles that govern society.â€Â

By Matt Krupnick / McClatchy Tribune