Never known for respecting the limits of its jurisdictional authority, the Berkeley City Council is considering a resolution demanding the indictment of Boalt Law Professor John Yoo for "war crimes." And -- get this -- they're also considering "ordering" Boalt to offer alternatives to Yoo's courses:

Berkeley's City Council will delve into national policy again next week when it votes whether to demand the United States charge Berkeley resident and former Bush adviser John Yoo with war crimes.

Yoo, a tenured professor at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, wrote the memos offering legal justification for torture while he worked for the White House from 2001 to 2003.

The five measures attacking Yoo were drafted by the city's Peace and Justice Commission, the same group that recommended that the city tell the Marines they were "unwelcome intruders."

The City Council will vote Monday on the five measures. In addition to demanding that Yoo be charged with war crimes, the city will decide whether to order Boalt to offer alternatives to Yoo's courses, so no student is forced to take a class from him if they don't want to. Yoo has taught constitutional and international law at Boalt since 1993.

Several professors teach constitutional and international law each semester, and no student would be forced to enroll in Yoo's class, said Boalt spokeswoman Susan Gluss.

"We respect the politics of Berkeley, home of the free speech movement, and their right to debate this issue," Gluss said. "They can pass this measure, but it won't have any bearing on the university's policy."

To be fair, a couple of city councilmembers (councilmen? Is that the latest PCese?) have reservations based on academic freedom:

At least two councilmen are less than enthused about the measure.

"I certainly am not in agreement with this professor's justifications for torture, but this measure seems to fly in the face of a good liberal arts education," said Councilman Laurie Capitelli. "Taking a course from a professor with whom you disagree is a healthy intellectual challenge."

Capitelli also said the city council should be devoting its time to issues within its own borders, such as crime and zoning, instead of national and international affairs.

Councilman Gordon Wozniak agreed.

"I don't think we should be telling the university what courses they can and can't teach," he said.

The Berkeley government reminds me of King Canute.

But I love the place dearly. Here's today's sunset:

It will set again tomorrow.

(Yes, even if the city council passes a "sunset provision" ordering it not to....)