Learning to Paddle Against the Current: A Commentary on Conrad's (2019) "Moving Upstream in the Post-Hoffman Era When Ethical Responsibilities Conflict With the Law"

A recent article in this journal, "Moving Upstream in the Post-Hoffman Era: When Ethical Responsibilities Conflict With the Law," (Conrad, 2019) provides an imbalanced viewpoint regarding the American Psychological Association's (APA's) evolving policies on interrogation of alleged terrorist detainees in the context of conflicts between ethics and law. The article overlooks important facts and documents, leading to uncritical repetition of unsupported conclusions. This response calls for the application of critical thinking (Hitchcock, 2018). Using well-documented examples and historical data, this article seeks to move the public dialog on the APA "Independent Review Relating to the Ethics Guidelines, National Security Investigations, and Torture" toward greater accuracy.