Impeaching Bybee
The following is the text of the letter I have sent to my Representative in Congress, asking that a impeachment investigation of federal judge Jay Bybee should begin:
I am a registered voter in your district, and I am writing to urge you to support an impeachment investigation of Jay S. Bybee, who is now a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, to determine what role he played while serving as Assistant Attorney General in the authorization of physical and mental abuse, and possible torture, of detainees.
I have read Judge Bybee's memorandum dated 8/1/2002 to Alberto Gonzales, then Counsel to the President, and there is no doubt in my mind that the memorandum is so wrong in so many ways that it could not possibly be the result of differing legal views, or even incompetence. The multiple distortions of court opinions and legal principles can only be explained by deliberate dishonesty.
The memorandum therefore appears to be the product of a deliberate and concerted effort to subvert and evade the laws of the United States and the obligations of the President under the Constitution. That this effort resulted in both the deaths and sufferings of many people is undisputed.
I do not know whether Judge Bybee committed a criminal act in submitting the memorandum to the President's counsel, but the circumstances surrounding the memorandum, combined with his current status as a federal judge, demand an investigation.
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Thanks for posting this. Now I don't have an excuse to not send one also.
April 26, 2009 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent letter!!
April 26, 2009 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please let us know if and when you get a reply.
April 26, 2009 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Now that we know the extent of the horrors he authorized - the extent to which he worked against our own Constitution - Bybee must be impeached." -- Mar 6 blog entry cite
Having read the Bybee Aug 2002 memos (Gonzalez and Rizzo) I must retreat to my larger position that Bybee is not the problem to be attacked. It's time to be clear. I call for more investigation but I don't see impeachment (or subsequent conviction) here unless Bybee is at least indicted on criminal charges. I think this is very unlikely.
The proper targets are those who may have (mis)used memos, like Rice, Cheney, Ashcroft, Gonzalez, ...
April 26, 2009 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am against impeachment.
He should just be shot for turning two blind eyes to what he knew would happen.
If you really want to stop torture then prosecute the Generals and agents (CIA) IN CHARGE and the doctors that assisted. The first time a general or doctor or head agent ends up in prison, torture will stop.
April 26, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't agree with prosecuting the "generals and agents in charge and the doctors that assisted". The generals had no choice but to obey the orders from their commander in chief. The Constitution requires that. The "agents in charge" were largely private contractors, not CIA agents. Those private contractors should face criminal charges. The "doctors that assisted" in all probability don't exist, so shouldn't be prosecuted.
None of this could have happened if the lawyers, specifically Yoo and Bybee, had any morals at all, let alone any desire to follow the laws of this country. Without the cover they gave Bush, the torture would not have occurred. Those two absolutely must suffer consequences, and impeachment of Bybee is the mildest consequence I can conceive of.
That is a great letter, and I will copy it and send it to my Congressional representative too.
April 26, 2009 7:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
The generals had no choice but to obey the orders from their commander in chief. The Constitution requires that.
Not true. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (a law enacted by Congress in accordance with its constitutional authority to regulate the military) recognizes that an illegal order does not need to be obeyed. And an order to commit a war crime (such as torture) is an illegal order.
I recently heard a retired general say that many commanding officers refused to allow their commands to be corrupted by torture. We need to hear those stories.
None of this could have happened if the lawyers, specifically Yoo and Bybee, had any morals at all, let alone any desire to follow the laws of this country.
I agree. The Office of Legal Counsel was supposed to serve as the conscience of our country, and not as the enablers of our politicians.
April 30, 2009 1:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
My heart wants to agree that military officers can refuse an obviously illegal order, but when it is the Justice Department, the Office of Legal Counsel, that decides and announces that the orders are legal, no military officer has the authority to over rule them. The sole reason for designating the President as Commander in Chief of the military is to prevent just that scenario from playing out.
Assume General Overreacher decides President Obama is illegally in office. He therefore orders his men to lay siege on the White House, and brings up the tanks to force his resignation. General Overreacher could get by with this if it is up to him to determine the legality of his orders. And the framers of the Constitution realized this, so they made the President the senior officer over the Generals.
May 3, 2009 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bybee should resign.
Every citizen that goes before Bybee’s court should raise the Constitutional challenge to the Due Process Clause. Bybee is not an impartial Judge, if the Government is the Prosecution.
His record, (the memos) proves he is a lackey. His opinions on matters will have a cloud of suspicion.
Every case this Judge handles will have a stench of impropriety.
A higher court could ignore, the challenge and never place it on the Docket.
Maybe asking for a different Judge, would force Bybee’s peers, to pressure him to resign, for the good of the Judiciary.
April 27, 2009 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink