There is something we can do about torture.

[cali]

We can work to have the Congress impeach Jay Bybee. Bybee sits on the 9th Circuit and he has since his confirmation 6 years ago. He's one of the chief architects of the torture program, and he's sitting on a federal appeals court?

Bybee served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel ("OLC") in the United States Justice Department from November 2001 to March 2003.

During Bybee's tenure, the CIA requested legal advice on detainee interrogation. That request was routed to the OLC by then White House General Counsel Alberto Gonzalez. At issue were "the standards of conduct under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment as implemented by Sections 2340-2340A of title 18 of the United States Code ... in the context of the conduct of interrogations outside of the United States."<6> The OLC drafted a memo in response to the CIA request. That response has come to be known as the Bybee memo.

On March 2, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice publicly released a January 15, 2009, internal memorandum repudiating a number of legal memoranda which had been written by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2001 and 2003 regarding the war on terror.<7> Three of the rescinded memoranda were signed by Bybee, whose legal reasoning was harshly criticized by Acting Assistant Attorney General Steven G. Bradbury in the internal memorandum.<8>

On April 16th, 2009, President Obama released an internal memorandum signed by Bybee during his tenure at OLC addressed to CIA General Counsel John Rizzo and dated August 22, 2002. Among other things, this memorandum concluded that waterboarding did not meet the legal definition of torture under 18 U.S.C. §§2340–2340A.<9>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Bybee#Ninth_Circuit_Court_of_Appeals

Isn't it time we made our voices heard on this?

Federal Judges have been impeached and convicted. The last one impeached and convicted was Walter Nixon in 1989. Nixon was impeached and convicted on perjury charges. Surely what Bybee did is a far graver offense.

So contact your Congressional representatives, and let them know in no uncertain terms that the travesty of Bybee sitting on the largest federal appeals court in the country, cannot be tolerated.


Dear Representative Welch,

I'm writing to you today to urge you strongly to begin the process of impeaching Judge Jay Bybee. Judge Bybee was confirmed to the 9th Circuit Court 6 year ago. Recently, as you're certainly aware, the White House released then Assistant Attorney General Bybee's memos which concluded that waterboarding, in clear contravention to both U.S. law and treaty agreements the U.S. is a signatory to, is not torture. Judge Bybee's memos, in es-sense authorized, patently illegal acts of torture.

Judge Bybee should be removed from the bench for his criminal actions. It's unconscionable that this man is sitting on one of the highest courts in the land. You and all others in the House of Representatives have an affirmative duty to impeach Mr. Bybee.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

xxxxxx

Lower Somewhere, Vermont

I sent my letter snailmail rather than through the tubes. However you do it, contact your rep about this urgent matter.

[Idealism]

1. Good idea

Just correct the spelling to essence, not essense and we're good to roll

[cali]

2. lol thanks for the spelling correction.

now let's get hundreds of thousands of letters to our c-critters.

[Idealism]

3. Gogo, Spambot!

[cali]

4. kick. this is just the sort of activism we should be pursuing

sad to see it sink into oblivion. Does DU even do activism anymore?

[KharmaTrain]

5. He'll Have Plenty Of Legal Messes To Deal With

Right now I'm more concerned with filling all the vacancies on the court (a big backlog)...replacing Raygun-era judges and start turning the tables on the right wing bend of our court system. The rushpublicans are already making it difficult for President Obama's nominees to get confirmed, a fight over Bybee (and the GOOP will fight) would lock up this process for months and years. booooshie left the judiciary depleted to safeguard their crimes and, while I like to see Bybee impeached (and who knows, maybe this government can walk and chew gum at the same time) I'm far more concerned in filling the vacancies and getting rid of as many Raygun and boooshie puppets.

Bybee is one of the more vulnerable of those named...John Yoo is also being hung out to dry. If he doesn't face an international war crimes tribunal, he sure will face lawsuits from those detained and their families. While he may not go to jail for his crimes, he will have to come up with big bucks for his defense. While President Obama wrongfully has given immunity to the CIA agents who did the torturing (and they, too are open to civil suits), Bybee isn't covered and if there is a demand for accountability, he'll be one of the first to be prosecuted...and then, if convicted, no need to worry about his judgeship...it will be stripped.

[cali]

6. How much time does it take to write a letter to your rep?

And John Yoo is not sitting on the federal bench.

[KharmaTrain]

7. My Rep Has Little To Do WIth This...My Senators Are Another Story

It's the Senate that does impeaching of the Judiciary, not the House. If you're gonna write letters and put the pressure on, it's Senators that are the key here. And, yes, I'll gladly contact my Senators to press toward the prosecution of all booooshie criminals. In fact, had the chance last year to do that when I had a few moments to say hello to my Senator (Durbin)...and a local group has been regularly lobbying our area congresscritters to demand accountability as well. The damn list is long.

Honestly, I'm cyincal about writing off a letter or email and feeling that's enough. And, again, I'm far more concerned with the large number of vacancies on the federal bench and removing as many Raygun and boooshie toadies...bring some balance back to the judiciary and make it possible to prosecute ALL the criminals of the past 8 years.

Yoo, Bybee, Addington, Libby and the other crooks will never get a fair trial in the political arena...especially when nearly half of the "jury" are partisans who will vote to acquit no matter what. We need to put and keep pressure on the Obama administration to not "move forward" as this country's credibiiity won't be restored until these crimes are prosecuted, but I don't see it happening in the U.S., this is an international matter...torture, launching an illegal war, wiretapping...major violations of the Geneva conventions and other international laws. Our system isn't capable of handling a true investigation...too many in both parties are conflicted. If there is to be real justice...criminal prosecutions, it'll be up to the World Court. As noted earlier, the best we can currently expect here is a civil suit...more removed from the taint of politics than trying to push 535 politicians to do what's right.