American Bar Association Investigating George W. Bush... Will Impeachment Be Recommended?

ABA To Investigate Bush Signing Statements

In an unusual and unprecedented step, the American Bar Association is undertaking an investigation of our beloved president's alleged unconstitutional actions. WOW! My only question is why did they wait so long? Did it really take 750 uses of signing statements for the legal profession to begin questioning the ethics and constitutionality of his actions? While I praise the ABA for taking action, I think most of the ABA leadership needs to take a refresher course on the Constitution so that the next power-grabbing SOB stirs them to action sooner rather than later.

The American Bar Association Board of Governors voted unanimously Saturday to launch an inquiry into President Bush's frequent use of signing statements to bypass new laws because of his interpretation of presidential and executive powers under the US Constitution. The President has used such statements some 750 times since taking office in 2001. In January this year, he controversially reserved the right to bypass a ban on torture [JURIST report] when he signed the 2006 defense spending bill, prompting even top Republican leaders to criticize him.

The ABA has assembled a bipartisan task force of legal professionals and scholars, including former federal judges and Justice Department officials, to research whether Bush, who has appended more signing statements to bills than any other US president, has exceeded his constitutional authority and circumvented the system of checks and balances with the signing statements. The committee is expected to report its findings to the ABA's House of Delegates, which will decide whether to adopt the recommendations, in August. In February, the ABA adopted the findings of a similar task force investigating the warrantless domestic surveillance program, which recommended that Bush abide by the constitutional limitations placed on the president or work with Congress to enact new legislation if he believes current laws are inadequate. The Boston Globe has more.