Judge Jay Bybee, former head of the Justice Dept. Office of Legal Counsel, authored legal memos approving methods of interrogation that amount to torture.  He admits that waterboarding “constitutes the imminent threat of death” and still allowed its use.  As a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals he has a lifetime appointment.  His torture memos were not revealed in his Senate confirmation hearings.  Any act complicit in torture is a felony under US law.  He must be removed from the bench now!

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy has called for Bybee’s resignation.  Congress should start impeachment hearings!

These memos…were written to provide legal immunity for acts that are clearly illegal, immoral and a violation of this country’s most basic values… These memos make it clear that Bybee is unfit or a job that re quires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution.  Congress should impeach him.

New York Times, Sunday, April 19, 2009

Groups calling for Bybee’s impeachment (partial list):

• Common Cause
• MoveOn
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• American Society of Law Teachers
• Voters for Peace
• Progressive Democrats of America
• SF National Lawyers Gyuild Committee Against Torture
• CODEPINK Women for Peace
• World Can’t Wait
• Democrats.com
• Veterans for Peace
• Afterdowningstreet.org
• National Accountability Network
• Courage Campaign
• United Progressives\Velvet Revolution
• Human Rights First

Read the Torture Memos on the ACLU’s torture accountability page. Learn more about the Torture Memo at the Bybee Memo Wikipedia Page.

ACTIONS

• Call your member of Congress and House Judiciary Chair John Copnyers at 800-473-6711 and tell them to launch impeachment hearings for Bybee.
• Sign the following online petitions:
  1. Center for Constitutional Rights
     http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/383/t/4089/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27088
     On April 19, 2009, President Obama released four torture memos that make clear the involvement of Jay Bybee, now a federal judge, and other Bush administration lawyers in authorizing torture. Jay Bybee, once head of the Office of Legal Counself and now a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, was the author of one of the most chilling torture memos of the Bush administration, written expressly to attempt to provide legal cover for illegal activities–specifically, the use of torture, including waterboarding, in the Torture Program.  A person who conspired to violate the Constitution and human rights should not be deciding critical questions of constitutional law.
  2. Progressive Democrats of America (PDA):  “Bye Bye Bybee:  Impeach Jay Bybee”
     http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=12935991&PROCESS=Take+Action
     Former Assistant AttorneyGeneral Jay Bybee was the pr imary author of “legal” memos p urporting to justify torture… Clearly this man should not maintain his lifetime appointment to the Federal bench and should be impeached!
  3. MoveOn:  “Tell Congress:  Impeach Jay Bybee”
     http://pol.moveon.org/bybee/index.html?rc=homepage
     Jay Bybee, author of some of the most notorious Bush torture memos, is unfit to serve as a federal judge.
  4. Common Cause
     http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=5115995
     Common Cause has called for the impeachment of federal Judge Jay Bybee for his role in signing a 2002 memo released last week that authorized torture. And now we need your help to m ake sure there’s enough pressure on Congress to launch impeachment proceedings. Tell your Representative to launch impeachment proceedings on Judge Jay Bybee of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
  5. People for the American Way
     https://secure.pfaw.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ImpeachBybee&gclid=CISg75SZz5oCFRxNagodU2ra2w
     PFAW has called for the impeachment of US Court of Appeals Judge Jay Bybee, for his role in trying to bend the law to j ustify the Bush administration’s torture policies when he headed the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Of the memos written by Bybee, a New York Times editorial correctly stated, “These memos make it clear that Mr. Bybee is un fit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution.”