Bye Bye Bybee: Impeach, Disbar, Prosecute "Torture Judge"

Bye Bye Bybee: Impeach, Disbar, Prosecute "Torture Judge"
May 28, 2009
San Francisco Bay Area, CA

About 50 protesters from CODEPINK, World Can't Wait, National Lawyers Guild SF Committee Against Torture, PDA, and other groups went to the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco on May 27 to call for Judge Jay Bybee's immediate impeachment.

As head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Bybee signed off on legal memos that advised Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc. that "enhanced interrogation techniques" amounting to torture were legal. Any act complicit in torture is a felony under U.S. law. A New York Times editorial on April 18 said "...Bybee is unfit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution. Congress should impeach him."

There were orange jump-suited people and WCW had an installation of "The Bybee/Bush Museum of Torture." Speakers included a lawyer who explained in layman’s terms what Bybee did and why he should be impeached. CODEPINK gathered signatures for an Impeach Bybee petition and handed out flyers with websites for online Impeach Bybee petitions.

Simultaneous protests were held at other 9th Circuit locations including Pasadena, Portland, Seattle, Honolulu, Fresno, and Anchorage.

Online petitions to remove Judge Bybee:

Center for Constitutional Rights
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/383/t/4089/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27088

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=12935991&PROCESS=Take+Action

Common Cause
http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=5115995

People for the American Way
https://secure.pfaw.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ImpeachBybee&gclid=CISg75SZz5oCFRxNagodU2ra2w