Lawyers and law students:
Sign this statement to encourage Congress to hold hearings into unconstitutional and potentially criminal activity by the Bush administration
Our goal is to have more than 2,000 lawyers and law students sign this statement before it is presented to Congress. Please add your name today! To see a list of the 70+ original signers, click here.
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We, the undersigned lawyers and law students in the United States, have been inspired by the many lawyers in Pakistan who have risked their own liberty and careers in an effort to preserve their nation's freedoms.
Their courage has deepened our own resolve to defend the rule of law in our nation. As members of the legal profession, we have both a moral and professional responsibility to preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States.
To that end, we are committed to creating a movement of lawyers and law students in this nation dedicated to monitoring and, when appropriate, challenging the actions of our government when those actions threaten our nation's freedoms. As our initial act, we are issuing the following statement to the U.S. House and Senate Judiciary Committees, urging hearings into the unconstitutional and possibly criminal actions of the Bush Administration.
We are lawyers and law students in the United States of America. As such, we have all taken (or will be taking) an oath obligating us to defend the Constitution and the rule of law from those who would violate and subvert them, and to hold wrongdoers accountable. We believe the Bush administration has committed numerous offenses against the Constitution and may have violated federal laws. Evidence exists that it has illegally spied on Americans, tortured and abused men and women in its direct custody, sent others to be tortured by countries like Syria and Egypt, and kept people in prison indefinitely with no chance to challenge the bases of their detention. Moreover, the administration has blatantly defied congressional subpoenas, obstructing constitutional oversight of the executive branch. Thus, we call on House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy to launch hearings into the possibility that crimes have been committed by this administration in violation of the Constitution, federal statutes, and international treaties. We call for the investigations to go where they must, including into the offices of the President and the Vice President. Should these hearings demonstrate that laws have in fact been broken by this administration, we support all such legal and congressional actions necessary to ensure the survival of our Constitution and the nation we love.
Signed,
(The contact information you provide below will not be used for any purpose other than to convey your endorsement of this statement and to keep you informed about this project. It will not be provided to any other organization, individual, or entity.)