GAZETTE CITATION
Documents in legal news...

Monday, July 24, 2006

Presidential signing statements report [ABA]
11:46 AM ET

Report, Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the Separation of Powers Doctrine, American Bar Association, July 24, 2006 [finding that President Bush's practice of attaching signing statements to new laws undermines the rule of law and the constitutional system of separation of powers].

Excerpt:
Among those unanimous recommendations, the Task Force voted to:

  • oppose, as contrary to the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers, a President's issuance of signing statements to claim the authority or state the intention to disregard or decline to enforce all or part of a law he has signed, or to interpret such a law in a manner inconsistent with the clear intent of Congress;

  • urge the President, if he believes that any provision of a bill pending before Congress would be unconstitutional if enacted, to communicate such concerns to Congress prior to passage;

  • urge the President to confine any signing statements to his views regarding the meaning, purpose, and significance of bills, and to use his veto power if he believes that all or part of a bill is unconstitutional;

  • urge Congress to enact legislation requiring the President promptly to submit to Congress an official copy of all signing statements, and to report to Congress the reasons and legal basis for any instance in which he claims the authority, or states the intention, to disregard or decline to enforce all or part of a law he has signed, or to interpret such a law in a manner inconsistent with the clear intent of Congress, and to make all such submissions be available in a publicly accessible database.

  • urge Congress to enact legislation enabling the President, Congress, or other entities or individuals, to seek judicial review of such signing statements to the extent constitutionally permissible, and urge Congress and the President to support a judicial resolution of the President's claim or interpretation.
  • Read the full text of the report [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.



    Link | e-mail this document   | submit a document | how to subscribe | © JURIST


    LATEST DOCUMENTS

     Stevens resignation letter [US SC]
    April 9, 2010

     Pakistan presidential powers bill [Pakistan]
    April 8, 2010

     Health care reform bill [US House]
    March 22, 2010

     Financial stability bill [US Senate Banking Comm.]
    March 15, 2010

     click for more...

    DOCUMENTS SEARCH

    Search legal documents on JURIST...


    Powered by Blogdigger badge

    ARCHIVE

    Gazette has a monthly archive of legal documents back to Sept. 2004.


    ABOUT

    Gazette is JURIST's weblog of documents - major judicial opinions, bills, reports, testimony and other official and/or primary source materials making legal news.