"Torture Judge" Bybee Gets an Earful!

Bybee Action at the Ninth Circuit Court, San Francisco, March 10, 2010, by Cynthia P.

Susan and I sat in Courtroom 2 at the Ninth Circuit for three hours on Wednesday morning in order to speak to Judge Jay Bybee and his two fellow judges at the conclusion of their hearings. I quietly held up a Bybee "wanted poster" advertising a $3,000 bounty for his arrest and conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity [see attached]. I was hoping Bybee could see it from the bench. It surprised me that the four or five U. S. Marshals didn't come over and ask me to put it away. Susan was staring intently at Bybee most of the time.

In the past we've had only a few seconds to say something before Bybee disappeared at the end, but this time we caught a break when the gavel came down. Proctor Hug, the first of the three judges headed for the exit, was moving very slowly, leaving Bybee waiting and fully exposed for at least three minutes, during which time Susan and I loudly told him he's a war criminal for authorizing agressive war and torture, not fit to be a judge, should resign and should be impeached. During this time the marshals just stood in front of us. They didn't ask us to leave or be quiet. I think this is due to the face-to-face discussions Joe in Portland and Susan in San Francisco have had with Chief Judge Kozinski and Cathy Catterson, the circuit and court of appeals executive, over the issue of rough treatment of protestors in the past.

Susan and I went outside where World Can't Wait was setting up giant signs listing "enhanced interrogation techniques" approved by Bybee and photos of torture victims at Abu Graib. There were four Homeland Security vehicles on the scene. One of the officers told WCW to remove their signs but they insisted on exercising their first amendment rights and the signs remained in place.

Nate, Holly, Henry, Brad, Les and Martha and I held up a pink "IMPEACH BYBEE" banner and Bybee Wanted Posters, and we sang "Bye Bye Bybee". Stephanie Tang from World Can't Wait spoke about Bybee's crimes and the continuing American torture situation. We had a statement from DisbarTortureLawyers.com to give the media (see the statement below).

Then Susan and others went to the Clerk's office to deliver letters to all the Ninth Circuit judges asking them to invoke the mandatory judicial misconduct rule to refer Bybee for impeachment to the House Judiciary Committee.

Statement from Disbar Torture Lawyers (DisbarTortureLawyers.com)
When he was employed at the United States Department of Justice, Jay Bybee signed memos that were used as secret laws to legalize blatant crimes. This amounts to an attack on the idea of the rule of law. Our opinion is that such a person should not be a lawyer, let alone a judge.
We at Disbar Torture Lawyers filed complaints with the Bar of the District of Columbia last year and did so again recently after the Justice Department finally released its reports.
The memos that Jay Bybee signed authorized aggressive war and torture, which constitutes clear grounds to investigate whether he is guilty of a felony of conspiracy to torture. We don't want Mr. Bybee investigated because we dislike him, but because the illegal wars and the torture policies are continuing. We believe that the Justice Department should be pursuing prosecution, the United States Congress should be pursuing impeachment, the Bar Association should disbar him, and the Ninth Circuit should remove Mr. Bybee from the bench. Those who have cases brought before him should request that he be removed from hearing their cases. Everyone who is concerned about the future of our country should be raising their voices in protest.