ABA Report Criticizes Inappropriate Use of Signing Statements
A thoroughly fascinating read, and something that deserves a lot more coverage than it is getting (as I've complained about before).
ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society: ABA Report Criticizes Inappropriate Use of Signing Statements:
The American Bar Association's Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the Separation of Powers Doctrine released its Final Report with Recommendations today, in which it criticized President Bush's use of presidential signing statements to avoid enforcing laws passed by Congress. To date, the administration has issued over 800 signing statements challenging the constitutionality of bills signed by the President, about 200 more than all previous presidents combined. Moreover, many of Bush's statements have claimed the right to decline enforcement despite clear precedent to the contrary. Neil Kinkopf recently addressed the issue of signing statements in an ACS issue brief, Signing Statements and the President's Authority to Refuse to Enforce the Law. For a news account of the ABA's release of their report, check out Robert Pear's article in The New York Times.