Monday, July 24, 2006

sign here


When the president signs a bill into law, it is sometimes customary that he includes a little message to go along with it: a signing statement. They don't become part of the law, but are findable on the GPO's electronic version of the Weekly Comp (just put "signing statement" in the search box).

This is a presidential privilege that kind of functions like having the last word. It's used more by some than others, particularly the current administration, it seems, to a degree that the custom was not intended. So... the American Bar Association issued a task force to determine the constitutionality of this practice: the Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the Separation of Powers Doctrine. Download the PDF of the task force's recommendations, or attend the ABA's annual meeting in Honolulu next month.

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