Impeach Now

Impeach for Peace, a Minnesota-based impeachment group (impeachforpeace.org), has researched a method for impeaching the president using a little known and rarely used part of the Rules of the House of Representatives that actually empowers individual citizens to initiate the impeachment process themselves.

"Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice" is an interpretive guide to parliamentary procedure, and is included (along with the Constitution) in the bound volumes of the Rules of the House of Representatives. It is ratified by each congress (including the current one), and has been updated continuously through the history of our democracy. The section covering impeachment lists the acceptable vehicles for bringing impeachment motions to the floor of the House.

After learning this information, Minnesotan and Impeach for Peace member (Jodin Morey) found precedent in an 1826 memorial by Luke Edward Lawless that had been successful in initiating the impeachment of Federal Judge James H. Peck. Impeach for Peace then used this as a template for their "Do-It-Yourself Impeachment. Now any citizen can download the DIY Impeachment Memorial and submit it, making it possible for Americans to do what our representatives have been unwilling to do. The idea is for so many people to submit the Memorial that it cannot be ignored.

Although the impeachment process is usually thought of as a bill introduced by a representative, "Jefferson's Manual of Parlimentary Practice" by Thomas Jefferson (House Document No. 104-272) actually outlines several different methods:

Jefferson’s Manual of Parlimentary Practice

Article LIII – Impeachment

* * * * *

“…In the House there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate; by charges preferred by a memorial*, which is usually referred to a committee for examination; by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee; by a message from the President; by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State or territory or from a grand jury; or from facts developed and reported by an investigating committee of the House.”

Directions:

Insert your name & address into the appropriate places and print them or simply print them and fill them in by hand.

Print your name/address in the "from:" boxes on the cover letters and the petition.
Print your full name after "I, _____"on the cover letters.
Print your state after "State of ______" on the cover letters (For example: "Texas").
Sign your name and write the current date on the "Signature" line at the bottom of each of cover letter.
Write your full name after "The petition of _____" on the petition.
Print your state after "State of ______"on the petition (For example: "Texas").

Once printed, sign the cover letters and print envelopes with the addresses given.

If you choose to have the "Petition" notarized, do NOT sign it until you are with the notary. According to the chief parliamentarian in the U.S. House of Representatives and his deputy, these memorials do not need to be notarized. If you would rather be on the safe side, however, many local banks or workplaces will notarize them at no cost. There are also notaries in every law office.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to get the petitions notarized, wait to sign and date them until you are in the presence of the notary.
You can find a notary here:

Do not let the inconvenience of notarizing the memorials stop you from sending them. If you are unlikely to go to this effort, or if you do not have a bank account and are unwilling to pay to have them notarized (usually for a very small fee if not free at many businesses (although I was charged $6.00/each copy at a UPS Store), then simply sign it and send it in.

Notarization is probably not necessary, and regardless, your document will help create political pressure.Once you have had the "Petition" notarized (if you so choose) and signed it, make copies to go with each cover letter sent to the Representatives who are NOT the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Send the original, notarized, copy, along with the appropriate cover letter, to the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. John Conyers.

I certainly can't guarantee that this will work or that given the paranoia of the Bush regime it may not come back to haunt you but I can guarantee you that, if you do nothing, nothing will happen and Bush's agenda will just roll on...

For me, this is my means of insuring that, in years to come, posterity will know I was not complicit and that I didn't just 'roll-over'.