Berkeley City Council to Vote This Week on Impeachment Ballot Initiative

www.constitutionsummer.org

Constitution Summer Forms Advisory Board, Will Screen How to Impeach a President Before an Audience of Up to 600

BERKELEY, CA – On Tuesday, June 27th, the Berkeley City Council will vote on whether to include an initiative advocating the impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney on the Berkeley municipal ballot this November. The initiative was drafted with the help of Constitution Summer and, if passed, it would allow Berkeley's 74,836 registered voters to determine whether the enumerated charges it contains warrant the impeachment and removal from office of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Constitution Summer previously worked with the City of Berkeley to bring about a city council resolution advocating impeachment, which was introduced by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, and which passed unanimously on April 25th, 2006. The ballot initiative was introduced by Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.

On Wednesday, July 19th, Constitution Summer will host a screening of the film, How to Impeach a President, in which attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights describe both the reasons for impeachment and the viability of a grassroots impeachment advocacy campaign. The screening will be held at the Grand Lake Theater at 3200 Grand Avenue in Oakland, which can accommodate up to 600 attendees, and it will be followed by a teach-in and discussion. It is one of a series of screenings and teach-ins across the country, some of which Constitution Summer will be helping to organize. People wishing to attend the Oakland event must RSVP at www.constitutionsummer.org.

Constitution Summer is also in the process of building an advisory board. As of June 22nd, 2006, the provisional advisory board members include: Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers; Kirsten Moller, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Global Exchange*; David Swanson, Co-Founder of After Downing Street*; and Paul Clifford, a Bay Area First Amendment attorney. These individuals must be approved by the board of directors before they are official members of the advisory board. Other advisory board members are expected to be announced soon.

Constitution Summer President Geoffrey King, a Democrat, and Treasurer Saba Sahouria, a Republican, will be available for comment at the June 27th City Council meeting, as will Dr. Ellsberg. Members of the media seeking further comment can call Constitution Summer Co-Founder Abraham Kneisley at the number above.

Constitution Summer represents an emerging coalition of students and young people dedicated to defending the ideals of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights and to checking arbitrary abuses of power and authority, starting with a moderated, legitimate, mainstream, nonpartisan campaign to impeach President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, and their administration.

This coalition originated at UC Berkeley, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, Columbia Law School, Georgetown Law School, Boalt Law School, George Washington University Law School, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, the University of Michigan, and the University of Maryland, and it continues to grow.

For more information on Constitution Summer, please visit to www.constitutionsummer.org

Titles are for identification purposes only.