Committee To Recall Carl Levin Issues Final Call For First Petition Drive Signatures
The Committee To Recall Carl Levin is winding up its first petition drive with a call for submission of outstanding signatures. The drive started in early July and the 180 day period for gathering signatures expires near the end of December.
Online, December 3, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The Committee To Recall Carl Levin is winding up its first petition drive with a call for submission of outstanding signatures. The drive started in early July and the 180 day period for gathering signatures expires near the end of December.
Spokesperson Warren Raftshol said: "While this drive has fallen well short of the 500,000 signatures required to demand a recall election, supporters should not be discouraged. A second recall petition will be filed in January 2013. The most important thing is to remind the people, including Senator Levin, that the people do have the power to recall federal legislators who vote in defiance of the popular will."
The specific conduct complained of in the first petition is that Senator Levin co-authored, and voted for, provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA 2012) which allow the detention without trial or due process of anyone, including American citizens, accused of vaguely defined "terrorist activities" which is an invitation for abuse of power by the executive and military branches of the federal government.
Under Michigan law 168.121 "Persons holding the office of United States senator are subject to recall by the qualified and registered electors of the state as provided in chapter 36 of this act."
A similar New Jersey law was ruled unconstitutional by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2010. No Michigan court has yet ruled upon the Michigan statute, however, which dates back to the 1908 Michigan Constitution.
The effort to have Carl Levin removed has been led by Libertarian Senate candidate Scotty Boman of Detroit who ran for office in 2012.
Anyone interested in signing the current petition can print out and sign an official petition at http://committeetorecalcarllevin.com and instructions for submitting the petition are available at that site. Additional information on the petition drive is also available at facebook.com/CommitteeToRecallCarlLevin