Bush Faces Criticism From Lawyers

WASHINGTON (AP) - Some members of the nation's largest lawyer group plan to use this week's annual meeting to criticize the Bush administration's handling of the terrorism investigation and business scandals.

They will not see President Bush, who skipped a chance to speak to the American Bar Association and is taking a vacation at his Texas ranch, or hear from Vice President Dick Cheney or any Cabinet member.

The White House and ABA leaders say the president's absence has to do with scheduling, not political differences, although Bush and the group have had rough relations.

The last time the 400,000-member ABA held its annual meeting in Washington was 1985, and President Reagan delivered the welcome speech.


"It looks lot like a snub. There's a bit of arrogance, 'we don't need you guys,'" said Stephen Hess, a political scientist with the Brookings Institution. "It borders on backing away from some opposition views."

White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said the president "can't do everything and be everywhere."

The meetings cover subjects that have dominated the executive branch: how the government should handle enemy combatants and immigrants arrested in the Sept. 11 investigation and how investigators can monitor possible terrorists without violating the Constitution.

The ABA may recommend that Congress intervene and stop the administration from denying access to lawyers for immigrants arrested since Sept. 11 and for those declared enemy combatants by the president. Both issues have disturbed civil libertarians.