The Oversight Project has examined all the executive orders signed supposedly by Joe Biden. It turns out most were all autopen—a machine. This raises serious questions about whether they were legal in the first place, for we do not know if someone else was writing these executive orders and feeding them into the machine to be signed. Is an Executive Order valid if the President did not actually sign the decree?
The Oversight Project shared what it had found regarding Biden’s use of an autopen. This raises concern that when his mental capacity was in question, these executive orders were issued by someone else and signed by the machine. To be legal in a commerce sense, that person needs express consent of the contracted party to sign on their behalf.
As we have moved from paper to digital formats in business records and contracts, federal lawmakers passed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (E-SIGN) Act in 2000. The E-SIGN Act reinforces the legality of digital signatures in business contracts. The law means electronic contracts and signatures are legal as long as the consumer consents. E-SIGN also allows individuals to choose a paper format instead.
The Hammurabi Legal Code required clear contract law around 1650 BC. We have Akkadian cylinder signature seals that emerged during the fourth millennium BC, coinciding with the dawn of writing. One would sign a contract with such a seal.
The Romans used signature rings to validate contracts and agreements. So, the idea of an autopen is not unknown in history. However, these signature seals or rings did not allow someone e else to authorize such a contract.
When a law is issued that could carry criminal penalties for violating it, this raises a fascinating legal question if it is an autopen rather than a bonafide signature. Can the president delegate his authority to someone else to issue a law? I would have to say NO WAY!
