Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
No one should face discrimination, including at the voting booth, or violence because of who they are. Congress plays a critical role in prohibiting discrimination, ensuring equal access to the ballot, and ensuring that if discrimination or voter disenfranchisement does occur, people have avenues for recourse and access to resources. In the 116th Congress, the Judiciary Committee passed several pieces of legislation to protect communities that have historically faced discrimination, including the first bill ever to pass the Committee and the House to provide explicit comprehensive non-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community; legislation to restore key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and to bolster its guarantee against voting discrimination by states and localities on the basis of race, color, or language-minority status; legislation to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on natural hair styles and texture; and comprehensive policing reform legislation.
The Committee on the Judiciary and Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties also held hearings on numerous topics relating to civil rights and civil liberties, including on the history and continued impact of slavery and racial discrimination in America, LGBTQ discrimination, barriers to voting and the need to restore the Voting Rights Act, and ensuring the right to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the 117th Congress, the Committee will continue to build on these accomplishments in order to protect the civil rights of communities that have historically faced discrimination, ensure the right to vote, and reform policing.
More on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-LA) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) announced that they plan to introduce a censure resolution following the MLK holiday next week, in response to President Donald Trump's comments on American immigration policy regarding Haiti and African countries during a January 11, 2018 meeting with Members of Congress.
Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Richmond and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Nadler released the following joint statement:
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY.) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor during the debate of "S.139, the "FISA Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 2017."
I rise in strong opposition to S. 139, the "FISA Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 2017," which reauthorizes Section 702 of FISA for six years without enacting adequate protections for our privacy.
Supporters of this measure want to convince us a new, incredibly narrow warrant provision actually constitutes reform. It does not.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (NY-10) welcomed Congresswoman Val Demings (FL-10) to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and announced the new subcommittee structure for the second session of the 115th Congress.
This Bill Continues Warrantless Access to Email and Phone Calls
House Democratic Ranking Members Eliot Engel, Maxine Waters, Jerrold Nadler, Bennie Thompson, Elijah Cummings and Robert Brady sent a letter to Speaker Ryan today urging House Republicans to join Democrats to fully investigate and address Russia's threat to our democracy and national security. This letter comes as we mark one year since the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's report confirming Russia's meddling into the 2016 election and America's continued vulnerability to foreign interference.
Twelve members of the United States Senate and 33 members of the United States House filed a Congressional amicus brief in the appeal of the case City of Chicago v. Sessions, which is the lawsuit that the City of Chicago brought in August seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from blocking critical violence prevention funds from American cities in order to boost the Trump Administration's extreme immigration agenda.
Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he is rescinding the memorandum issued in 2013 by former Deputy Attorney General James Cole that guided the efforts of federal prosecutors in marijuana cases. With the purpose of focusing federal marijuana prosecutions on "the most significant threats, in the most effective, consistent, and rational way," the "Cole Memo" was issued "in light of state ballot initiatives that legalize under state law the possession of small amounts of marijuana and provide for the regulation of marijuana production, processing, and sale."
This evening, the New York Times reports that President Donald Trump ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to stop Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the Russia investigation, that Mr. McGahn carried out those orders, and that an aide to Attorney General Sessions approached congressional staff to ask for information that might damage the reputation of former FBI Director James Comey.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, issued the following statement in response:
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today released a joint statement with Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee Ranking Member David N.