This afternoon, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee hearing entitled, “S. 744 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986: Lessons Learned or Mistakes Repeated?” This hearing comes a day after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 to report to the Senate Floor S. 744, comprehensive immigration reform legislation entitled the, “Border Security, Economic Opportun... Read more »
Today marks the 59th anniversary of the seminal civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). In this case, the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson,163 U.S. 537 (1896) which held that separate but equal treatment of blacks and whites was constitutional. Oliver Brown, along with a collection with thirteen African American parents filed suit against the Board of Educati... Read more »
(DETROIT) – This evening, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) gave the keynote address at an event in Detroit honoring the work of Gideon’s Promise, an organization working to recruit and train public defenders. The event comes on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the Court held that state courts are required to provide a... Read more »
This week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed unanimously, by voice vote, a resolution establishing an, “Over-Criminalization Task Force.” Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) will serve as an ex officio member of the task force. Following the establishment of this task force, Rep. Conyers issued this statement: “For the last several decades, Congress has decided that the answer to mo... Read more »
This morning, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, alongside the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Economic Growth, held a hearing entitled, “DOJ’s Quid pro Quo with St. Paul: A Whistleblower’s Perspective.” Following the reading of opening statements at the hearing, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued this statement: “I am deeply disappointed in my ... Read more »
Today the Senate voted 69 to 27 to pass S. 336, the “Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013.” This legislation would give states the option to require the collection of sales and use taxes already owed under state law by out-of-state businesses, rather than rely on consumers to remit those taxes to the states. Under the current tax loophole, while brick-and-mortar retailers collect sales and use taxes f... Read more »
Today, President Obama nominated Congressman Melvin L. “Mel” Watt (D-N.C.) to serve as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the independent federal regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage financiers. Rep. Watt has represented the 12th Congressional District of North Carolina since 1993, and he currently serves as the ranking member of the Court... Read more »
Last night, in a proceeding convened in a Boston hospital room, a federal magistrate read criminal charges against Dzhokar Tsarnaev and advised him of his legal rights. Following reports of this proceeding, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) released this statement: “The Obama administration should be commended for sticking by its principles and the rule of law. The man in custody is a United... Read more »
Today, the House of Representatives voted 288 to 127 to pass H.R. 624, the “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act” (CISPA). This legislation overrides current privacy laws to permit private companies to share information with the federal government if there is a suspected cyber threat, but does not require the companies to remove unrelated private information of customers from what they tu... Read more »
Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee hearing entitled, “Mismanagement at the Civil Right Division of the Department of Justice.” During his opening remarks, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) delivered the following statement: “Mr. Chairman, once again, I must object to the title of this hearing: ‘Mismanagement at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Ju... Read more »
