In 2014, in a unanimous ruling delivered by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court concluded that the police may not search a cellphone without first demonstrating probable cause. Citing an obvious Fourth Amendment interest in the vast amount of data we store on—and access from—our personal devices, the Court wrote: “The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in... Read more »
I want to begin by thanking you, Chairman Goodlatte, and your staff, for working with us to develop the amendment before us now. I also want to thank the members of the Digital Due Process Coalition, many of whom are represented here today, for their tireless dedication to the work of modernizing federal statute for the Internet age. Over the last few weeks, Mr. Chairman, as we have worked out ou... Read more »
The House Judiciary Committee today approved by a vote of 28-0 the Email Privacy Act (H.R. 699) to protect Americans’ privacy and public safety in the digital age. Nearly 30 years ago, Congress passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 to provide a fair balance between the privacy expectations of American citizens and the legitimate needs of law enforcement agencies. The law sets fo... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law (RRCAL) Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA) introduced H.R. 4899, the Restoring Statutory Rights Act of 2016, legislation to ensure that state, federal, and constitutional rights of all Americans are enforceable. “Forced arbitration ... Read more »
Today, senior Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee and the chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) issued a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking the Department of Justice to review the impact of recently implanted voting restrictions across the ... Read more »
The House Judiciary Committee has announced its schedule for the week of April 11-15, 2016. Wednesday, April 13 10:30 a.m. Full Committee Markup 2141 Rayburn House Office Building S. 125, the “Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2015” (Sen. Leahy, D-VT) H.R. 699, the “Email Privacy Act” (Rep. Yoder, R-Kan.) THURSDAY, APRIL 14 10:00 a.m. Subcommittee on Courts, Intelle... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), and Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN) released the following joint statement applauding the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Evenwel v. Abbott to reaffirm the use of total-population data by states to draw state legislative election districts, clarifying the meaning of... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) released the following joint statement after the White House announced the commutation of the sentences of 61 individuals: “We applaud the commutations announced today and commend the President’s continued commitment to using his constitutional authority to... Read more »
Today’s markup of H.R. 4771, the so-called “Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare Act of 2016,” or “HEALTH Act,” is the eleventh time since 1995 that we have considered legislation intended to deny medical malpractice victims the ability to be made whole and to hold wrongdoers accountable. Notwithstanding the fact that this measure has repeatedly failed to become law because of ... Read more »
TUESDAY, MARCH 22 10:15 a.m. Full Committee Markup 2141 Rayburn House Office Building H.R. 4771, the “Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2016” (Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.): This bill sets conditions for lawsuits arising from health care liability claims. The CBO estimates that the reforms contained in the bill would lower health care costs by an estimated $40 b... Read more »
