Encryption a Top Issue for House Judiciary and Energy and Commerce Committees House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today announced the creation of an encryption working group to examine the complicated legal and policy issues surroundi... Read more »
U.S. Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, together with 31 original cosponsors, introduced H.R. 4754, the Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act of 2016 to address unchecked decision-making powers that appointed emergency financial managers have in financially distressed cities. “We cannot undo the damage already done by the lead-poisoned water in F... Read more »
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to associate myself with your comments about our jurisdiction. “It is not an accident that the House Judiciary Committee is the committee of primary jurisdiction with respect to the legal architecture of government surveillance. “In times of heightened tension, many of our colleagues will rush to do something, anything, to get out in front of an issue. We welcome t... Read more »
TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2016 10:00 a.m. Executive Overreach Task Force Hearing 2237 Rayburn House Office Building "The Original Understanding of the Role of Congress and How Far We’ve Drifted From It" Witnesses: Mr. Matthew Spalding, Associate Vice President and Dean of Educational Programs Hillsdale College, Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship Mr. James C. Capretta, Vi... Read more »
“H.R. 3624, the so-called “Fraudulent Joinder Prevention Act of 2016,” is not really about fraud. Rather, this measure is just the latest attempt to tilt the civil justice system in favor of corporate defendants by making it more difficult for plaintiffs to pursue state law claims in state courts. “I say this for several reasons. To begin with, H.R. 3624 addresses a nonexistent problem. “Under cur... Read more »
On Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 1:00 p.m., the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled “The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy.” The House Judiciary Committee previously held member briefings on encryption, which included a briefing from technology companies and a classified briefing from the government. As encryption has increasingly become much more widespr... Read more »
Yesterday, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), House Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) and House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN) issued a letter to U.S. A... Read more »
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released the following statement after the White House unveiled its roadmap for closing the U.S. military prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: “It is long past time to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The prison undermines our national security. It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to operate. It remains a bli... Read more »
Earlier this week, through a court order, the United States government demanded that Apple Inc. help the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) develop software in an effort to break the encryption on an iPhone that was recovered after the recent shootings in San Bernardino, California. The government cited the “All Writs Act,” enacted in 1789, to demand that the technology company create a new ver... Read more »
Yesterday, President Obama announced that U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Department of Justice, in response to the President’s directive in July, has issued a report concerning the use of solitary confinement in America. The report includes recommended strategies for prisons at the federal, state, and local levels to pursue, safely reduce solitary confinement, and details changes that... Read more »
