The 3 bills that are the subject of today’s hearing would institute a “notice and cure” requirement under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Specifically, these measures would prohibit a lawsuit from being commenced unless the plaintiff first gave the business owner “specific” notice of an alleged violation and an opportunity to fix or make “substantial” progress toward reme... Read more »
Committee on the Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) and Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) unveiled the findings of a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on actions needed to reduce racial and socioeconomic segregation, and address disparities in K-12 public schools. Ranking Members Conyers and Scott, along with retired ... Read more »
The House Judiciary Committee has announced its schedule for the week of May 16-20, 2016.\ TUESDAY, MAY 17 10:00 a.m. Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Hearing on: “Synthetic Drugs, Real Danger” 2141 Rayburn House Office Building 1:00 p.m. Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Hearing on: H.R. 4768, the “Separation of Powers Restorati... Read more »
The issue of the appropriate roles of Congress and the President with respect to the subject of foreign affairs is certainly worthy of a genuinely substantive discussion. For instance, we could consider whether our Nation’s current military operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have been properly authorized by Congress. Unfortunately, however, today’s hearing – like the prior Task... Read more »
H.R. 5063, the “Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016,” would prohibit the enforcement or negotiation of any settlement agreement requiring donations to remediate harms that are not “directly and proximately” caused by a party’s unlawful conduct. The proponents of this bill claim that the Justice Department and civil enforcement agencies use such settlement agreements to unlawfully augment their... Read more »
Today, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced that he used his executive authority to restore the voting rights of more than 200,000 ex-offenders. As a result, ex-offenders in Virginia who are not in prison, on probation or parole will be permitted to register and vote in the upcoming presidential election. House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), commended his actions with the f... Read more »
H.R. 4924, the “Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2016,” is the latest attempt to erode the constitutional right to an abortion guaranteed by Roe v. Wade more than 40 years ago. Among other things, the bill would make it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion if she or he knows that the procedure is being done because of the race or sex of the fetus or the race of one of the parents, regardle... Read more »
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 »
