Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Overcriminalization Task Force held a hearing entitled, “Regulatory Crime: Solutions.” At the hearing, Mr. John S. Baker, Jr., Ph.D. - a visiting professor at Georgetown Law School - and Mr. Lucian E. Dervan - an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University School of Law - testified, advocating for a rethink in the United States’ criminal justice sy... Read more »
Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wisc.), Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Chairman Howard Coble (R-N.C.), and Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) introduced H.R. 3465, the Second Chance Reauthorization Act. The Sec... Read more »
Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, requesting a hearing on the unresolved case of Alex Odeh, who was murdered in 1985. The U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice originally... Read more »
Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) joined Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.); Warren David, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC); Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of the Jewish Voice for Peace, in calling for the Department of Justice to bring... Read more »
Today, all of the Democratic members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) calling for hearings on gun violence. A copy of this letter is attached and the body of the message can be found below: --- September 20, 2013 Chairman Bob Goodlatte House Judiciary Committee 2138 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Goodlatte: Afte... Read more »
(DETROIT) – Today, a federal judge ruled in the case of Floyd v. City of New York that the city’s “stop and frisk” policy is unconstitutional. After this ruling, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement: “Today’s federal court decision striking down New York’s stop-and-frisk policy is a victory for individual liberty and equal justice under the law. “The Court found t... Read more »
Today, Attorney General Eric Holder delivered an important speech at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco. He spoke about the issue of overcrowding in federal prisons and the policies that have led to this problem. He said that, “too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long and for no good law enforcement reason.” He also stated that, “widespread incarcerati... Read more »
Following the jury’s verdict in the Trayvon Martin case, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement: “In the wake of this weekend’s verdict, I strongly support the Department of Justice’s determination to conduct an independent and thorough review of the Trayvon Martin case and consider whether federal charges should be brought. “Beyond the Department’s investigation, I... Read more »
Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a full committee hearing on H.R. 2278, the “Strengthen and Fortify Enforcement Act” (The SAFE Act). After hearing from a panel of witnesses, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued this statement critical of the bill under consideration: “I sincerely hope that this bill does not signal the direction in which our conversation is heading. As the ... Read more »
