Press Releases

House Judiciary Dems Release Letter From More Than 35 Law Professors Expressing Constitutional Concerns Over GOP Streaming Ban Proposal Coming To House Floor Today

Washington, DC, January 3, 2017

Background: House Judiciary Committee Democrats today released a letter led by former constitutional law professor and newly elected Congressman Jamie Raskin and signed by more than 35 law professors and scholars from across the country, which expresses constitutional concerns over Republican leadership’s proposal to allow administrative officers to impose fines on Members of Congress for using an electronic device to photograph or record House floor proceedings. This proposal is part of a rules package that will come to the House floor today and is an apparent reaction to the Democratic sit-in on the House floor last June.

Full text of the letter from law professors is available here and attached.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Committee on Rules Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY), House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Ranking Member, and former chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released a joint statement last week on the proposal. You can read the joint statement here.