United States House Committee on the Judiciary

President Gerald Ford appearing at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing regarding his pardon of Richard Nixon (October 17, 1974).

The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities. The Judiciary Committee is also the committee responsible for impeachments of federal officials. Because of the legal nature of its oversight, committee members usually have a legal background, but this is not required.

In the 113th Congress, the chairman of the committee is Republican Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, and the ranking minority member is Democrat John Conyers of Michigan. In prior years, Lamar S. Smith of Texas was the chairman, and prior to that John Conyers served as chairman.

History

The committee was created on June 6, 1813 for the purpose of considering legislation related to the judicial system. This committee approved articles of impeachment against three Presidents: Andrew Johnson (1868), Richard Nixon (1974), and Bill Clinton (1998).

Predecessor committees

Members

114th Congress

Majority Minority

Sources:

112th Congress

Majority (Republicans) Minority (Democrats)

Sources:

Current subcommittees

Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
The Constitution and Civil Justice Trent Franks (R-AZ) Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Darrell Issa (R-CA) Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Immigration and Border Security Trey Gowdy (R-SC) Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Tom Marino (R-PA) Hank Johnson (D-GA)

Source:a "Chairman Smith Announces Subcommittee Chairmen". January 7, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2011. 

Task forces

Antitrust Task Force: 108th Congress

Chairman: Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI); Ranking member: John Conyers (D-MI)

The Antitrust Task Force during the 108th Congress existed from March 26, 2003, to September 26, 2003. All Judiciary Committee Members also served as members of the Task Force,[2] and conducted hearings and investigations into consolidation of the Bell Telephone Companies.[3]

Antitrust Task Force: 110th Congress

Chairman: John Conyers (D-MI); Ranking member: Steve Chabot (R-OH)

The Antitrust Task Force during the 110th Congress was established February 28, 2007, as a temporary subcommittee to examine the pending merger between XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.[4] The task force operated like any other subcommittee, except that it only has a six-month term. House Rules limit each full committee to just five subcommittees, and any task force, special subcommittee, or other subunit of a standing committee that is established for a cumulative period longer than six months in a Congress counts against that total.[5] A longer term for the task force would cause the Judiciary Committee to exceed this limit.

Judicial Impeachment: 110th and 111th Congresses

Chairman: Adam Schiff (D-CA);[6] Ranking member: Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)[6]

Established in September 2008,[7] the Judicial Task force on Judicial Impeachment was to look into charges against District Judge Thomas Porteous.[7] The investigation was not completed by the end of the 110th Congress, and it was reestablished after the 111th Congress convened in January 2009.[8] The responsibilities of the Task Force were expanded to include the case of Judge Samuel B. Kent,[9] leading to hearings[10] and his subsequent impeachment by the full House of Representatives.[11] The Task force finally voted to impeach Porteous on January 21, 2010.

Projects

Hearings

List of chairmen

Chairman Party State Years
Charles J. Ingersoll Democratic-Republican Pennsylvania 1813 –
1815
Hugh Nelson Democratic-Republican Virginia 1815 –
1819
John Sergeant Democratic-Republican Pennsylvania 1819 –
1822
Hugh Nelson Democratic-Republican Virginia 1822 –
1823
Daniel Webster Federalist Massachusetts 1823 –
1827
Philip P. Barbour Democratic Virginia 1827 –
1829
James Buchanan Democratic Pennsylvania 1829 –
1831
Warren R. Davis Democratic South Carolina 1831 –
1833
Thomas F. Foster Whig Georgia 1833 –
1835
Samuel Beardsley Democratic New York 1835 –
1836
Francis Thomas Democratic Maryland 1836 –
1839
John Sergeant Whig Pennsylvania 1839 –
1841
Daniel D. Barnard Whig New York 1841 –
1843
William Wilkins Democratic Pennsylvania 1843 –
1844
Romulus M. Saunders Democratic North Carolina 1844 –
1845
George O. Rathbun Democratic New York 1845 –
1847
Joseph R. Ingersoll Whig Pennsylvania 1847 –
1849
James Thompson Democratic Pennsylvania 1849 –
1851
James X. McLanahan Democratic Pennsylvania 1851 –
1853
Frederick P. Stanton Democratic Tennessee 1853 –
1855
George A. Simmons Whig & Republican New York 1855 –
1857
George S. Houston Democratic Alabama 1857 –
1859
John Hickman Republican Pennsylvania 1859 –
1863
James F. Wilson Republican Iowa 1863 –
1869
John A. Bingham Republican Ohio 1869 –
1873
Benjamin F. Butler Republican Massachusetts 1873 –
1875
James P. Knott Democratic Kentucky 1875 –
1881
Thomas Brackett Reed Republican Maine 1881 –
1883
John R. Tucker Democratic Virginia 1883 –
1887
David B. Culberson Democratic Texas 1887 –
1889
Ezra B. Taylor Republican Ohio 1889 –
1891
David B. Culberson Democratic Texas 1891 –
1895
David B. Henderson Republican Iowa 1895 –
1899
George W. Ray Republican New York 1899 –
1903
John J. Jenkins Republican Wisconsin 1903 –
1909
Richard W. Parker Republican New Jersey 1909 –
1911
Henry De Lamar Clayton Democratic Alabama 1911 –
1914
Edwin Y. Webb Democratic North Carolina 1914 –
1919
Andrew J. Volstead Republican Minnesota 1919 –
1923
George S. Graham Republican Pennsylvania 1923 –
1931
Hatton W. Sumners Democratic Texas 1931 –
1947
Earl C. Michener Republican Michigan 1947 –
1949
Emanuel Celler Democratic New York 1949 –
1953
Chauncey W. Reed Republican Illinois 1953 –
1955
Emanuel Celler Democratic New York 1955 –
1973
Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Democratic New Jersey 1973 –
1989
Jack Brooks Democratic Texas 1989 –
1995
Henry J. Hyde Republican Illinois 1995 –
2001
Jim Sensenbrenner Republican Wisconsin 2001 –
2007
John Conyers Democratic Michigan 2007 –
2011
Lamar S. Smith Republican Texas 2011 –
2013
Bob Goodlatte Republican Virginia 2013 –
Present

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bachus news release Dec. 19
  2. ↑ Judiciary Task Force on Antitrust
  3. ↑ House Antitrust Task Force, Antitrust Review.com
  4. ↑ Anti-Trust Panel to Examine XM-Sirius Merger United States House Committee on the Judiciary Press Release, February 27, 2007
  5. ↑ Rules of the House of Representatives, Rule X(b)(C), Page 12
  6. 1 2 "House Judiciary Committee Announces Retention of Alan Baron to Lead Inquiry into Possible Impeachment of Judge Porteous" (Press release). U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary. October 2, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  7. 1 2 "House panel moves toward impeaching a judge". Associated Press. September 18, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  8. ↑ Conyers, John, Jr. (January 6, 2009). "H. Res. 15: Authorizing and directing the Committee on the Judiciary to inquire whether the House should impeach G. Thomas Porteous, a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  9. ↑ Conyers, John, Jr. (May 29, 2009). "H. Res. 424: Authorizing and directing the Committee on the Judiciary to inquire whether the House should impeach Samuel B. Kent, a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Victims allege years of sexual misconduct by federal judge". CNN. June 3, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  11. ↑ Powell, Stewart (June 19, 2009). "U.S. House impeaches Kent". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 27, 2009. In action so rare it has been carried out only 14 times since 1803, the House on Friday impeached a federal judge — imprisoned U.S. District Court Judge Samuel B. Kent... (Archived by WebCite at webcitation.org)

External links

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