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 112th Congress, the chairman of the committee is Republican Lamar Smith of Texas, and the ranking minority member is Democrat John Conyers of Michigan.

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).

Members, 112th Congress

Majority

Minority

Lamar S. Smith, Texas, Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Howard Coble, North Carolina Elton Gallegly, California Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Dan Lungren, California Steve Chabot, Ohio Darrell Issa, California Mike Pence, Indiana Randy Forbes, Virginia Steve King, Iowa Trent Franks, Arizona Louie Gohmert, Texas Jim Jordan, Ohio Ted Poe, Texas Jason Chaffetz, Utah Timothy Griffin, Arkansas Tom Marino, Pennsylvania Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Dennis A. Ross, Florida Sandy Adams, Florida Ben Quayle, Arizona Vacancy [1]

John Conyers, Michigan, Ranking Member Howard Berman, California Jerrold Nadler, New York Bobby Scott, Virginia Mel Watt, North Carolina Zoe Lofgren, California Sheila Jackson-Lee, Texas Maxine Waters, California Steve Cohen, Tennessee Hank Johnson, Georgia Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico Michael Quigley, Illinois Judy Chu, California Ted Deutch, Florida Linda Sánchez, California Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida

Source:

• Resolutions electing Republican members (H.Res. 6, H.Res. 37)
• Resolutions electing Democratic members (H.Res. 7, H.Res. 39)

Subcommittees

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law	Howard Coble (R-NC)	Steve Cohen (D-TN)
The Constitution	Trent Franks (R-AZ)	Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet	Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)	Mel Watt (D-NC)
Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security	Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)	Bobby Scott (D-VA)
Immigration Policy and Enforcement	Elton Gallegly (R-CA)	Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

Source:a "Chairman Smith Announces Subcommittee Chairmen". January 7, 2011. http://judiciary.house.gov/news/2011/jan/110107_subcommittee_chairmen.html. Retrieved 2011-01-07. 

Committee Task Forces

United States House Judiciary 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]

United States House Judiciary 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 Task force on 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

• Administrative Law, Process and Procedure Project (2005–2006)

Hearings

• The Use and Misuse of Presidential Clemency Power for Executive Branch Officials (hearing) (2007)
• Equal Justice for Our Military Act of 2009, HR 569 (111th Congress) (2009). Congress holds a hearing to consider granting members of the U.S. Armed Forces access to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Chairmen since 1813

Charles J. Ingersoll (R-PA) 1813-1815 Hugh Nelson (R-VA) 1815-1819 John Sergeant (R-PA) 1819-1822 Hugh Nelson (R-VA) 1822-1823 Daniel Webster (F-MA) 1823-1827 Philip P. Barbour (D-VA) 1827-1829 James Buchanan (D-PA) 1829-1831 Warren R. Davis (D-SC) 1831-1833 Thomas F. Foster (W-GA) 1833-1835 Samuel Beardsley (D-NY) 1835-1836 Francis Thomas (D-MD) 1836-1839 John Sergeant (W-PA) 1839-1841 Daniel D. Barnard (W-NY) 1841-1843 William Wilkins (D-PA) 1843-1844 Romulus M. Saunders (D-NC) 1844-1845 George O. Rathbun (D-NY) 1845-1847 Joseph R. Ingersoll (W-PA) 1847-1849

James Thompson (D-PA) 1849-1851 James X. McLanahan (D-PA) 1851-1853 Frederick P. Stanton (D-TN) 1853-1855 George A. Simmons (W/R-NY) 1855-1857 George S. Houston (D-AL) 1857-1859 John Hickman (R-PA) 1859-1863 James F. Wilson (R-IA) 1863-1869 John A. Bingham (R-OH) 1869-1873 Benjamin F. Butler (R-MA) 1873-1875 James P. Knott (D-KY) 1875-1881 Thomas Brackett Reed (R-ME) 1881-1883 John R. Tucker (D-VA) 1883-1887 David B. Culberson (D-TX) 1887-1889 Ezra B. Taylor (R-OH) 1889-1891 David B. Culberson (D-TX) 1891-1895 David B. Henderson (R-IA) 1895-1899 George W. Ray (R-NY) 1899-1903

John J. Jenkins (R-WI) 1903-1909 Richard W. Parker (R-NJ) 1909-1911 Henry De Lamar Clayton (D-AL) 1911-1914 Edwin Y. Webb (D-NC) 1914-1919 Andrew J. Volstead (R-MN) 1919-1923 George S. Graham (R-PA) 1923-1931 Hatton W. Sumners (D-TX) 1931-1947 Earl C. Michener (R-MI) 1947-1949 Emmanuel Celler (D-NY) 1949-1953 Chauncey W. Reed (R-IL) 1953-1955 Emmanuel Celler (D-NY) 1955-1973 Peter W. Rodino, Jr. (D-NJ) 1973-1989 Jack Brooks (D-TX) 1989-1995 Henry J. Hyde (R-IL) 1995-2001 Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) 2001-2007 John Conyers (D-MI) 2007-2011

See also

• List of United States House committees
• United States congressional committee
• United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

References

1. ^ Congressional Record 112th Congress (2011-2012) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
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. ^ ^{a b} "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. 2008-10-02. http://judiciary.house.gov/news/081015.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "House panel moves toward impeaching a judge". Associated Press. 2008-09-18. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-09-17-202675980_x.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
8. ^ Conyers, John, Jr. (2009-01-06). "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. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.111hres15. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
9. ^ Conyers, John, Jr. (2009-05-29). "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. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.111hres424. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
10. ^ "Victims allege years of sexual misconduct by federal judge". CNN. 2009-06-03. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/03/judge.impeachment/index.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
11. ^ Powell, Stewart (2009-06-19). "U.S. House impeaches Kent". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6488310.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27. "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

• Committee on the Judiciary website
• Congressional Directory including lists of past memberships
• House Document No. 109-153, A History of the Committee on the Judiciary 1813–2006