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

• Claims: Functions merged in 1946
• Immigration and Naturalization: Functions merged in 1946
• Internal Security: Functions merged in 1975
  • Un-American Activities: Functions merged into Internal Security in 1969
• Patents: Functions merged in 1946
• Revision of Laws: Functions merged in 1946
• War Claims: Functions merged in 1946

Members

114th Congress

Sources:

• Resolutions electing Republican members: H.Res. 6 (Chairs) and H.Res. 17 (R)^[1]
• Resolutions electing Democratic members: H.Res. 7 (D) and H.Res. 22 (D)

112th Congress

Sources:

• Resolutions electing Republican members: H.Res. 6 (Chair), H.Res. 37 (Members)
• Resolutions electing Democratic members H.Res. 7 (Ranking member), H.Res. 39 (Members)

Current subcommittees

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

• 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.

List of chairmen

See also

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

References

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