#Senate Judiciary Committee

[questionableadvice]

~ Hearings Before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency, 04/21/1954 - 06/04/1954

In 1954 the Senate convened hearings to determine whether comic books were "corrupting the nation's youth". In the end they decided that they probably were, but nothing was done on a federal level. It did result in the formation of the Comic Magazine Association of America which adopted a Comics Code to regulate it's own content.

"Well, I hate to say that, Senator, but I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic book industry. They get the children much younger." - Dr. Frederic Wertham, April 1954*

*Less than 10 years after the end of WWII. What an a**hole

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Brandi Buchman at HuffPost:

Special counsel Jack Smith’s highly anticipated report on his charging decisions in Trump’s Jan. 6 election subversion case will be made public, federal prosecutors said Wednesday, but the same cannot be said of information underpinning Trump’s classified documents case.

Details from that now-dismissed classified documents case should be held back from public view, federal prosecutors said Wednesday, because litigation is still underway in Florida against Trump’s valet and his Mar-a-Lago estate property manager. The disclosure was made in federal appellate court by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton in response to a recent request from Waltine Nauta, Trump’s valet, and Carlos De Oliveira, his property manager, to stop the publication entirely. Boynton said this was unnecessary. Smith, he wrote, already recommended to Attorney General Merrick Garland that to “avoid any risk of prejudice” to Nauta and De Oliveira, it would be best to release only information about the Jan. 6 charging decisions so long as criminal proceedings are pending against Nauta and De Oliveria. The report will, however, be available for private review by members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s findings in the Capitol Insurrection probe will be released by the DOJ. The findings in the classified document theft case, however, won’t be made public at this time due to litigation still ongoing.

See Also:

The Guardian: DoJ to release part of report on Trump’s attempt to overturn 2020 election

Daily Kos: DOJ to release half of Jack Smith’s report on Trump

[justinssportscorner]

Mira Lazine at LGBTQ Nation:

A Tuesday hearing on gambling addiction turned awry when Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) suddenly turned the conversation towards the issue of transgender inclusion in sports.

In a hearing about the Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act (SAFE Bet Act) — a law that is meant to discourage sports gambling addiction — the two senators barraged NCAA chief Charlie Baker with questions about “allowing biological males” to play games with “biological females.” Kennedy told him to “stand up in front of God and country” and oppose trans women’s inclusion in sports, and to “stand up and take a leadership position,” as well as to “go to Amazon and buy a spine online.” Hawley then jumped in and repeatedly talked over Baker, raising his voice to claim that “there is no federal law” that allows trans women to play against women and to shout “This is your federal policy that you will not defend because it is indefensible.” He also questioned Baker about recent forfeitures against San Jose State University due to them allegedly having a single trans player on their team. Despite Hawley’s claim, the U.S. Constitution and federal law guarantee equal treatment of college athletes. While this should include trans athletes, there have been recent scientific and political debates about whether trans female athletes have biological advantages over cisgender competitors. Republicans have largely opposed trans inclusion in sports and vilified trans athletes and their allies as harming cis female athletes.

Baker was also asked by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) how many trans athletes there were. Out of 510,000 total athletes, Baker said, there are less than 10 total in NCAA schools (a figure that translates to fewer than 0.002% of all NCAA athletes). Baker also defended trans women, saying it was “debatable” whether they’d always, no matter what have a physical advantage over cisgender women. There is no concrete evidence that trans women have an unfair advantage in sports. A recent study found that trans women have equivalent physical metrics to cisgender women after being on hormone replacement therapy. Few other studies examine trans athletes in comparison to cisgender athletes. Sen. Durbin continued on X, “510,000 NCAA athletes. Ten or fewer transgender NCAA athletes nationwide. Let’s focus on ways to actually improve women’s sports.”

Last week’s hearing that was purportedly about the SAFE Bet Act in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee instead turned into an manufactured temper tantrum session on NCAA policies over trans athletes by GOP Senators on the committee.

NCAA head Charlie Baker testified, and when grilled by Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL), Baker stated that there are 10 or so trans athletes in the whole of collegiate sport.

[captainxtra]

This is about Section 230 being attacked again.

Go to 11:28.

Between this and Rump's executive order to make himself the sole one in control of the Executive branch, America ain't doing so hot.

For an overview of what that Executive order is, I'd advise watching this:

[looseygoosey66]

On a sillier note, today is also the anniversary (29 years) of Stoney & Jeff testifying before Congress regarding Ticketmaster. The sass and snark is strong & I love it. June 30 1994

Stone is not amused 🤨

[gwydionmisha]

Don't hold your breath. Republicans are strongly opposed to Ethics of any kind.

[politicalantibody]

The Supreme Court’s power is NOT absolute. Time to lower the boom!

“Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Tuesday that “Chief Justice Roberts ought to be summoned to a hearing before the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. He ought to show some leadership and be held accountable.” “Of course, Justice Alito ought to be subpoenaed as well in my view, but likely he is not going to appear and I think it is a time of reckoning for the Congress,” Blumenthal continued. “Justice Alito says the Congress can’t regulate, to use his term, the Supreme Court. But the Congress set salaries. It sets rules of procedure. It sets the numbers of justices. The founders didn’t want the United States Supreme Court to be above the law.””

— The pressure is building for the Senate to do something about Alito

[yetisidelblog]

Donald Trump’s Department of Justice just dropped a high-profile corruption case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams—a move so blatantly corrupt that seven federal prosecutors resigned in protest. This is a textbook case of political favoritism and abuse of power, and the Senate Judiciary Committee must immediately investigate. The DOJ had been investigating Adams over an alleged illegal fundraising scheme tied to foreign influence. But after Adams publicly defended Trump, the case was suddenly dropped. The timing is impossible to ignore. Trump isn’t letting Adams off the hook because he believes in his innocence—he’s doing it to secure Adams’ cooperation with his cruel anti-immigrant deportation agenda. Trump has made it clear that he wants to deport millions of immigrants, and his administration needs cooperation from major cities like New York to make that happen. By dangling DOJ leniency over Adams, Trump is attempting to force him into compliance. The Senate Judiciary Committee has the power and responsibility to conduct oversight of the DOJ. When seven prosecutors resign rather than carry out an order from Trump’s Justice Department, it’s a clear sign of deep corruption. If Trump can use the DOJ to shield allies and weaponize the legal system to push his policies, then the department is no longer serving justice—it’s serving Trump. This is corruption in broad daylight, and it cannot be ignored. The Senate Judiciary Committee should have already launched an investigation, but the American people must demand action. Sign this petition to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee: Investigate Trump’s DOJ now. We cannot allow the Justice Department to be used as a tool for political payoffs, corruption, and the mass deportation of immigrants.

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[sohan121]

3 takeaways from Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing Reed More

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Chris Geidner at Law Dork:

For the past 20 months, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democrats have investigated the ongoing ethical questions surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court, and now Committee Chair Dick Durbin is sharing what they’ve found. “This report and its findings make clear that passage of the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, which was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 5, 2023, is a necessary step,“ the majority staff report issued on Saturday concludes, noting that more investigation is needed because “none of the justices have been directly questioned about their alleged misconduct.“ Although the investigation is coming to an end because the Democrats are losing the majority in January, Durbin released the 93-page majority staff report detailing what they were able to find — and also making public more than 800 pages of relevant supporting documents. “[T]he Supreme Court has allowed a culture of misconduct to metastasize into a full-blown crisis that has driven public opinion of the Court to historic lows,” the report states. “Justices appointed by presidents of both parties have engaged in conduct that ranges from questionable to clearly violative of federal ethics laws, and several justices have done so consistently without suffering negative consequences.” The report takes particular umbrage at the receipt of gifts by Justice Clarence Thomas, asserting, “The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history.” It also concludes that Justice Sam Alito “has created the appearance of impropriety in several instances that necessitate his recusal in specific cases under federal law.” The report acknowledges the role that ProPublica played in advancing this inquiry, having published what the report describes as “several major exposés revealing extensive allegations of apparent ethical misconduct by sitting and former justices of the Supreme Court of the United States” — the first of which addressed Thomas’s relationship with Harlan Crow. (Notably, the report also highlights the fact that several senators, including Durbin, were looking into Thomas’s receipt of “favors” from Crow more than a decade earlier — something I’ve covered here.)

Saturday morning, the Senate Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a report on SCOTUS’s ethics crisis decrying the “culture of misconduct”, especially from “Justices” Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.

[timothy-kang]

News/Chew Shou Zi—1 Feb. 2024

On January 31, Chew Shou Zi, the Singaporean CEO of TikTok, attended a hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington. The hearing was centered around two main issues. The first issue was related to the adequacy of child protection measures in th

On January 31, Chew Shou Zi, the Singaporean CEO of TikTok, attended a hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington. The hearing was centered around two main issues. The first issue was related to the adequacy of child protection measures in the platform due to the presence of child sexual abuse material. Additionally, it was noted that Hong Kong and Tibet were less mentioned on TikTok…

[captainxtra]

Rep. Jamie Raskin explains why the GOP is ramping up their attacks on the judicial branch—and what it has to do with Donald Trump's (and Elon Musk's) pursuit of absolute, unchecked power.

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One the pieces of Legislation to limit Judicial Power mentioned by Raskin is the No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA), there’s two articles discussing it but they’re from right leaning sources so take caution when reading:

[looseygoosey66]

Another clip since Tumblr apparently decided 2 videos on the same post would be too easy 🤷 June 30 1994

[banji-effect]

Highly recommend reading this whole letter (not very long, only seven pages) from a group of Democratic senators in re: the ongoing FBI and DOJ purges. Here are a few highlights:

[bewithus4u]

Democrats highlight IVF issue ahead of elections as Senate GOP blocks IVF bill again

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, at the Aspire Houston Fertility Institute in vitro fertilization lab in Houston, laboratory staff prepare small petri dishes filled with 1-7-day-old embryos. Cells will be extracted from each embryo to determine viability. As Democrats highlight the issue in the run-up to the November election, Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to block a bill ensuring access to in vitro…