Intellectual Property and the Internet/US House Judiciary Committee

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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 United States 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 S. Smith of Texas, and the ranking minority member is Democrat John Conyers of Michigan.

History[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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
  • Mark Amodei, Nevada
  • 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
  • Jared Polis, Colorado

Subcommittees[edit | edit source]

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. Retrieved 2011-01-07.

Committee Task Forces[edit | edit source]

United States House Judiciary Antitrust Task Force: 108th Congress[edit | edit source]

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,[1] and conducted hearings and investigations into consolidation of the Bell Telephone Companies.[2]

United States House Judiciary Antitrust Task Force: 110th Congress[edit | edit source]

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.[3] 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.[4] 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[edit | edit source]

Chairman: Adam Schiff (D-CA);[5] Ranking member: Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)[5]

Established in September 2008,[6] the Judicial Task force on Judicial Impeachment was to look into charges against District Judge Thomas Porteous.[6] The investigation was not completed by the end of the 110th Congress, and it was reestablished after the 111th Congress convened in January 2009.[7] The responsibilities of the Task Force were expanded to include the case of Judge Samuel B. Kent,[8] leading to hearings[9] and his subsequent impeachment by the full House of Representatives.[10] The Task force finally voted to impeach Porteous on January 21, 2010.

Hearings[edit | edit source]

Chairmen since 1813[edit | edit source]

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
Emanuel Celler (D-NY) 1949-1953
Chauncey W. Reed (R-IL) 1953-1955
Emanuel 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

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Judiciary Task Force on Antitrust
  2. House Antitrust Task Force, Antitrust Review.com
  3. Anti-Trust Panel to Examine XM-Sirius Merger United States House Committee on the Judiciary Press Release, February 27, 2007
  4. Rules of the House of Representatives, Rule X(b)(C), Page 12
  5. a b U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary (2008-10-02). "House Judiciary Committee Announces Retention of Alan Baron to Lead Inquiry into Possible Impeachment of Judge Porteous". Press release. http://judiciary.house.gov/news/081015.html. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
  6. 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. 
  7. 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. Retrieved 2009-06-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. 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. Retrieved 2009-06-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "Victims allege years of sexual misconduct by federal judge". CNN. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-06-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. Powell, Stewart (2009-06-19). "U.S. House impeaches Kent". Houston Chronicle. 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... {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) (Archived by WebCite at webcitation.org)

External links[edit | edit source]