Senate Judiciary Committee
U.S. Senate hearing on book bans probes censorship attempts in local libraries
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators at a committee hearing Tuesday discussed the consequences of book bans and parents’ desire to control what their kids read — though they also acknowledged it’s not an issue for Congress to settle. The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony about book bans, focusing on how censorship limits liberty and literature. The […]
Ethics rules for Supreme Court justices approved on party-line vote by U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — The Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Thursday approved a proposal to impose a code of ethics for the U.S. Supreme Court, amid revelations that justices failed to disclose luxury travel and real estate deals, as well as directing staff to promote book sales. The panel split along party lines, in an 11-10 […]
‘Lobbying for my right to exist’: US Senate panel examines how states target trans kids
WASHINGTON — Harleigh Walker wants U.S. senators to understand she is a typical 16-year-old girl. She likes Taylor Swift. She enjoys being on her school’s debate team. And she listens way too loudly to music in her room. “I’m just trying to be a teenager in America,” she told senators on the U.S. Senate Judiciary […]
Tougher ethics rules for U.S. Supreme Court justices advocated in Senate hearing
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats for the third time this year made their case that U.S. Supreme Court justices must follow stronger ethics rules, including recusing themselves from cases where they have a financial stake or other connection to a case. The series of hearings by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and its subcommittees came […]
U.S. Senate Democrats denounce post-Dobbs landscape of state abortion bans, restrictions
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats at a Wednesday hearing explored how nearly a year after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, multiple states and conservative-backed lawsuits are restricting access to reproductive care. The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, said the recent Texas lawsuit challenging […]
Amended bill restricting transgender adults’ bathroom use will return to Arkansas Senate
A proposed law that would make it a crime if an adult “knowingly exposes his or her sex organs to a minor of the opposite sex” in a public restroom or changing room passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday after being amended. Adults who enter and remain in a facility that does not align […]
Arkansas panel OKs criminalization of using bathrooms that do not match a person’s biological sex
An Arkansas bill that opponents called the most stringent legislative attempt so far to restrict the behavior of transgender individuals passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and will be considered by the full Senate. Senate Bill 270 would make it a crime if an adult “knowingly exposes his or her sex organs to a […]
Arkansas Senate approves bill allowing malpractice suits for transgender minors’ health care
A proposed law that would allow medical malpractice lawsuits against Arkansas doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors passed the Senate on Tuesday with a party-line vote and will go to the House for consideration. Senate Bill 199 would create civil liability for a doctor who “performs a gender transition procedure on a minor […]
Proposed law to hold libraries accountable for ‘obscene’ material passes Arkansas committee
This story was updated at 7:29 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2023. An Arkansas Senate committee approved a bill Monday that would open the door to criminal liability for the distribution of “obscene” content by libraries. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass the bill after hearing testimony from only 16 of the […]
Arkansas bill allowing malpractice suits for transgender minors’ health care passes committee
A proposed law that would open the door for medical malpractice lawsuits against Arkansas doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and will go to the full Senate for a vote. Senate Bill 199 would create civil liability for a doctor who “performs a gender transition procedure […]
Bill to prohibit LGBTQ “panic defense” tabled in Arkansas Senate committee
A bill expanding Arkansas school employees’ right to defend themselves in physical altercations passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, while another bill aimed at protecting LGBTQ Arkansans from violence was tabled. Senate Minority Whip Linda Chesterfield (D-Little Rock) said her background as a schoolteacher informed her introduction of both bills. Chesterfield introduced Senate Bill […]
Federal prisons ‘riddled with mismanagement’ probed by U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in a Thursday hearing grilled the top leader of federal prisons on how the agency would address staffing shortages and reports of abuse of incarcerated people. “The Bureau (of Prisons) has been riddled with mismanagement and, sadly, with scandal,” said the chair of the committee, Illinois […]