Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) asks Attorney General Eric Holder during Senate Judiciary Committee hearing why he would choose to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, in a federal court if Mohammed said he would plead guilty and ask for an execution in military court. The question is met with scattered applause from the hearing’s audience. (0:21)

 

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Travis Martinez – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on repealing the anti-trust exemption provision set by the McCarran-Ferguson Anti-Trust Act in 1945. The committee heard testimony on Wednesday from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Christine Varney.

Senator Reid argued that the provision be passed in the Senate’s health care reform bill, and urged Congress to act swiftly on the matter.

“I urge all my colleagues on this committee and all throughout the senate to get this bill out of committee as quickly as possible. The bill that came out of the Finance Committee…chips away at the monopoly they [health insurance companies] have,” said Reid.

“They are so anti-competitive. Why? Because they make more money than any other business in America today,” he added.


Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Finance Committee, had harsh words for past anti-trust legislation. He vowed to bring an amendment to the floor that will repeal the anti-trust exemption when the Senate bill reaches the floor.

“The health insurance’s antitrust exemption is one of the worst accidents of American history… It deserves a lot of the blame for the huge rise in premiums that has made health insurance so unaffordable. It is time to end this special status and bring true competition to the health insurance industry,” Schumer said.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sounded optimistic that the bill will have support from both sides of the aisle.

“This is a bipartisan, no this is a non-partisan thing, everyone should be subjected to the laws. If you obey the law and follow the law… you’ve got nothing to fear,” said Leahy.

By Meagan Wiseley, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Three provisions of the USA Patriot Act are set to expire Dec. 31, 2009 and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), intends to reauthorize the expiring provisions, but with sunset provisions to ensure the protection of Americans’ civil liberties.

According to a statement from Sen. Leahy the USA Patriot Act Sunset Extension Act mandates new audits by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General on the use of National Security Letters, or federal subpoenas used by a variety of law enforcement entities.

Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice, Glenn Fine, said, “our reports … found the FBI had engaged in serious misuse of NSLs… we found that the FBI had issued many NSLs without proper authorization and had made improper requests under the statutes cited in the NSLs.”

The Office of the Inspector General is still reluctant to conclude that the FBI has fully eliminated all the problems that were found. Fine suggested that while congress is considering reauthorizing provisions of the Patriot Act “it must ensure through continual and aggressive oversight that the FBI uses these important and and intrusive investigative authorities appropriately.”

Leahy believes that comprehensive audits performed by Congress will help hold the FBI accountable for the organization’s NSL use.

Grammy Award Winning artist Sheila E. says that when radio stations do not compensate artists it is “disrespectful”. She says that she depends on radio, but that there is no partnership between artists and radio stations. (0:21)

 

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According to Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation’s Steve Newberry, who testified on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that paying artists through the Performance Rights Act, legislation that would require radio stations to pay artists directly, would have devastating consequences for the radio industry.

“I believe that this proposed legislation will likely end local radio broadcasting as you have known it. I have never seen the economic pain that radio stations are experiencing,” said Newberry.(0:22)

 

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Grammy Award winning artist Sheila E. tearfully testified before the Senate Judiciary committee on the importance of passing the proposed Performance Rights Act, legislation that would require broadcast radio stations to directly pay the musicians they feature.

“I get emotional because I see what music does for…kids. Music is my life and it is not fair what is happening,” said Sheila E. (0:17)

 

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By Aaron Richardson – Talk Radio News Service

Grammy Award winning artist Sheila E. tearfully testified before the Senate Judiciary committee on the importance of passing the proposed Performance Rights Act, legislation that would require broadcast radio stations to directly pay the musicians they feature.

“I get emotional because I see what music does for…kids. Music is my life and it is not fair what is happening,” said Sheila E.

Broadcast radio stations have not had to pay artists directly for the use of their music. While radio stations have aided artists in other ways, such as generating album sales through airplay, the popularity of satellite and internet radio, which pays artists, has left many artists requesting more.

According to Steve Newberry, who testified on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters, paying artists for the use of their music is not as easy as it seems.

“I believe that this proposed legislation will likely end local radio broadcasting as you have known it. I have never seen the economic pain that radio stations are experiencing,” said Newberry.

“The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not provide performers a full performance right. I’ll say that again, the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not provide performers a full performance right.” said Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

According to a Nielson SoundScan report, overall album sales in the U.S. peeked at 1.5 billion in 2008. The recording industry receives roughly $15 billion in revenue a year.

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Civil rights organizations voiced their support of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor just one day after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to confirm her nomination.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) joined representatives of various organizations in a press conference Wednesday to discuss the historic nomination and upcoming Senate vote.

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights President Wade Henderson said, “Her elevation to the Supreme Court would mark another advance on the road to equal opportunity that this nation has traveled from its founding; but, even more importantly, it would give Americans a Justice they can be confident will uphold their constitutional values, the rule of law and the principle of equal justice for all.”

Lillian Rodriguez Lopez of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda spoke about Sotomayor from both a professional and a personal perspective. Lopez fought back tears as she explained that while she, too, is a Hispanic woman from New York, she could only “pray to possess” the qualities and skills that Sotomayor possesses.

“I hope that next week that the members of the entire Senate will send a message of resounding support for Judge Sotomayor to the American people, to the Hispanic American people, when they vote for her confirmation,” said Lopez.

Reid said he is currently trying to cut a deal with Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) regarding the floor debate, but isn’t certain on how long the debate may last. He dismissed Republicans’ concerns over Sotomayor, asking rhetorically, “How many times do we have to listen to the same speeches on the same brief statements she made, on the same case that she talked about?”

Reid added that the Senate will be working long hours to ensure that the confirmation vote is one of the last things they do before they leave for the August recess.

In a vote that surprised no one, Judge Sotomayor was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, largely along party lines. All 12 Democrats on the committee voted to confirm, joined by Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC). The remaining 6 Republican senators voted against confirmation, leaving Sotomayor with a 13-6 vote.

Republican senators, led by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Ranking Member of the committee, continued to criticize Sotomayor for her decisions in cases concerning race discrimination, gun rights, and property rights, as well as her speeches in which she discussed the role ethnicity and background play in judicial decision making. Senator Graham, explaining why he was voting for her, nevertheless expressed concern that she had made statements about judicial decision making while she was a judge.

Senator Coburn (R-Okla.) said he believed Sotomayor was speaking from the heart in her speeches, but he said he was voting against her not for the content of those speeches but because she did not defend her statements when challenged in the hearings. If she believed, as Coburn thought judges should believe, that her rulings would be objective and unaffected by her personal beliefs, she should not have hesitated to stand behind her statements.

Democrats for the most part praised Sotomayor’s record as a prosecutor and a judge, repeating that her judicial experience exceeds that of any other nominee in the last 100 years. They also said that her record showed that she was a fair and impartial judge. Finally, they repeated her personal story and spoke of her as an inspiration to women and minorities wanting to pursue a career in the law.

Chairman Leahy could not say when Sotomayor’s confirmation would come before the full Senate, but he said it would have to be before the Senate leaves for the August recess, since the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an early session of oral arguments on September 9. The Senate will have several days of debate on Sotomayor, though we are unlikely to hear any new arguments before the vote.

The committee is hearing from outside witnesses now.

14:21: The Attorney General of Arkansas is speaking with Senators now. Senator Sessions asking the AGAR about the handling of the Ricci case. Sessions asking “were you aware” questions to make speech about Ricci case. AGAR trying to argue with Sessions about the Ricci case. Says he agrees with dissents in that case. Sessions asks AGAR (that’s Attorney General of Arkansas) what he thinks about Sotomayor’s ruling on gun rights. Sessions asks if AGAR knows Heller was 5–4, separated by one vote. AGAR says he plans to join other case arguing that 2nd Amendment is incorporated, but he thinks Sotomayor’s statements are OK. Not worried about gun rights going away.

14:28: Schumer welcomes Mayor Bloomberg and DA Morgenthau. Bloomberg greets the senators. “Senator, Senator, Senator, Senator.” Bloomberg praising Sotomayor, discussing her record. NYC DA Robert Morgenthau being introduced. Morgenthau was born in 1919 and has served as NYC DA since 1975. That means he’s older than Justice Stevens and has been in his current office about as long. Morgenthau is talking about several cases prosecuted by Sotomayor. These cases already came up in Klobuchar’s questioning. Wade Henderson of Leadership Conference on Civil Rights reminds us of questions about Thurgood Marshall and NAACP’s LDEF.

14:47: Frank Ricci is up. Ricci talking about the difficulties of working as a firefighter. Ricci complains about short opinion in his case, noting it mentioned his dyslexia and implied the case was about him. Ricci is reading carefully, moving his finger along the paper as he goes. Now a statement from Ben Vargas, another New Haven firefighter. Says his case shows how Supreme Court decisions affect Americans. Vargas tells about how much time he spent studying, looking at photos of his children, whom he didn’t get to see much while studying. Vargas says in his profession there are no second chances, unlike judicial system. He says racial makeup doesn’t matter in his field.

15:00: Peter Kirsanow of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Kirsanow also complaining about handling of Ricci case.

15:24: Sessions asks Vargas if he thinks other firefighters would have passed if they had studied as hard as he.

15:40: Graham says he appreciates the hard work done by the firefighters. Says he’d want Ricci fighting a fire at his house. Mayor Bloomberg says New York currently defending against lawsuit by DOJ because they didn’t throw out firefighter test with low minority scores.

15:58: Specter asks Ricci if he has any reason to think Sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith. Ricci says beyond his expertise. Specter asks Ricci if he has any reason to think Sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith. Ricci says beyond his expertise. Linda Chavez does think Sotomayor’s writings, work with PRLDEF indicates a preference to eliminate standardized testing.

16:29: Back from a short break. Third panel sworn in now. First up is former FBI Director (and former federal judge) Louis Freeh. Freeh recommends confirmation of Sotomayor and says he’s going to talk about her judicial experience. Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, speaks now. Supporting Sotomayor. Canterbury is impressed Sotomayor graduated from Yale and went to a low-paying prosecutor job. Canterbury says he’s not worried about losing his Second Amendment rights.

16:46: David Cone is talking about Sotomayor saving baseball.

17:07: David Kopel, blogger at http://volokh.com/, is up. Kopel’s argument for why 7th Circuit doesn’t back up Sotomayor’s interpretation seems to be that the 7th Circuit was explained more. Now we get Ilya Somin, also blogger at hhttp://volokh.com/. Somin is REALLY excited to be here. Somin says Sotomayor wrote in Didden that she’d have ruled the same way even if the statute of limitations had not expired.

17:47: Fourth panel. We’re down to Klobuchar and Sessions only.

18:27: Nick Rosenkranz, whose class I took at Georgetown, is up. Rosenkranz, like Professor McGinnis, is talking about (mis)use of foreign law. Rosenkranz encourages people to see the original Constitution at the National Archives. [I would, but the line is always really long.]

18:56: Some back-and-forth between Professor Rosenkranz and Senator Klobuchar on whether Sotomayor used foreign law. Microphones were off, so I’ll have to check the transcript.

19:07: Final panel up. Senators Kaufman, Sessions, Whitehouse, Specter are here.

19:39: Congressman Serrano says that there are many watch parties in his district, the Bronx.

19:45: Sessions unsurprisingly wants to talk to David Rivkin about national security. Sessions asks Rivkin about claims that Congress has denied habeas corpus to detainees. Rivkin agrees habeas was never intended for them. Sessions asks Halbrook whether Maloney decision will need to be reversed or 2nd Amendment doesn’t apply to states. Halbrook agrees.

19:54: Whitehouse indicates he wants to quibble with Halbrook. Whitehouse says that for 220 years, Supreme Court didn’t recognize any individual right to bear arms, then bare majority recognized. Whitehouse says Court may choose to apply Second Amendment to states, but hasn’t decided that yet. Whitehouse says he doesn’t want to create atmosphere where a nominee would walk into a “volley of fire” unless announces intent to expand Second Amendment. Whitehouse says a cautious judge would be inclined not to expand Heller, then let Supreme Court expand. Whitehouse doesn’t want to tell nominees that they need to signal how they’re going to rule if they want to be confirmed. Sessions responds, saying it’s fair to ask nominees about cases they’ve decided. Sessions says he thinks the “average American” thinks the text of the Second Amendment gives an absolute right, contrasted with First Amendment’s mention of “Congress.”

20:02: Sessions, complimenting Kaufman on his temporary chairmanship, says “Who needs Pat Leahy?” Kaufman thanking panels, audience, senators. Kaufman says Supreme Court nomination is second only to decision to go to war in importance.

20:04: The hearing is adjourned.