Law Librarian Blog

Live Webcasting of Sotomayor Hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee is providing live webcasting of its hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor's SCOTUS nomination. Here's the link. Hat tip to SCOTUSblog. [JH]

Primer for the Sotomayor Hearing

David Ingram has written a brief primer for the Sotomayor hearing. See A Dozen Themes Frame Sotomayor Hearing (National Law Journal). [JH]

Rush Limbaugh Impersonator Joins Senate Judiciary Committee

That's right, Al Franken has been appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee less than one week ahead of the Committee's hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. According to Politico, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid defended his decision to allow Franken to take a spot on the Judiciary Committee, calling Franken 'extremely smart." The junior senator from Minnesota, who favors transitioning to a universal health care system, has also been appointed to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Perhaps Franken can explain the sprawling health care reform bill to his fellow committee members in Stuart Smalley's 12-step fashion. [JH]

Does Congress Need a Law Clerkship Program?

Yale Law School student Dakota S. Rudesill thinks Congress does in Keepers of the U.S. Code: the Case for a Congressional Clerkship Program [NELLCO] ("For the first time in the legal literature, I here set out the full case for a congressional clerkship program analogous to that of the judiciary.") Congress is one step closer to establishing a pilot program. The House recently passed the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2008, H.R. 6475 [Thomas]. The bill would create six paid clerk positions serving one-year appointments in the House. [JH]

Are You Represented by One of CREW's 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has identified the 20 most corrupt members of Congress (and four to watch) in its fourth annual "most corrupt" report. This year, CREW has launched a companion website which offers short summaries of "each member’s transgressions as well as the full-length profiles and all accompanying exhibits." The list, displayed below the fold, includes 14 Republicans and 6 Democrats. Twelve are under investigation and one other, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), is under a self-initiated House ethics committee investigation. [JH]

CREW's 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-NY)
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

Dishonorable Mentions

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH)

Politicized Hiring at the Department of Justice

Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Testimony

• Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General

Member Statements

• Patrick Leahy, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee

Click here for the webcast.

See LLB's earlier post DOJ Releases Report on Politicized Hiring in Ofc of Attorney General for more information.   [RJ]

Congress Goes on Summer Vacation, Travel Plans to Wally World Canceled

Congress adjourned Friday for its five-week summer recess. Nice job if you can get it. Did your elected officials do enough? According to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll, 77 percent of the country disapprove of how Congress is doing its job. See CNN's analysis: Will voters punish Congress for coming up empty.

One CNN iReporter wrote ""In fact, every new promise that the new members of Congress ran on to get elected remains exactly that, an empty promise. I have to laugh when I recall the self-righteous finger waving of [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and company. Now go on and enjoy your vacation, you earned it." Take the iReport poll: Did Congress do enough? [JH]

DOJ Releases Report on Politicized Hiring in Ofc of Attorney General

In March 2007, the Office of Professional Responsibility & the Office of the Inspector General began a joint investigation into the hiring (and retention) practices of the DOJ for U.S. Attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorneys.  After the Congressional testimony of Monica Goodling, DOJ's White House Liaison and Sr. Counsel to the AG, the investigation was expanded to look at the hiring process for career DOJ employees.  The 146-page report, dated July 28, 2008, contains a lot of infomation, not the least of which are Ms. Goodling's LexisNexis search strategies.

[gvd]

Investigate Earmarks with EarmarkWatch.org

New resource from the Sunlight Foundation:

"Wondering who's getting all the earmarks? Who's giving them and why? Do earmarks meet pressing needs or pay off political favors? And which are pure pork? EarmarkWatch.org, an innovative new tool from the Sunlight Foundation and Taxpyers for Common Sense, lets you find out for yourself.

Using EarmarkWatch.org, you can exercise citizen oversight of Congress. Dig into the 47 earmarks worth $166,500,000 that Rep. John Murtha inserted (and figure out which benefit campaign contributors). Or take a close look at the $100,000 earmark that Sen. David Vitter secured for an organization that promotes creationism in Louisiana schools. Or the $37 million in earmarks that include defense giant Northrop Grumman as a beneficiary.

Right now, you can investigate earmarks from the House Defense Appropriations Bill and the House and Senate versions of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bills. Using a host of online resources, you can find out whether recipients of earmarks hired lobbyists, made campaign contributions to members of Congress, or won federal contracts and grants. You can also add information to eamarks others have researched, or comment on what others have found. EarmarkWatch.org provides you with powerful tools to scrutinize and evaluate thousands of earmarks. To get started, create an account and pick an earmark."  [RJ]