CONYERS Bill To Add More Judges To Detroit Bankruptcy Court Set To Become Law; Helps Residents Seekk Economic Relief

Conyers Bill Included as part of Legislation Providing Funds for Disaster Relief

Washington, D.C. –H.R. 2266, a $36.5 billion humanitarian aid package for victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate passed the U.S. House and U.S. Senate and is now set to become law. The bill includes an amended version of Congressman John Conyers’ (MI-13) legislation that will extend 14 temporary bankruptcy judgeships and establish four additional bankruptcy judgeships across the Nation.  The bill extends the temporary bankruptcy judgeship in the Eastern District of Michigan as well as authorizes an additional bankruptcy judgeship for that District, which serves the City of Detroit.  

According to the Judicial Conference, without extending the temporary judgeship and adding another judgeship for the Eastern District of Michigan, the District’s caseload would exceed by 40 percent of the caseload standard for a federal judicial district.  The legislation passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives on October 12^th, the U.S. Senate on October 24^th and now heads to the president’s desk for signature.

Congressman Conyers released the following statement:

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“This legislation will ensure that citizens of Detroit, especially those facing economic distress, are able to obtain financial relief from a fully-staffed bankruptcy court.  While I would have preferred the original version of my legislation, which would have made these judgeships permanent, I am pleased that Congress took action.  

“H.R. 2266 also contains much needed economic aid to those who were harmed by recent hurricanes and wildfires and provides critical debt relief to the citizens of Puerto Rico by forgiving certain flood insurance obligations and loans owed by the Commonwealth.

“This aid package reflects how our Nation -- when called upon to address overwhelming devastation resulting from natural disaster and economic distress -- can come together to provide critical aid to those most in need.”

In addition to extending a temporary bankruptcy judgeship and adding an additional bankruptcy judge in Detroit, this legislation will expand temporary judgeships in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and Virginia. The legislation also adds additional bankruptcy judges in Delaware and Maryland.  The Judicial Conference of the United States has warned that without this legislation, the Nation’s bankruptcy courts would “face a serious and, in many cases, debilitating workload crisis if these temporary judgeships were to expire.” 

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CONYERS Stands For Dignity & Respect For All

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

"North Carolina's House Bill 2 prevents local governments from passing and enforcing additional anti-discrimination laws. This also undermines existing ordinances that protect LGBT Americans, disabled Americans and veterans. I join my colleagues and fellow veterans in urging the Governor of North Carolina to ‪#‎RepealHB2‬ " said Conyers.

Congressional Letter To North Carolina Governor To Protect Veterans By Repealing HB2

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Senior House Judiciary Democrats, Quad Caucus Chairs Question Impact of New Restrictive Voting Laws

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

WASHINGTON- Today, senior Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee and the chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) issued a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking the Department of Justice to review the impact of recently implemented voting restrictions across the country.

On March 22, Arizonians in Maricopa County, the most populous county in the state, experienced abnormally longer lines at polling stations.  Several allegations have also been made that there were disproportionate waiting times for minority voters. Department of Justice officials have opened an investigation into whether civil rights were violated.

In the letter, the Members request, “…that the Civil Rights Division review the impact of recently implemented voting restrictions on primary elections to determine whether the Department should implement additional monitoring programs in preparation for the November general election.”

The number of polling stations in Maricopa County, which is more than 40 percent minority, has been reduced by seventy percent, from 200 to 60 locations since the last presidential election in 2012.

“During the North Carolina primary election on March 15, voters waited for up to four hours at inner-city polling places to cast their votes. The number of provisional ballots cast last month in the North Carolina presidential primary was almost double the number of provisional ballots cast in 2012,” said the lawmakers. “These are warning signs that we cannot, and should not, ignore. These incidents raise serious constitutional concerns under both the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fifteenth Amendment.”

After the Supreme Court decision in Shelby v. Holder removed the preclearance requirement of Section V of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, there has been an increase in the number of restrictive voting laws. The Brennan Center for Justice reports that, since 2010, twenty-one states have passed restrictive voting laws. The enforcement of many of these laws disproportionately impacts low-income, minority, student, and elderly voters.

The letter, spearheaded by House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), is signed by Ranking Member on the Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee Steve Cohen (D-TN); Ranking Member on the Crime Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; Rep. Linda Sánchez(D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; and Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

U.S. House Congressional Letter to DOJ Regarding Impact of New Restrictive Voter Laws Nationwide Elections

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