Today, the Committee for Justice provided a statement for inclusion in the record of the Subcommittee’s September 15th hearing, “Stacking the Tech: Has Google Harmed Competition in Online Advertising?” The letter was submitted by a group of legal experts, economists, and consumer and taxpayer advocates who believe in the importance of promoting competitive markets and defending the rule of law.

By a vote of 6-3 in yesterday's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (combined with Altitude Inc. v. Zarda and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc.), the Supreme Court affirmed that the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was reversed, and the case remanded (and the judgments of the Second Circuit in Altitude Express and the Sixth Circuit in R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes are affirmed). Justice Gorsuch's majority opinion was joined by the Chief Justice and Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan. Justice Alito dissented, joined by Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh. Curt Levey joins us to discuss the decision and future implications.

Journalists and academics seem convinced that artificial intelligence is often biased against women and racial minorities. If Washington’s new facial recognition law is a guide, legislators see the same problem. But is it true? It’s not hard to find patterns in AI decisions that have a disparate impact on protected groups. Is this bias? And if so, whose?

In April 2020, President Trump nominated Judge Justin Walker, currently serving on the U.S. District Court in Kentucky, to a pending vacancy on the U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Below is information on Judge Walker and the D.C. Circuit.

Congressman Van Taylor and Committee for Justice President Curt Levey sat down with The Jacki Daily Show to discuss climate change litigation.

The reauthorization comes at a time of heightened scrutiny, given the recent Department of Justice Inspector General report addressing the FBI’s use of FISA while investigating the 2016 presidential election and a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review order expressing “serious concerns about the accuracy and completeness” of the FBI’s FISA applications in that case.

On March 24, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc, which is expected to set the standard for how thoroughly computer code is protected by copyright. If Google's copying of more than 11,300 lines of Oracle's Java code in building the Android operating system is allowed to stand, that protection will be weakened and the incentives for innovation in the software industry will be diminished. A victory for Oracle is important for promoting both the rule of law, including a textualist reading of the Constitution and statutes, and the protection of property rights.

The Committee for Justice filed comments with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the draft memorandum to federal agencies, “Guidance for Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications.” The aim of our comments is to assist the executive branch in creating policies that will continue and advance America's leadership in artificial intelligence technology and innovation while also promoting America's values. Specifically, our comments address two of the "Principles for the Stewardship of AI Applications" discussed in the draft memo: 1) fairness and non-discrimination, and 2) disclosure and transparency.

On March 15, 2020, certain authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will expire absent renewal by Congress. The authorities set to expire fall into three categories: 1) the business records provision (often referred to as Section 215) that allows for collection of call detail records, among other things; 2) roving wiretaps; and 3) the lone wolf provision. On March 11, the House passed a compromise bill that the Senate will soon consider. However, several Republican Senators have already urged President Trump to veto the reauthorization bill, should it pass both chambers.