{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-johnson-re-introduces-bipartisan-bicameral-legislation-hold", "Congressman Johnson Re-Introduces Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Hold Judiciary Accountable To Its Employees", "2024-09-25", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "House", "GA", "Henry C. \"Hank\" Johnson, Jr.", "J000288", "hankjohnson.house.gov", "hankjohnson", "https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Reps. Johnson, Nadler, Torres Re-Introduce Bill In House To Protect Employees of the Federal Judiciary Against Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Retaliation, and Other Forms of Workplace Misconduct\n\nSens. Hirono, Murkowski Introduce Bill in Senate\n\nLegislation would protect workers and whistleblowers, create effective workplace misconduct prevention programs, investigate complaints, and hold the powerful accountable\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04), ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, in concert with Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), and Rep. Norma Torres (CA-35), senior member of the Appropriations Committee and member of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee that oversees the Federal Judiciary \u2013 and Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK) \u2013 reintroduced the Judiciary Accountability Act of 2024 (JAA).\n\nThe JAA would ensure the more than 30,000 employees of the federal judiciary have strong statutory rights and protections against discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and other forms of workplace misconduct.\n\nThe foundational federal anti-discrimination statutes \u2014 such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 \u2014 still do not apply to the federal judiciary, making it one of the only employers in the entire country \u2013 public or private \u2013 whose employees are not protected by federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination and retaliation. The federal judiciary has faced sustained criticism for its approach to preventing, investigating, and redressing sexual harassment and discrimination by judges and other high-level judicial branch officials. This summer, back-to-back reports were released \u2014 one from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the other from the Federal Judicial Center and National Academy of Public Administration \u2014 underscoring that the internal dispute resolution mechanisms implemented by the judiciary to combat these issues have instead led to a lack of accountability for judges who mistreat employees.\n\n\u201cIt is the height of injustice that judiciary employees who support the daily functioning of our courts lack basic workplace protections,\" said Rep. Hank Johnson, Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts. \u201cThese protections are already provided to congressional and executive branch staff. Why should we continue to exempt our third branch of government? In the face of clear, repeated evidence of unaccountable judges committing egregious misconduct, Congress has the power and the duty to fix it and ensure judicial employees who use their voices and bravely sharing their experiences do not do so in vain. I\u2019m pleased to lead re-introduction of the Judiciary Accountability Act, which is common-sense legislation that would align the federal judiciary with not just the rest of the federal government but with private sector workplaces as well.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is unconscionable that over 60 years after the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employees of the federal judiciary are not protected from workplace discrimination,\u201d said Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler. \u201cThe lack of protections undermines credibility in the court, which is why I'm proud to reintroduce the Judiciary Accountability Act, to bring the same basic rights available to congressional and executive branch staff to the judicial branch.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Judiciary Accountability Act is a significant step towards ensuring the safety and rights of judiciary employees. It is crucial that judiciary employees feel secure in expressing concerns about misconduct without fearing for their safety or job security. All Judiciary members are entitled to fundamental workplace rights that safeguard them from harassment and discrimination,\" said Rep. Norma Torres. \u201cThe era of judges abusing their power and instilling fear in the work environment is over. That is why I am honored to co-lead the Judiciary Accountability Act alongside ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Rep. Johnson. We are deeply committed to providing protections backed up by the full force of United States law for employees who come forward after experiencing sexual harassment. Our federal Judiciary must set an example of accountability in addressing sexual harassment, and the provisions outlined in this bill will help achieve that goal.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo one is above the law, but most federal judiciary employees lack essential workplace protections, preventing them from obtaining justice when they face discrimination and harassment,\u201d said Senator Hirono. \u201cEmployees of the federal judiciary dedicate their careers to providing justice, and they deserve justice when they face misconduct in the workplace. Yet these employees are among the only ones in the United States who lack the right to sue when they face discrimination or harassment. The Judiciary Accountability Act will help to protect the 30,000 federal judiciary employees by extending basic anti-discrimination protections to cover them, giving them access to federal court to vindicate those rights, and helping to ensure more accountability in the federal courts.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Judiciary Accountability Act expands federal laws that prohibit workplace harassment and discrimination to employees of the judiciary, putting them on par with executive branch, congressional, and private sector employees who have long-had these protections,\u201d said Senator Murkowski. \u201cThis legislation not only helps safeguard employees from mistreatment at work, but also establishes a review system to foster accountability when those rights are violated. I appreciate the opportunity to lead this bipartisan legislation with Senator Hirono to cultivate transparency and a positive working environment within the judicial branch.\u201d\n\nThe Judiciary Accountability Act will:\n\n\u2022 Give judicial branch employees the same anti-discrimination rights and remedies private sector and government employees have had for decades. Today, judicial branch employees are not protected by the federal civil rights statutes that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, age, and disability. The Judiciary Accountability Act would correct that injustice.\n\n\u2022 Protect judicial branch employees from retaliation against them by providing them with the right to sue for relief if they are retaliated against. Unlike most other federal employees, judicial branch employees currently have no statutory protection against retaliation. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing in 2020, multiple witnesses testified that they and others were afraid to come forward about the sexual harassment they suffered or witnessed.\n\n\u2022 Establish a comprehensive workplace misconduct prevention program overseen by an improved and expanded Office of Judicial Integrity. The Office\u2019s Board of Directors would include members experienced in investigating and enforcing civil rights laws against workplace discrimination, as well as experience assisting victims of discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. The Office would administer a nationwide, confidential reporting system and a comprehensive training program addressing workplace behavior and bystander intervention, among other duties.\n\n\u2022 Establish an Office of Employee Advocacy to assist judicial branch employees in matters related to workplace discrimination and harassment. The Office of Employee Advocacy would advise covered judicial employees about their rights and the resources available to them, provide legal assistance where appropriate, and operate an anonymous reporting hotline for covered judicial employees.\n\n\u2022 Require regular assessments of workplace culture to determine the effectiveness of judicial branch policies designed to prevent and remedy harassment and discrimination.\n\n\u2022 Make clear that discrimination and retaliation constitute judicial misconduct and ensure that the judicial misconduct laws apply to all federal judges, regardless of whether they subsequently resign, retire, or pass away.\n\nCosponsors: Reps. Madeleine Dean (PA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Adam Schiff (CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)\n\nWhat Groups Are Saying\n\n\u201cSexual harassment in the judiciary is a judicial ethics problem\" said Debra Perlin, Policy Director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). \"The public's trust in our democracy depends on the credibility of an accountable judicial branch. Repeated credible complaints of sexual harassment and assault in the judiciary undermines that accountability. CREW applauds Congressman Johnson and Senator Hirono for reintroducing the Judiciary Accountability Act to extend protections against sexual harassment and discrimination to judicial branch employees, who are essential to our courts.\u201d\n\n\u201cLegal Momentum, The Women\u2019s Legal Defense and Education Fund is proud to endorse the Judicial Accountability Act as it is a long-overdue and crucial step forward in the fight to advance workplace gender equality. Our nation\u2019s federal judicial workers deserve a workplace free from discrimination, sexual harassment, and other forms of misconduct, and it is unacceptable that federal judges are exempt from the very laws they are tasked with enforcing. History has proven time and time again that protections that benefit women benefit everyone, and when employees feel safe to advocate for themselves at work, the entire system only grows stronger,\u201d said Azaleea Carlea, Legal Director of Legal Momentum.\n\nFix the Court Executive Director Gabe Roth said: \u201cAnti-harassment policy is one of the many areas in which the judiciary falls short when compared to the other two branches and the rules that apply to them. Among the shortcomings, though, this is the most indefensible. I applaud Reps. Johnson, Nadler and Torres and Sens. Hirono and Murkowski for their legislation to give third branch employees both the remedies they need should they experience misconduct and the resources they deserve to help prevent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation from happening in the first place.\u201d\n\nBill text available HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-johnson-re-introduces-bipartisan-bicameral-legislation-hold"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8882859256118536, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}