{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://norton.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/norton-says-she-will-testify-if-dc-resident-is-retried-for-arrest-at", "Norton Says She Will Testify if D.C. Resident is Retried for Arrest at Congressional Hearing", "2015-12-02", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "DC", "Eleanor Norton", "N000147", "norton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said Norton will testify if there is a retrial for the arrest of District of Columbia resident Adam Eidinger, who was arrested for unlawful entry at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee markup of a bill to overturn a D.C. anti-discrimination law. Eidingers first trial resulted in a hung jury. Norton, who was at the markup, said she witnessed Eidinger peacefully sitting in his seat while several other individuals stood up to protest the committees action to overturn a D.C. law. However, after those individuals left the room, a committee staff member asked Eidinger to leave. Eidinger was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police after he refused to leave. Norton, a constitutional lawyer, said that the U.S. House of Representatives is the Peoples House and is required to conduct its business in public. She said she believes that there must be a justifiable reason to ask members of the public to leave a committee meeting.\nAs part of our democratic system, members of the public are encouraged to witness the the legislative process, particularly when that business directly impacts them, Norton said. Candidly, I do not believe the government will be able to find a jury of 12 D.C. residents willing to convict a fellow resident for peacefully sitting in a committee meeting about overturning a local D.C. law. Congressional business of course must not be interrupted, but the notion that congressional staff, even if authorized by a Member of Congress, can determine who can stay or go during a committee meeting is a very dangerous precedent, and may be unconstitutional as applied in this case.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://norton.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/norton-says-she-will-testify-if-dc-resident-is-retried-for-arrest-at"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8362662047147751, "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"}