REINS ACT
Commentary as of September 27, 2015


This morning on Meet The Press Carly Fiorina strongly advocated passage of the REINS Act to put the approval of federal regulations in the hands of Congress. Not only do Republicans tend to hate regulations in general, but their right leaning stances could mean that a liberalizing regulation would be opposed “on principle.” Besides the matter of which regulations would be allowed under the act, it would remove the authority from the Executive, which means Congress can effectively tie the president’s hands. That is horrible, especially with Congress members like we have right now. I didn’t recognize the name of this act, but I knew that if Fiorina wanted it, I most probably didn’t, so I went to Google.

I was unable to find a nicely summarized and explained Wikipedia article, so I found some of the raw and highly political commentary instead. On Google, I found the following articles:

Questioning the Constitutionality of the REINS Act: Bill ...
blogs.law.columbia.edu/.../questioning-the-constitutionality-of-the-reins-...
Questioning the Constitutionality of the REINS Act: Bill Seeks to Restructure Federal Rulemaking Process. Posted on February 14th, 2011 by Greg Wannier.

Why the REINS Act is Unwise If Not Also Unconstitutional ...
www.regblog.org/.../why-the-reins-act-is-unwise-if-not-also-unconstituti...
May 3, 2011 - A proposed act would hinder needed regulations, thereby interfering with the executive branch's constitutional authority to execute the law.

The REINS Act and the Struggle to Control Agency ...
www.nyujlpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Siegel16.1.pdf
by JR Siegel - ‎Cited by 4 - ‎Related articles
Mar 28, 2013 - The tremendous significance of the REINS Act has led to fierce debate about both its constitutionality and its wisdom. This article explains that ...

The REINS Act: Unbridled Impediment to Regulation - SSRN
ssrn.com/abstract=2550870
Social Science Research Network
by RM Levin - ‎2015 - ‎Related articles
Jan 17, 2015 - The article also questions the constitutionality of the bill. Some authors contend that the REINS Act would be valid, because Congress does not ...

REINS Act Archives - The Volokh Conspiracy
volokh.com/tag/reins-act/
The Volokh Conspiracy
Apr 16, 2013 - Professor Siegel agrees with me that the REINS Act is constitutional, but thinks it would be a bad idea. In addition, the NYUJLPP has posted a ...

The Problem With The White House Threat To Veto ... - Forbes
www.forbes.com/.../the-problem-with-the-white-house-threat-to-v...
Forbes
Jul 28, 2015 - Called the REINS Act, or Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny, ... What is unprecedented in our constitutional republic is the ...

UPDATE: Three Reasons the REINS Act Must Be Stopped ...
www.foreffectivegov.org/three-reasons-reins-act-must-be-stopped-again
Jan 23, 2015 - If passed, the REINS Act would require congressional approval of all ... It is high time that Congress reins in the unconstitutional power of the ...

Would the REINS Act Rein In Federal Regulation?
www.cato.org/.../would-reins-act-rein-federal-regulation
Cato Institute
Jan 24, 2011 - REINS Act supporters hail the legislation as a needed check on federal ... tially unconstitutional attack on federal regulations that could.

Committee Reports - 113th Congress (2013-2014) - House ...
thomas.loc.gov › THOMAS Home › Committee Reports
THOMAS
A. ÌHistory of the Congressional Review Act and the Need for Reform .... Claeys testified that the REINS Act represented a constitutional means of providing for ...

The REINS Act - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/REINSact
Americans all across the country support the REINS Act, because as the .... Tim Brown You do realize the REINS Act would be unconstitutional, don't you?





The REINS Act’s results in Congress


http://volokh.com/tag/reins-act/

Assessing the REINS Act
by Jonathan H. Adler on November 10, 2012
Administrative Law, Regulation

Among the regulatory reform proposals passed by the House of Representatives this year was the “REINS Act,” a proposal to require Congressional approval before major regulations could take effect. Supporters and opponents of this bill have presented the REINS Act as a deregulatory tool. The actual effect of the REINS Act is likely to be more modest, for reasons I explain in an article forthcoming in the NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy (available on SSRN here). While I believe the REINS Act would significantly increase legislative accountability for regulatory policy, I doubt it would stop all that many regulatory initiatives, particularly those with significant public support.

Passage of the REINS Act has always been a long shot. Though it passed the House of Representatives, the Senate has shown little interest. This month’s election makes the REINS Act’s chance of becoming law even more remote, as the Democrats have increased their Senate majority and President Obama has said he would veto REINS were it to reach his desk. Debates over regulatory reform will continue nonetheless. So, for those interested, here’s the abstract of the paper SSRN.

Over the past several decades, the scope, reach and cost of federal regulations have increased dramatically, prompting bipartisan calls for regulatory reform. One such proposed reform is the Regulations of the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act). This proposal aims to restore political accountability to federal regulatory policy decisions by requiring both Houses of Congress to approve any proposed “major rule.” In effect, the REINS Act would limit the delegation of regulatory authority to federal agencies, and restore legislative control and accountability to Congress. This article seeks to assess the REINS Act and its likely effects on regulatory policy. It explains why constitutional objections to the proposal are unfounded


by Jonathan H. Adler on December 8, 2011 6:14 pm in Administrative Law, Regulation
Yesterday, the House passed the REINS Act on an almost exclusively party-line vote, 241-184. All the House Republicans voted for the bill, as did four Democrats. Thought the bill passed the House, it’s not about to be enacted into law. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill and President Obama has promised to veto the REINS Act should it somehow reach his desk.

My posts on the REINS Act are indexed here. […]


by Jonathan H. Adler on December 7, 2011 8:52 am in Administrative Law, Regulation
Today the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the REINS Act, a bill to enhance political accountability over regulatory decisions. The bill has two essential features. First, it bars new “major” regulations (those anticipated to cost more than $100 million annually) from taking effect unless approved by both houses of Congress. Second, it creates an expedited review process that forces each house to vote on each major rule. So while requiring Congressional approval, REINS prevents members of Congress from ducking their responsibility to vote yay or nay.

REINS is a controversial bill, in part because it effectively limits the delegation of broad regulatory authority to federal agencies, but to read some critics, REINS would usher in an anti-regulatory armageddon. While I support the legislation, for reasons detailed in these posts (and summarized in this NRO piece), I recognize that there are reasonable arguments to be made on the other side. What’s so interesting watching this debate, however, is how many opponents refuse to make them, relying instead on inaccurate and fanciful characterizations of the bill. It’s telling when opponents of legislation are unable or unwilling to describe it accurately when making their case.

To take one example, US PIRG’s Ed Mierzwinski argues that the REINS Act would lead to unsafe toys on the market and emasculate the CPSC.

One bill, the REINS Act, would not only allow but require congressional meddling in the implementation of all public health and safety rules. A single member of Congress, at the behest of some powerful special interest or campaign contributor, could block the public database, block science-based lead standards for children’s products, block crib safety rules or any number of protections that provide a safer consumer marketplace.

The idea that REINS would allow a single member of Congress […]





https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s15

S. 15 (113th): Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2013

Introduced:
Feb 26, 2013

113th Congress, 2013–2015
Status:
Died in a previous Congress
This bill was introduced on February 26, 2013, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.
Sponsor:
Rand Paul
Rand Paul
Junior Senator from Kentucky
Republican
Text:
Bill Text
Read Text »
Last Updated: Feb 26, 2013
Length: 21 pages
See Instead:
H.R. 367 (same title)
Passed House — Aug 2, 2013

About the bill

Full Title
A bill to amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law.

Summary (CRS)
2/26/2013--Introduced.Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2013 or the REINS Act - States that the purpose of this Act is to increase accountability for and transparency ... Read more >

The bill’s title was written by its sponsor.


History

FEB 7, 2011

Earlier Version — Introduced
This activity took place on a related bill, S. 299 (112th).
FEB 26, 2013

Introduced
This is the first step in the legislative process.
Read Text »
JAN 21, 2015

Reintroduced Bill — Introduced
This activity took place on a related bill, S. 226.
This is a Senate bill in the United States Congress (indicated by the “S.” in “S. 15”). A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.


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https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/regulation/news/2011/12/06/10790/5-terrible-no-good-very-bad-things-about-the-reins-act/

5 Terrible, No-Good, Very Bad Things About the REINS Act
Why Lawmakers Should Reject the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny” Act

This week the House will vote on the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny, or REINS, Act, which would allow either chamber of Congress to refuse approval for rules of regulatory implementation, like those regulating air pollution, for entirely political reasons.

By Kristina Costa | Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The House is expected to vote this week on the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny, or REINS, Act. In a landmark year for misguided, misinformed, and harmful legislation, REINS is a standout. It would require Congress to approve, via a joint resolution, any “economically significant” regulation (otherwise known as a major rule) issued by a federal agency—within 90 days.

REINS would turn a regulatory process currently driven by scientific expertise, industry input, and careful cost-benefit analysis into a political circus. While agencies are not immune from political influence, they must have legal justifications for the rules they promulgate, and those justifications must stand up in a court of law when challenged. But under REINS, either chamber of Congress—or even a single senator—could effectively overturn a law by refusing to approve critical rules of implementation for entirely political reasons.

Here’s what you need to know.


The REINS Act threatens our system of checks and balances

The REINS Act would undermine the system of checks and balances essential to our shared democracy. Under REINS not only would a law need to first pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by the president, but any major rules designed to implement that law would need to be approved by both chambers as well. That means that one chamber could effectively overturn a law by refusing to grant approval to essential rules of implementation. In this way, the REINS Act constitutes a radical and unprecedented move away from democratic governance.

Even more disturbing than the possibility that either the House or the Senate could unilaterally gut an existing law is the possibility that a single senator could do so. The REINS Act does not explicitly and clearly prohibit a filibuster in the Senate. So a conservative senator could single-handedly block a “major rule” that aims to limit harmful air emissions. Or a liberal senator with strong gun-control views could filibuster one of the several “major rules” issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service each year to govern the migratory bird-hunting season.

It seems unthinkable. But it’s possible under REINS.


Congress doesn’t have the expertise to evaluate the implementation of every bill it passes

Writing regulations requires detailed technical, economic, and legal knowledge. Whether a regulation is enacted or not shouldn’t be contingent on the opinions of 535 elected officials who lack expertise in the relevant scientific, technological, and economic matters. Major rules are frequently revised based on input from lengthy public comment periods and often-contentious lawsuits. And, while Congress boasts 24 members with medical degrees, an astronaut, an NFL quarterback, and a tugboat captain, there aren’t very many scientists (three), engineers (six), or economists (zero) currently serving terms in the nation’s legislature.


Congress doesn’t have the time to evaluate the implementation of every bill it passes

There are thousands of bills and resolutions introduced each year in Congress, and the House and Senate take hundreds of recorded votes. According to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, there were about 100 “major” regulations finalized in 2010. The REINS Act ostensibly limits debate to 10 hours for each joint resolution of approval. That would add up to an extra 1000 hours of debate each year. Even if Congress were in session for all 52 weeks of the year—and they are not—an extra 1000 hours would tack nearly 20 hours of floor time onto each week. That’s not just impractical, it’s impossible.


The REINS Act confuses economic costs with economic effects

A “major” or “economically significant” regulation is one that has an estimated annual economic effect of $100 million or more. Economic effects are not limited to the costs of implementing something: they can be the result of net benefits, or the transfer of funds from the government to citizens, or an expected increase in consumer spending. A recent report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service examines all of the 100 “major rules” finalized in 2010. In their analysis, some federal agriculture subsidies were categorized as “major rules.” So were Medicare and Medicaid payments, fees for passports, and the Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund. All of these rules would require a round of Congressional approval under REINS.


Finally, Congress already has the power to oversee and overturn regulations

Judging by the rhetoric of REINS supporters, you’d think Congress has its hands tied when it comes to regulatory oversight. That’s far from true. The Congressional Review Act of 1996 has allowed Congress to review new federal regulations and pass joint resolutions to overrule them. Several such resolutions have passed either chamber of Congress, and, in 2001, both chambers voted to overturn ergonomics standards issued by Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Hard as it may be to recall, regulations do more than set conservatives off wailing “job-killer!” around the echo chamber. Your car has seatbelts because of government regulation. Your peanut butter is safe to eat because of government regulation. More rivers and lakes are clean, more children are asthma-free, and prescription medications must be proven safe and effective before being given to patients because of regulation. This week’s vote and the months-long conservative onslaught against cost-effective consumer protections is nothing more than political theater. And it’s long past time for the curtain to come down on this particular revue.

Kristina Costa is a Special Assistant at the Center for American Progress.
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http://truthhugger.com/2011/12/07/the-reins-act-h-r-10/

The REINS Act – H.R. 10 Threatens Checks and Balances
by bosskitty
DECEMBER 7, 2011

House of Representatives Passed the bill that Undermines Crucial Safeguards for American Families!


The REINS Act (H.R. 10) was voted on Wednesday, December 7. This bill will cause massive delays in the rulemaking process, makes it far more difficult for agencies to protect us.

The REINS Act now moves to the Senate, where it is sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). More information on the bill is available at http://www.ombwatch.org/reinsact – Please call your Senator and urge him or her to strengthen, not weaken, our system of public protections.

House Passes Bill To Grant Congress Veto Power Over White House Rules
WASHINGTON — A bill that would give the controlling party of either chamber of Congress veto power over any major new regulation passed the House of Representatives Wednesday.

About the REINS Act:

The REINS Act would force each new major regulation to go through a congressional approval process, subjecting it to political infighting, special interest influence, and legislative gridlock. If either house of Congress fails to approve the major rule in a narrow 70-day window, the rule will be killed.
The bill would delay and possibly undo critical safeguards that protect our civil rights, environment, food, children’s toys, workplaces, health care, and economy.
The bill empowers corporate lobbyists and their allies in Congress to ignore science and focus on politicking when it comes to the development of our public protections.

The REINS Act requires any regulatory rule with an impact of $100 million or more on the economy to be subject to approval of the House and Senate within 70 legislative days before taking effect. If Congress were to fail to act on the proposal, with a few exceptions, the rule could not be brought up again until the next Congress.

After Congress passes a law, federal agencies are charged with implementing the law often with a series of more detailed regulations. The Administrative Procedures Act allows interested parties and the public to participate in a detailed fashion in the the rulemaking process. The REINS Act is widely viewed as a way to kill or delay public health, safety or environmental regulations. It would “allow a single member of Congress, at the behest of some powerful special interest or campaign contributor, [to] block science-based lead standards for children’s products, block crib safety rules or any number of protections that provide a safer consumer marketplace,” according to consumer advocate Ed Mierswinski of U.S. PIRG (the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups).

According to Representative Connolly, the REINS Act represents the “171st attack” on public health and the environment in this Congress. The REINS Act was already voted down in the Senate earlier this month as part of the so-called “Republican Jobs Bill.”

Would shifting regulatory power to Congress usher in a lobbying bonanza?

Republicans are trying to shift regulatory power from the executive branch to Congress in a bill that’s expected to pass the House today. The REINS Act would send any “major rule” that’s estimated to cost the economy more than $100 million to Congress — or have adverse effects on consumers, the business climate and individual industries — for an up-or-down vote. If Congress doesn’t approve the regulation in 70 days, it won’t take effect. The bill is dead-on-arrival in the Senate, but it underscores some of the GOP’s biggest anti-regulatory talking points.

That said, the REINS Act essentially leaves it to the executive branch to decide which regulations to send to Congress. Under the bill, officials from the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and Office of Management and Budget are supposed to determine which regulations are subject to a congressional vote, based on their cost to the economy and adverse impact on consumers and the industry. And there isn’t broad-based consensus about how to measure this impact.

Koch Brothers’ “Christmas Present” Up for House Vote

This is another example of the GOP trying to rearrange the power structure in the United States of America. They are determined to impose a twisted interpretation of the United States Constitution. When we don’t pay attention, and when the mainstream media is bought off from alerting the public, we end up railroaded. RAILROADED! Submitted by Rebekah Wilce on December 1, 2011 – 8:52am



The U.S. House of Representatives votes soon on a series of deregulatory bills that, according to the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards (CSS), “threaten vital health, environmental, safety and financial regulations.”

“We Want Big Biz Ruining Our Lives” (Source: Joe Mohr)Voting is expected on the Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 3010) and the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (H.R. 527) on December 1, and on The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act (H.R. 10) next week.


Thanks to the arrogant manipulation of the Kock Brother’s, John Birch Society, elitist, bigoted mindset, the GOP, is extorted to rearrange the power structure in the United States of America. The GOP is determined to impose a twisted interpretation of the United States Constitution. This is the agenda of Brothers Koch. Why are they still privately owned? Because they cannot survive ethical scrutiny! When we don’t pay attention, and when the mainstream media is bought off from alerting the public, we end up railroaded. RAILROADED!

We have seen the power of big business morph this country into their greedy playground. Corporate America has bought every idea we are exposed to. They want to control our behavior. They want to control our pocket books. They want to control the ethnicity and religion of this country to serve their greedy ambitions. The corporate media complies with the corporate mission to disseminate half truths and shape the emotions of each and every one of us. Corporate media is tasked to control the wants and needs of the general public, because it wants the money it has paid for our services BACK. Everything they pay us, they want back … with interest.


Thank you to: CleverFool.com

Koch Brothers Wealth: Buy When There’s Blood In The Streets

According to Forbes, The Koch Brothers’ wealth has reportedly grown an outrageous $15 billion over the last year and half. Here’s Truth-Out.org with some more on that:

Their combined wealth of $50 billion is exceeded only by the Microsoft founder’s $59 billion fortune. Buoyed by aggressive speculative trading on volatile energy markets, the Koch brothers accumulated $15 billion in wealth since March 2010, a 43 percent increase.

Economy? What economy? Fuck the economy!

The Koch Brothers (Charles and David) are seemingly immune to any sort of economic downfall, primarily in fact, because it seems they feast on human suffering more than Paris Hilton feasts on penis… and boy, is there a lot of that suffering going on in the streets right now…

My letter to Lloyd Doggett: (too late, it passed, hopefully the Senate has more sense) Thankfully Doggett voted NO!

HR 10 tears apart the original checks and balances placed in the US Constitution. HR 10 impedes Government Agencies from enacting pertinent rules and regulations that effect all of us. Because Congress relies on their overworked staff and greedy lobbyists to make their decisions, Americans are being hi-jacked once again by big business interests. Who else can afford to tell a congressman whether or not a regulation will effect their profit margin? Lobbyists are industry specific and do not represent my best interests. Lobbyists represent the best interests of corporations, who only weigh the consequences of regulations on their pocket book.

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 901(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)
H R 10 RECORDED VOTE 7-Dec-2011 5:30 PM
QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law
AYES NOES PRES NV
REPUBLICAN 237 4
DEMOCRATIC 4 184 4
INDEPENDENT
TOTALS 241 184 8




PLEASE PARDON THE OCCASIONAL ROUGH LANGUAGE IN THE ABOVE READER COMMENTS. ABOUT THE REINS ACT, LIKE I SAID, IF FIORINA LIKES IT, I DON’T! She also repeatedly and instantly sidestepped questions on Meet The Press today about where she actually got the reference to an aborted fetus “moving on a tabletop” while someone off camera discussed how to save its brain for sale. I don’t believe fetuses of that age can kick their legs yet.

See "http://wcfcourier.com/ap/commentary/fiorina-s-planned-parenthood-dare-based-on-fake-video/article_a37ff0f3-59e7-57f4-bad1-e3e56b599b0c.html, “Fiorina’s Planned Parenthood dare based on fake video,” Martin Schram, September 27, 2015" for a hard-hitting and eye opening article. Schram is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service.

Stacy Keach Jr Biography and Career 2015

I was watching an old Matlock episode today when my eye caught a familiar face. After some concentration my memory banks came up with Stacy Keach, though it didn’t look quite like him. I went to my trusty Google and looked the name up along with the words “Matlock episode” and the name of his father popped up instead. The physical resemblance between them is very close. Stacy Keach Sr. had a long and active TV career, but he wasn’t as well-known as his son, and I didn't really remember him as an actor. Check him out also on Wikipedia if you’re interested.

Stacy Keach, Jr. played in one of my favorite films of all time, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, with Alan Arkin, Cicily Tyson and Sondra Locke in a beautifully acted and touchingly well-written story by Carson McCullers, which I also read. It’s a great character study and a comment on the modern social issue of how people view and sometimes abuse the disabled. Arkin won considerable acclaim in that film, playing a deaf mute in the proverbial “small Southern town.” Folks haven’t always been respectful or kind to those whom they consider “different” or inferior. We do much better as a society about that nowadays, thanks to the Liberals. I remember Keach best, however, from the TV series Mike Hammer and the movie The New Centurions. See the Wikipedia article below.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacy_Keach
Stacy Keach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walter Stacy Keach, Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He is mostly known for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work for The Opie & Anthony Show on Sirius XM satellite radio, and in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy (particularly his role in the Fox sitcom Titus as Ken, the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, womanizing father of comedian Christopher Titus and for Sergeant Stedenko in Up in Smoke) and musical roles. He is also known for portraying fictional detective Mike Hammer in a 1984 TV series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, for one season (due to a cocaine arrest in England) and then a recurring series of television films starting in 1986.

Early life[edit]
Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Mary Cain (née Peckham), an actress, and Walter Stacy Keach, a theatre director, drama teacher and actor.[1] His brother James Keach is an actor and television director. Keach graduated from Van Nuys High School in June 1959, where he was class president,[2] then earned two BA degrees at the University of California, Berkeley (1963), one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. While studying in London Keach met his acting hero Sir Laurence Olivier. [3]

Theatre[edit]
Keach played the title role in MacBird!, an Off-Broadway anti-war satire by Barbara Garson staged at the Village Gate in 1966. In 1967, he was cast, again Off Broadway, in George Tabori's The Niggerlovers with Morgan Freeman in his acting debut. To this day, Freeman credits Keach with teaching him the most about acting.[4] Keach first appeared on Broadway in 1969 as Buffalo Bill in Indians by Arthur Kopit. Early in his career, he was credited as Stacy Keach, Jr. to distinguish himself from his father. He played the lead actor in The Nude Paper Sermon an avant-garde musical theatre piece for media presentation, commissioned by Nonesuch Records by composer Eric Salzman.

He has won numerous awards, including Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards and Vernon Rice Awards. In the early 1980s, he starred in the title role of the national touring company of the musical Barnum composed by Cy Coleman.[citation needed]In 1998, he was one of the three principles in a London production of Rent with George Wendt. In 2006, he performed the lead role in Shakespeare's King Lear at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. In 2008, he played Merlin in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, done with the New York Philharmonic. In the summer of 2009, Shakespeare Theatre Company remounted the production of King Lear at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C., which won him the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor.[5][6]

He has played the title role in two separate productions of Hamlet.[7]

In 2008 and 2009, Keach played Richard M. Nixon in the U.S. traveling version of the play Frost/Nixon.[5]

On December 16, 2010, Keach began performances as patriarch Lyman Wyeth in the off-Broadway premiere of Jon Robin Baitz' acclaimed new play Other Desert Cities. The production transferred to Broadway's Booth Theatre, where it opened November 3, 2011.

Keach is a founding member of L.A. Theatre Works and had held leads in many productions with them, including 'Willy Loman' in Death of a Salesman and 'John Proctor' in The Crucible.[8]

He was scheduled to return to Broadway in December 2014 in the revival of Love Letters at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre alongside with Diana Rigg, but the play closed before Keach and Rigg were to begin their runs.[9]

Films[edit]
Keach played a rookie policeman in The New Centurions (1972), opposite George C. Scott. That year he also starred in Fat City, a boxing film directed by John Huston. He was the first choice for the role of Damien Karras in the 1973 movie The Exorcist, but he did not accept the role. He went on to play Kane in the 1980 movie The Ninth Configuration, written and directed by Blatty; this role was itself intended for Nicol Williamson.

Stacy Keach's storytelling talent as narrator was given worldwide exposure in the 1973 Formula One racing documentary Champions Forever, The Quick and the Dead by Claude du Boc.

Keach played Cheech and Chong's Police Department nemesis Sgt. Stedenko in Up In Smoke and Nice Dreams. He also appeared as Barabbas in Jesus of Nazareth. In 1978 he played a role of explorer and scientist in The Mountain of the Cannibal God, co-starring former Bond girl Ursula Andress.[5] The film became a cult favorite as a "Video nasty".

One of his most convincing screen performances was as Frank James (elder brother of Jesse) in The Long Riders (1980). His brother James played Jesse James. In 1982 Keach starred in Butterfly with Pia Zadora.

He portrayed a white supremacist in American History X, alongside Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. In Oliver Stone's 2008 biopic W., Keach portrays a Texas preacher whose spiritual guidance begins with George W. Bush's AA experience, but extends long thereafter.

Keach also starred in the TV film Ring of Death playing a sadistic prison warden who runs an underground fight club where prisoners compete for their lives.

He had also starred in the movie Planes as Skipper Riley, main character Dusty Crophopper's flight instructor. He reprised the role in Planes: Fire & Rescue.

In 2012 Keach had a significant supporting role in The Bourne Legacy, and in the 2013 Alexander Payne film Nebraska .

Television[edit]

One of Keach's early television roles was in 1958 on the syndicated romantic comedy, How to Marry a Millionaire, with Barbara Eden and Merry Anders. His first-ever experience as a series regular on a television program was playing the lead role of Lieutenant Ben Logan in Caribe in 1975.[10] He played Barabbas in the 1977 Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries), and portrayed Jonas Steele, a psychic and Scout of the United States Army in the 1982 CBS miniseries, The Blue and the Gray. He later portrayed and is best known as Mike Hammer in the CBS television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and The New Mike Hammer from 1984 to 1987. He returned to the role of Hammer in Mike Hammer, Private Eye, a new syndicated series that aired from 1997 to 1998. In 1988, he starred as Ernest Hemingway in the made-for-TV movie Hemingway.[11]

In 2000, he played Ken Titus, the father of the title character in Fox's sitcom Titus. Cast members of Titus have commented they enjoyed working with Keach because he would find a way to make even the driest line funny.[12]

Keach lent his voice to the The Simpsons episode "Hungry, Hungry Homer", portraying Duff Brewery President Howard K. Duff VIII, and the Batman Beyond episode "Lost Soul" as an artificial intelligence. He also guest starred in a 2005 episode of the sitcom Will & Grace, and had a recurring role as Warden Henry Pope in the Fox drama Prison Break.

In November 2013, Keach appeared on the Fox comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in the episode "Old School".[13]

In February 2015, Keach played an inmate in NCIS: New Orleans

Narrator[edit]
Stacy Keach narrated several episodes of Nova, National Geographic, and various other informational series. From 1989-1992, he was host of the syndicated informational reenactment show, Missing Reward, which had a similar format to the popular Unsolved Mysteries at the time. From 1992 - 1995, he became the voice-over narrator for the paranormal series Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories. Beginning in 1999, he served as the narrator for the home video clip show World's Most Amazing Videos, which is now seen on Spike TV. He currently hosts The Twilight Zone radio series. Keach can also be heard narrating the CNBC series American Greed. For the PBS series American Experience, he narrated The Kennedys, among others.

Keach plays the role of John in The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible, a 22-hour audio version of the RSV-CE translation of the New Testament.[14]

On January 6, 2014, Keach became the official voice of The Opie and Anthony Channel on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Sirius Channel 206, XM Channel 103).

Personal life[edit]

Keach's star at the Orpheum Theatre, 2010
Keach was born with a cleft lip and a partial cleft of the hard palate, and he underwent numerous operations as a child. Throughout his adult life he has often worn a mustache to hide the scars. He is now the honorary chairman of the Cleft Palate Foundation, and advocates for insurance coverage for such surgeries.[15] In the 1971 film Doc, Keach impersonated the title character, John "Doc" Holliday, who historians specializing in the American West believe might likewise have been born with a cleft palate.

In 1984, London police arrested Keach at Heathrow Airport for possession of cocaine. Keach pleaded guilty, and served six months at Reading Prison.[16] This was during the run of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, which Keach also narrated in character, and impressionist Rich Little had to fill in as the show's narrator during Keach's imprisonment.

Keach has been married four times: to Kathryn Baker in 1964, to Marilyn Aiken in 1975, to Jill Donahue in 1981, and to Malgosia Tomassi around 1986. He has two children from his fourth marriage. He was living near Piaseczno, in Poland, as of October of 2014.

Keach stated that his time in prison (which he said was the lowest point of his life) and the friendship he formed with a priest who befriended him during that time, led to his conversion to Roman Catholicism. Subsequently, he and his wife were able to meet with Pope John Paul II to have their son blessed since his wife, Malgosia Tomassi, had gone to the same school that the Pope had attended in Warsaw. [17]

He had a mild stroke in March 2009, from which he has made a full recovery.[7][18][19]

Films


Title Year Role Notes
Joy Ride 1958 Wechsler
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 1968 Blount
Brewster McCloud 1970 Abraham Wright
End of the Road 1970 Jacob Horner
The Traveling Executioner 1970 Jonas Candide
Doc 1971 Doc Holliday
The New Centurions 1972 Roy Fehler
Fat City 1972 Billy Tully KCFCC Award for Best Actor (tied with Marlon Brando for The Godfather)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean 1972 Original Bad Bob the Albino
Wilbur and Orville: The First to Fly 1973 Wilbur Wright
Luther 1973 Martin Luther
The Dion Brothers 1974 Calvin
Watched! 1974 Mike Mandell/Sonny
Conduct Unbecoming 1975 Captain Harper
Street People 1976 Charlie Hanson
The Killer Inside Me 1976 Lou Ford
The Squeeze 1977 Jim Naboth
The Greatest Battle 1978 Major Mannfred Roland
Gray Lady Down 1978 Capt. Bennett
Up in Smoke 1978 Sergeant Stedanko
Two Solitudes 1978 Huntley McQueen
Mountain of the Cannibal God 1979 Professor Edward Foster
The Ninth Configuration 1980 Col. Vincent Kane
The Long Riders 1980 Frank James
Road Games 1981 Patrick Quid
Nice Dreams 1981 Sergeant Stedanko
Butterfly 1982 Jess Tyler
That Championship Season 1982 James Daley
False Identity 1990 Ben Driscoll/Harlan Errickson
Class of 1999 1990 Dr. Bob Forest
Milena 1991 Jesenski
Sunset Grill 1993 Harrison Shelgrove
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 1993 Carl Beaumont / Voice of Phantasm Voice only
New Crime City 1994 Wynorski
Raw Justice 1994 Deputy Mayor Bob Jenkins
Escape From L.A. 1996 Commander Malloy
Prey of the Jaguar 1996 The Commander
The Sea Wolf 1997 Captain Wolf
American History X 1998 Cameron Alexander
Future Fear 1998 General Wallace
Fear Runs Silent 1999 Mr. Hill
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return 1999 Dr. Michaels
Unshackled 2000 Warden Kelso
Icebreaker 2000 Bill Foster
Militia 2000 George Armstrong Montgomery
Mercy Streets 2000 Tom
Sunstorm 2001 General John Parker
Birds of Passage 2001 Captain Savienko
When Eagles Strike 2003 General Thurmond
The Hollow 2004 Claus Van Ripper
Caught in the Headlights 2004 Mr. Jones
Galaxy Hunter 2004 3V3
El Padrino: The Latin Godfather 2004 Governor Lancaster
Man with the Screaming Brain 2005 Dr. Ivanov
Keep Your Distance 2005 Brooks Voight
Come Early Morning 2006 Owen Allen
Jesus, Mary and Joey 2006 Jack O'Callahan
Haunted Prison 2006 TV film
Honeydripper 2007 Sheriff
W. 2008 Earle Hudd
Chicago Overcoat 2009 Ray Berkowski
The Boxer 2009 Joe
Weather Wars 2011 Marcus Grange
Cellmates 2011 Warden Merville
Jerusalem Countdown 2011 Jackson Based on the Novel, Jerusalem Countdown
The Bourne Legacy 2012 Turso
The Great Chameleon 2012 Max
Ooga Booga 2013
Planes 2013 Skipper Voice only
Nebraska 2013 Ed Pegram
Planes: Fire & Rescue 2014 Skipper Voice only
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For 2014 Wallenquist
If I Stay 2014 Grandpa
Cell 2016 Charles Ardai
Gold 2016 Filming
Television[edit]
Title Year Role Notes
All the Kind Strangers 1974 Jimmy Wheeler Television film
Caribe 1975 Lieutenant Ben Logan Television series
Dynasty 1976 Matt Blackwood Mini series
Jesus of Nazareth 1977 Barabbas Mini series
A Rumor of War 1980 Maj. Ball Mini series
The Blue and the Gray 1982 Jonas Steele Mini series
Princess Daisy 1983 Prince Alexander "Stash" Valensky Mini series
Murder Me, Murder You 1983 Mike Hammer Television film
Mistral's Daughter 1984 Julien Mistral Mini series
More Than Murder 1984 Mike Hammer Television film
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer 1984–1985 Mike Hammer Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer 1986 Mike Hammer Television film
Intimate Strangers 1986 Dr. Jeff Bierston Television film
The New Mike Hammer 1986–1987 Mike Hammer Television series
Hemingway 1988 Ernest Hemingway Mini series
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film (tied with Michael Caine for Jack the Ripper)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie
The Forgotten 1989 Adam Roth Television film
Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All 1989 Mike Hammer Television film
Missing: Reward 1989-1992 Host Television series
The Mysteries of the Dark Jungle 1991 Colonel Edward Corishant Mini series
Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis 1991 CAPT Charles Butler McVay Television film
Lincoln 1992 George McClellan (voice only) Television film
Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories 1992 Narrator (voice only) Television series
Revenge on the Highway 1992 Claude Sams Television film
Rio Diablo 1993 Kansas Television film
Body Bags 1993 Richard Coberts Television film
In The Heat Of The Night 1993 Wade Hatton Television film
Against Their Will: Women in Prison 1994 Jack Devlin Television film
Texas 1994 Sam Houston ABC Television film
Young Ivanhoe 1995 Pembrooke Television film
Amanda & the Alien 1995 Emmitt Mallory Television film
The Pathfinder 1996 Compte du Leon Television film
Legend of the Lost Tomb 1997 Dr. William Bent Television film
Murder in My Mind 1997 Cargill Television film
Mike Hammer, Private Eye 1997–1998 Mike Hammer Television series
The Courage to Love 2000 Jean Baptiste Television film
Titus 2000–2002 Ken Titus Television series
Lightning: Fire from the Sky 2001 Bart Pointdexter Television film
The Simpsons 2001, 2003, 2006 Howard Duff (voice only) Television series
The Santa Trap 2002 Max Hurst Television film
Miracle Dogs 2003 C.W. Aldrich Television film
Frozen Impact 2003 Pete Crane Television film
Prison Break 2005–2007 Henry Pope Television series
George Lopez 2005 Blaine McNamara Television series
Desolation Canyon 2006 Samuel Kendrick Television film
Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America 2006 Secretary Collin Reed Television film
Blackbeard 2006 Captain Benjamin Hornigold Television film
Death Row (a.k.a. Haunted Prison) 2006 John Elias Television film
ER 2007 Mike Gates Television series
American Greed 2007-present Narrator (voice only) Television series transmitted on the Consumer News-and-Business Channel
Lone Rider 2008 Robert Hattaway Television film
Ring of Death 2008 Warden Golan Television film
Meteor 2009 Sheriff Crowe Television film
The Nanny Express 2009 Rev. McGuiness Television film
Two and a Half Men 2009 Chelsea's father Television Series
Lights Out 2011 Pops Leary Television Series
Bored to Death 2011 Bergeron Television Series
Hindenburg (de) 2011 Edward van Zandt Television film
30 Rock 2012 Himself Television Series
Anything For Money 2012 Narrator Song written and composed to promote CNBC's series American Greed[20] (see above)
The Neighbors 2012–2013 Dominick Weaver Television Series
Sean Saves the World 2013 Lee Thompson Television series
1600 Penn 2013 Senator Frohm Thoroughgood Television series
Anger Management 2013 Ray Television series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine 2013 Jimmy Brogan Television Series
The Simpsons 2015 Don Bookner Television series
Hot in Cleveland 2015 Alex 2 episodes
In 2015, Keach was also slated to appear on NCIS: New Orleans, but neither his role nor the number of installments in which he was to appear were specified.