Judiciary

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, today announced that the Department of Justice has awarded the City of Memphis a $2,523,880 grant to address emergency needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic. The money can be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus with funding for law enforcement overtime pay; equipment; hiring; supplies such as gloves, masks, sanitizer; training; travel expenses; and addressing the medical needs of inmates in jails and detention centers.

WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Jerry Nadler, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, today wrote to Attorney General William Barr seeking clarification of, and documents supporting, the President's claim that he has "the right to do a lot of things that people don't even know about" in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The letter reads in part:

WASHINGTON -- Following President Trump's false assertion that he has "total" authority to "reopen the economy" and to order States to relax social distancing measures, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Chairman Steve Cohen (D-TN) sent a letter to the Democratic Caucus outlining the president's actual legal and constitutional authority in this area.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today presided over a hearing on "Presidential Clemency and Opportunities for Reform."

Washington, D.C. –Today, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, questioned expert witnesses at a Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security hearing on the challenges and opportunities for former prisoners' reentry into society.

Following the hearing Congressman Cohen provided the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today voted for, and the House passed, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act. The bill is named for the 14-year-old lynching victim killed in Money, Mississippi, in 1955, and makes lynching a federal crime for the first time.

The vote was 410 to 4.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, was alarmed by the President's use of the pardon power to favor celebrities, the rich, and the well-connected. Among the 11 people granted a pardon or commutation were former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, financier Michael Milken, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, and former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo, all whose convictions involve public corruption.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today spoke on the House floor in favor of a resolution to remove a deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and then voted for the measure. The vote on passage was 232 to 183.

In his floor speech, Congressman Cohen said: