Judiciary
[WASHINGTON, DC] – With President Obama capping off a week of bringing fairness to our criminal justice system by becoming the first-ever sitting President to visit a federal prison, House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Ranking Member Steve Cohen (TN-09) urged Congressional leadership to act swiftly to support the President’s call to action and pass a comprehensive
[Washington, DC] – Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) released the following joint statement in response to the decision to open an investigation into allegations that Planned Parenthood altered procedures to “sell” fetal tissues for profit:
[MEMPHIS, TN] - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today commended President Obama’s commutation of the sentences of 46 individuals serving lengthy federal prison sentences for non-violent crimes. Under current federal law, many of these prisoners would have already completed their sentences and been freed. Their continued incarceration costs taxpayers an estimated $30,000 per year, per prisoner.
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today applauded New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive order to ensure independent prosecution of police-related civilian deaths, and called on Congress to enact Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2015.
[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) issued the following statement about several recent fires at historically black churches in states across the South, including Tennessee:
“I am very concerned with the recent string of fires at black churches across the South. We must fully and quickly investigate them and bring any responsible parties to justice. Places of worship should be sacred, and those who seek to destroy them cannot be tolerated by our society.”
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, welcomed today’s Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission Supreme Court ruling that citizens have the right to determine how federal elections are conducted in their individual states.
Dear Friend,
I am writing you from Charleston, South Carolina, where I joined President Obama and Members of Congress today in paying my respects to the victims of the Charleston Church shooting. This week, we saw a number of changes in our country, the Supreme Court ruled that Memphians can keep the healthcare subsidies they receive through the Affordable Care Act and also ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in all 50 states, and Governor Haslam called for the Confederate flag to be removed from Tennessee license plates.
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, issued the following statement reacting to the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v Hodges ruling that affirmed the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry and have their marriages recognized by states. This ruling also decides the Tanko v. Haslam case in which a Memphis couple, Thom Kostura and Ijpe DeKoe (an Army Reserve sergeant), married in New York and then relocated—on military orders—to Memphis.