Judiciary

Congressman Cohen has the great honor of serving on the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over a wide range of issues, including crime, civil rights and civil liberties, immigration, bankruptcy, antitrust, intellectual property, and all constitutional amendments.

He previously served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which handles constitutional amendments, Federal civil rights, voting rights, ethics in government, civil liability, and other issues.

Below are some of the legislation that the Congressman worked on relating to issues before the Judiciary Committee:

Protecting Civil and Voting Rights

Congressman Cohen is constantly pushing for the United States to live up to its highest ideals of equality, pluralism, and the rule of law.   That is why he is a lead sponsor of the Do No Harm Act.  This bill realigns civil rights law so that religion cannot be used to circumvent anti-discrimination law.  Congressman Cohen is also working to strengthen our civil rights laws, as a cosponsor of the Equality Act, which bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, across all areas, including housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health care.  

The Congressman is keenly aware our representative democratic system depends on every citizen being able to cast a meaningful ballot and that vote being counted.  He is a leader on voting rights and has led the charge for the John Lewis Voting Rights Amendment Act, which would restore the Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court struck down portions of it in Shelby County v. Holder by establishing a new, nationwide coverage formula for preclearance. As Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee, he held 13 hearings, including one in Memphis, documenting racial discrimination in voting and the need for robust enforcement.  

He also introduced the Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act, which requires states to allow early voting for federal elections for at least two weeks prior to Election Day. It also ensures that polling locations are within walking distance of a stop on a public transportation route, sufficient voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources are provided, wait times are fair and equitable for all voters across a state, and no one is required to wait longer than one hour to cast a ballot at a polling place.  

The Congressman is also a cosponsor of the Automatic Voter Registration Act  to require states to automatic voter registration, as well the America Votes Act which allows voters to provide a sworn, written statement attesting to their identification to meet voter identification requirements, and the Weekend Voting Act, which wouldmove election day to a weekend to help ensure that every voice and vote is counted equally,  

Congressman Cohn is a cosponsor of a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission decision.  Rich corporate and special interests should not be allowed to drown out the voices of everyday Americans with their money.  He similarly is a cosponsor of the Disclosure of Information on Spending Campaigns Leads to Open and Secure Elections (DISCLOSE) Act which requires  disclosure of campaign-related spending by corporations, Super PACs and other outside groups.  Finally, the Congressman cosponsored the Campaign Sunlight Act, which requires sponsors of political advertisements to make the contents and sources of information used in their ads available for public inspection online.  

Fighting Crime and Seeking Justice

Policing

As a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and it’s Crime Subcommittee, Congressman Cohen is working to ensure our criminal justice system is fair and designed to promote public safety. He has introduced several bills to improve police practices, including the Police Training and Independent Review Act, which creates an incentive for states to require independent investigation and prosecution of incidents in which police use of deadly force results in a death or injury. It also requires sensitivity training on ethnic and racial bias, cultural diversity, and interactions with the disabled, mentally ill, and new immigrants. The bill is supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

Congressman Cohen has also introduced the National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act to require states — as a condition of receipt of full Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funding — to collect data in all instances in which deadly force was used and report it to the Department of Justice, as well as the Police Creating Accountability in Making Effective Recording Available (CAMERA) Act to establish a grant program to assist state and local law enforcement with the purchase of body cameras to be worn by police officers.  

All three of these bills were included in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was approved by the full House in 2021. 

Congressman Cohen introduced the End Racial and Religious Profiling Act to prohibit law enforcement from profiling Americans based on race and other protected characteristics, grant victims of profiling the right to file suit, authorize grants to collect data relating to racial profiling, and require state and local law enforcement to certify that they have eliminated any practices that permit or encourage racial profiling.  This is especially important as we confront the blatant profiling during the Trump Administration’s law enforcement surges, like the one happening right now in Memphis.

Reentry

Congressman Cohen is also working to help ex-offenders to reenter and become productive members of society. He introduced the Fresh Start Act to give nonviolent ex-offenders a chance to start over again. It allows ex-offenders to apply for expungement to the court where they were sentenced and allows the United States Attorney for that District to submit recommendations to the court. States that pass a substantially similar law would receive a 5 percent increase in their Byrne funding while those that do not would lose 5 percent of their Byrne funds. Congressman Cohen has also cosponsored the Second Chance Reauthorization Act. This bill reauthorizes funding for programs to help inmates become productive and law abiding citizens after they are released. Programs include education, housing, job training, drug treatment and medical care. 

The Congressman has also cosponsored the Fair Chance Act. This "ban the box" bill prohibits federal agencies and contractors from requesting that applicants for employment disclose certain criminal activity in their history records before receiving a conditional offer. 

Reducing Gun Violence

Congressman Cohen helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the first major federal gun safety bill passed in nearly 30 years.  That bill makes various changes to federal firearms laws, including to expand background check requirements for persons who are under 21 years of age, to establish new criminal offenses for straw purchasing of firearms and trafficking in firearms, and to extend federal firearms-related restrictions to individuals convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors against dating partner. However, much more needs to be done.  The Congressman is a cosponsor the Assault Weapons Ban Act which prohibits the sale, transfer, production, and importation of: semi-automatic rifles and pistols with a military-style features that are designed to kill large numbers of people. Similarly, he cosponsor the Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act , which prohibits the sale of bump stocks, which modify semi-automatic rifles so that they replicate the rate of fire of a fully automatic weapon.  

The Congressman is also a cosponsor of the Raise the Age Act to prohibit the licensing, selling or delivering certain semiautomatic weapons to persons under 21 years of age. The bill allows for exceptions for individuals who are members of the Armed Forces on active duty, or a full-time government employee whose official duties requires the carrying of a firearm. 

Congressman Cohen is also a cosponsor of the Gun Show Loophole Closing Act to require operators of gun shows to undergo a background check to ensure that they are at least 21 years old, not prohibited from transporting or shipping guns, have registered as a gun show operator, have not lied as a part of the registration process or concealed information from the registry, and have verified the identity of every vendor who will be participating an upcoming gun show. He is a cosponsor of the Background Check Completion Act to close the loophole that allowed the shooter in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina to obtain a gun. The Brady Act mandates criminal background checks for all gun sales at licensed firearm dealers through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). While the vast majority of checks are processed within minutes, if NICS has not completed its background check after three days, the dealer is currently allowed to proceed with the sale. The bill stops the sales of firearms until the background check is completed. 

Immigration

Congressman Cohen believes that immigration is one of the major issues facing our nation today, and serious and thoughtful work is needed to modernize our nation’s immigration and refugee policies.

Any solution Congress adopts should both live up to our national values as a welcoming and pluralistic country and strategically pursue our national interests. Specifically, it should create an earned path toward citizenship that allows immigrants to live freely without fear of reprisal, bolster American businesses while protecting hard-working Americans born in the U.S., reunite families, extend educational opportunities, and protect the legal rights of all persons — all while strengthening our borders and preserving our national security.  While he prefers a comprehensive approach, the Congressman has cosponsored bills like the American Dream and Promise Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for the people who were brought here as children and grew up as Americans despite not having immigration papers.

Unfortunately, we are moving in a different direction.  The Congressman opposed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which provided $170 billion for immigration enforcement, including the construction of detention centers and hiring thousands of new immigration officers.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) policy of aggressive arrest without due process is very concerning. ICE agents, masked and unidentified, have been arresting suspected immigrants, and sending them to unsafe facilities before confirming anything about their citizenship status. To that end, he is a cosponsor of the No Secret Police Act and the No Anonymity in Immigration Enforcement Act, which both seek to require ICE agents to identify themselves.

The Congressman also opposes the President’s Executive Order to end birthright citizenship. He believes this directly contradicts the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Democrats on the Judiciary and Oversight Committees are working to detail the ongoing and anticipated litigation efforts to combat several of the unlawful executive actions, including ending birthright citizenship. Congressman Cohen has filed many amicus (friend of the court) briefs in these challenges. He is also very concerned by the efforts of the President to deport foreign nationals without providing the due process required by the Constitution.  

Congressman Cohen believes we must find a way to minimize, not exacerbate, the refugee crisis. The federal government has dramatically cut back on the number of refugees being settled in the United States and the support provided to them.  We have both strategic interests and a humanitarian obligation to welcome refugees.  

Federal Funding

Congressman Cohen knows that local resources will never be enough to prevent and confront crime entirely and provide essential services to victims.  He has taken a two-track approach, fighting for federal programs that better meet the needs of Memphis while giving federal grants to specific public safety efforts through the community projects program.  I have cosponsored bills like the Violence Against Women Act, which funds important services ranging from domestic violence shelters to programs on college campuses proven to reduce sexual violence.  He was proud to help enact the STOP School Violence Grant Program, which provides essential resources to keep our schools safe.  He also  led the efforts to expand DNA testing, and just last Congress, led the effort to reauthorize the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant program.  

Through the Community Projects program, the Congressman secured meaningful resources for our community, including:  

• $963,000 for the Memphis Police Department Sentinel Surveillance Cameras Project which provides resources to  upgraded crime surveillance equipment.  The upgraded technology will enhance the police department’s ability to combat crime, including auto theft, in an effective manner. This type of camera was useful in investigating the Tyre Nichols case.  
• $300,000 for the Shelby County District Attorney’s Victim/Witness Services Program to enhance the victim/witness services program, reduce the backlog of cases, and improve data management, including forensic evidence.    
• $963,000 for the Memphis Police Department Officer Equipment Improvement Project for equipment to increase the safety of Memphis police officers.    
• $100,000 for the Covington Police Department Youth Crime and Violence Diversion Project to support the police youth crime and violence diversion project to enhance community relations and deter youth from engaging in criminal activity.  
• $637,195 for the Shelby County Emergency Management Center
• $671,000 for the Cocaine and Alcohol Awareness Program, Incorporated (CAAP Inc.) Community Corrections Program. The funding would be used to support the community-based, residential, alternative-to-incarceration, corrections program that has a partnership with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.