Cohen Urges DOJ to Continue Monitoring Shelby County Juvenile Justice System

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today contacted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to urge them to continue monitoring the Shelby County juvenile justice system after Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell sent a letter to DOJ petitioning for the Attorney General's review of the December 2012 agreement between the county and DOJ to address findings of serious and systemic failures in the juvenile court that violate children's due process and equal protection rights. In April 2012, DOJ released a report finding that the Juvenile Court failed to provide constitutionally required due process to all children appearing for delinquency proceedings, that the court's administration of juvenile justice discriminated against African-American children, and that its detention center violated the substantive due process rights of detained youth by not providing them with reasonably safe conditions of confinement.

"I am concerned about efforts to end Shelby County's agreement with the Justice Department to address the routine violation of due process and equal protection at the Juvenile Court," said Congressman Cohen. "While progress has been made since 2012, there are still reports of race playing a factor in court hearings and reports of the juvenile detention facilities becoming more dangerous. I was disturbed by DOJ's initial findings, and I was proud to work with then-Attorney General Eric Holder and others at the Department of Justice to help resolve this matter in a fair and transparent way. I urge the Department of Justice to continue to monitor the Shelby County juvenile justice system to ensure the constitutional standards of all children are met."

In September 2012, Congressman Cohen sent a letter to then-Attorney General Eric Holder and then-Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez urging them to address the violations identified in the report. In November 2012, Congressman Cohen met with then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ro Austin, Jr. on this issue. In April 2016, Congressman Cohen sent a follow-up letter to then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch about the continuing racial inequalities in the juvenile justice system.