Congressman Cohen Leads His Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act through Judiciary Committee

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today led the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act through the Judiciary Committee.  His bipartisan measure was approved 23 to 0. In September, Congressman Cohen introduced the bipartisan, bicameral measure with Representative Kelly Armstrong and Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley. This legislation would end the unjust practice of judges increasing sentences based on conduct for which a defendant has not been convicted.  It will now advance to the full House of Representatives for a floor vote.

During today’s markup of the bill, Congressman Cohen said in part:

“I would like to emphasize that Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) was a strong supporter and an excellent cosponsor and I appreciate him and Senators (Dick) Durbin and (Chuck) Grassley on the Senate side as sponsors. Just about every Supreme Court Justice who’s been around lately – John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia…Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Clarence Thomas, going down to (Neil) Gorsuch and (Brett) Kavanaugh have all said this needs to be changed. So with that I would ask that we move forward and arrive at justice. People should be convicted of proven crimes and sentenced for those crimes. That’s why we need this bill – to make sure that people are only sentenced for the crimes they were convicted of.”

See his entire remarks here.

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