Criminal Justice Reform
As the Chairman on the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, Congressman Cohen is working to protect civil rights as well as reform the criminal justice system to make it more fair.
The Congressman is also working to support ex-offenders as they reenter society 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 them 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. Applicants who are denied could reapply once every two years. Once seven years have elapsed since an offender has completed his or her sentence, expungement will be automatically granted. However, sex offenders and those who commit crimes causing a loss of over $25,000 will not be eligible for automatic expungement. The bill also encourages states to pass their own expungement laws for state offenses. 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.
He has also cosponsored the No Money Bail Act to eliminate the payment of money as a condition of pretrial release of criminal defendants.
Congressman Cohen voted for the First STEP Act. Signed into law in 2018, the measure gives judges more latitude to work around mandatory sentences where appropriate, and allows offenders who were sentenced before Congress reduced the disparity between penalties for crack and powder cocaine in 2010 to petition to have their cases re-evaluated for possible sentence reductions. It also enables certain prisoners to participate in evidence-based recidivism reduction programs to earn credits to complete the last portion of their sentence in a residential reentry center or home confinement, and encourages the placement of offenders at prisons closer to their homes where possible. The law also prohibits the shackling of pregnant women.
The Congressmanhas also introduced several bills to improve police practices including the Police Training and Independent Review Act, which he introduced with Congressman Lacy Clay (D-MO) of Ferguson, Missouri, and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). The legislation 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, and 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.
Congressman Cohen has also cosponsored the End Racial Profiling Act to prohibit law enforcement from engaging in racial profiling, grant victims of racial 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. The bipartisanStop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act places restrictions and transparency measures on the Defense Department's program that transfers excess military equipment to local law enforcement and prevents transfers of equipment such as grenade launchers, weaponized drones and armored military vehicles that are inappropriate for local policing.
More on Criminal Justice Reform
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today spoke from the House floor in favor of and then voted for the Assault Weapons Ban Act, which restores and updates the prior assault weapons ban that kept weapons of war out of our communities for a decade before Republicans opposed its renewal.
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today voted on compromise gun legislation after it passed the Senate with Republican support.
The vote on passage was 234 to 193.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that his first two Community Projects have been recommended for funding by Appropriations subcommittees.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today spoke from the floor in support of and then voted for the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act. The measure establishes nationwide access to extreme risk protection orders through the federal courts to ensure that those who pose a threat to themselves or others do not have access to firearms.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, voted for the Protesting Our Kids Act this evening – sensible gun safety legislation that is popular with the public – and spoke from the House floor during today's debate on the measure.
The vote on passage was 223 to 204.