(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) has been appointed to serve on the House Judiciary Committee in the 115th Congress.

Raskin has dedicated his professional career to the study of the U.S. Constitution. For more than 25 years, he served as a professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law (WCL), where he also taught classes in criminal law and procedure, First Amendment, and Legislative Process. In 2006, Raskin was elected to the Maryland State Senate, where he served on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, which has similar jurisdiction to the House Judiciary Committee.

“It is a terrific honor and a true privilege to serve on the House Judiciary Committee,” Raskin said. “In 1981, as a college junior, I interned for Congressman John Conyers on the Judiciary Committee and found there not only a lifelong mentor, but a passion for constitutional law and a profound appreciation for the Judiciary Committee and the role that it plays in defending the rights and freedoms of the people. In 2017, with such profound disrespect for constitutional values being displayed by the incoming administration, the work of the Judiciary Committee is of surpassing and urgent importance.  In this Committee, we will take a stand for civil rights and voting rights, civil liberties and reproductive freedom, the rights of citizens and the rights of immigrants, criminal justice reform and access to justice for all. I am grateful to Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Ranking Member John Conyers, and above all my constituents for making this appointment possible.”         

Raskin has also authored several books on constitutional law, including the Washington Post best-seller, Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court versus the American People (2003), which is about Bush v. Gore, conservative judicial activism and the Court’s assault on democratic rights, and We the Students: Supreme Court Decisions for and About America’s Students (2015), which is presently in its 4th edition, with more than 50,000 copies in print.  

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Congressman Jamie Raskin represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Montgomery, Frederick, and Carroll counties. He is the Freshman Representative on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, the Congressional Progressive Caucus Vice Chair and Liaison to New Members, and a Senior Whip for the House Democratic Caucus. Prior to his time in Congress, Raskin served in the Maryland State Senate. He has been a constitutional law professor for 25 years.