{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://cohen.house.gov/press-release/congressman-cohen-supreme-court-should-end-%E2%80%9Cpacking%E2%80%9D-efforts-rob-african-americans", "Congressman Cohen: Supreme Court Should End Packing Efforts That Rob African-Americans of Voting Power", "2014-11-12", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Top 5 congressional districts with the most African-Americans have been gerrymandered by conservative Deep South state legislatures \n[WASHINGTON, DC] \u2013 As the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case regarding the legality of legislative maps drawn to minimize the political power of African-Americans, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today condemned the increasing use of this racially-biased redistricting practice, known as \u201cpacking,\u201d across the Deep South. Congressman Cohen, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, also urged U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to do what he can to protect the voting rights of all Americans from district packing in a letter sent last month.\n\u201cWhile it may be done under the pretext of protecting minorities or ensuring they are represented, recent \u2018packing\u2019 efforts actually have the opposite result, materially reducing the impact and influence of African-Americans in our democracy,\u201d said Congressman Cohen. \u201cIt is no coincidence that the five congressional districts with the most African-Americans are all in the Deep South\u2014and it demonstrates that there is much work to be done to truly emerge from the shadows of slavery and Jim Crow. The Supreme Court should put a stop to this shameful tactic and fully protect the constitutional rights of every American, regardless of skin color.\u201d\nAs The Nation magazine\u2019s Ari Berman pointed out in his February 2012 report entitled \u201cHow the GOP Is Resegregating the South,\u201d packing districts is a crucial part of Republican efforts to enhance Republican power throughout the South at the expense of minority voters and their voting rights.\u00a0 Prominent Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsburg even dubbed this strategy with the vulgar term, \u201cProject Ratf***\u201d. In October, a federal court actually declared a district drawn using packing methods unconstitutional, holding that race was a primary factor in the redrawing of Virginia\u2019s Third Congressional District.\nThe House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice has jurisdiction over issues relating to voting rights. Ranking Member Cohen has long fought to ensure that voting rights are protected throughout the United States. In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down several critical protections of the Voting Rights Act but left the door open for Congress to restore those protections, the Congressman has strongly and repeatedly called on House leadership to allow a vote to do just that. Congressman Cohen is a cosponsor of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014, which would address the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling and restore the full protections originally included by the authors of the Voting Rights Act.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://cohen.house.gov/press-release/congressman-cohen-supreme-court-should-end-%E2%80%9Cpacking%E2%80%9D-efforts-rob-african-americans"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6728299669921398, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}