Jamie Raskin
Jamin[2] Ben Raskin (born December 13, 1962), better known as Jamie Raskin, is an American attorney, law professor, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016.[3] The district previously included portions of Montgomery County, a suburban county northwest of Washington, D.C., and extended through rural Frederick County to the Pennsylvania border. Since redistricting in 2022, Raskin's district now encompasses only part of Montgomery County.
Jamie Raskin
Raskin co-chairs the Congressional Freethought Caucus. He was the lead impeachment manager (prosecutor) for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump in response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol.[4][5] Before his election to Congress, Raskin was a constitutional law professor at American University Washington College of Law, where he co-founded and directed the LL.M. program on law and government and co-founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.[6][7]
Early life and education[edit]
Jamin Ben Raskin[3] was born in Washington, D.C., on December 13, 1962,[8] to Jewish parents Barbara (née Bellman) Raskin and Marcus Raskin. His name is a variant of that of his paternal grandfather, Benjamin Raskin.[9] His mother was a journalist and novelist,[10] and his father was a former staff aide to President John F. Kennedy on the National Security Council, co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies, and a progressive activist.[11][12] Raskin's ancestors immigrated to the U.S. from Russia.[13] He graduated from Georgetown Day School in 1979 at age 16, and magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts in government with concentration in political theory. In 1987, he received a J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.[14]
Career as law professor[edit]
For more than 25 years, Raskin was a constitutional law professor at American University Washington College of Law,[15] where he taught future fellow impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett.[16] He co-founded and directed the LL.M. program on law and government and co-founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.[6][7] From 1989 to 1990, Raskin served as general counsel for Jesse Jackson's National Rainbow Coalition.[17] In 1996, he represented Ross Perot regarding Perot's exclusion from the 1996 United States presidential debates. Raskin wrote a Washington Post op-ed that strongly condemned the Federal Election Commission and the Commission on Presidential Debates for their decisions.[18]
Political career[edit]
Maryland legislature[edit]
In 2006, Raskin was elected as a Maryland state senator for District 20, representing parts of Silver Spring and Takoma Park in Montgomery County.[19] In 2012, he was named Senate majority whip and chaired the Montgomery County Senate Delegation and the Select Committee on Ethics Reform, and was a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.[12]
Raskin sponsored bills advocating the repeal of the death penalty in Maryland, the expansion of the state ignition interlock device program, and the establishment of the legal guidelines for benefit corporations, a type of for-profit corporation that includes a material societal benefit in its bylaws and decision-making processes.[20][21][22][23] A former board member of FairVote, he introduced and sponsored the first bill in the country for the National Popular Vote, a plan for an interstate compact to provide for presidential election by popular vote.[24] Raskin long championed efforts to reform marijuana laws and legalize medical marijuana in Maryland.[25][26] He introduced a medical marijuana bill in 2014 that was signed by Governor Martin O'Malley and went into effect in January 2015.[27]
Raskin helped lead the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland.[28] On March 1, 2006, during a Maryland State Senate hearing on same-sex marriage, Raskin was noted for his response to an opposing lawmaker: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."[29][30][31][32]