Jamie Raskin

Jamie Raskin
Member of the Maryland Senate
from the 20th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 10, 2007
Personal details
Born December 13, 1962
Washington, D.C.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Sarah Bloom Raskin
Parents Marcus Raskin
Barbara Bellman Raskin
Alma mater Harvard University
Occupation Law professor
Religion Jewish

Jamie Raskin (born Jamin B. Raskin,[1] on December 13, 1962, in Washington, D.C.) is an American law professor and politician. He teaches constitutional law and legislation at American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C. He serves as the Director of the college's LL.M. program on Law and Government. In November 2006, he was elected as a Maryland State Senator for District 20,[2] representing parts of Silver Spring and Takoma Park, cities in Montgomery County. In 2012 he was named the Majority Whip for the Senate, and is the current Chairman of the Montgomery County Senate Delegation, Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics Reform, and a Member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.[3]

Biography

Raskin was born to a Jewish family[4] in Washington D.C.,[3] the son of progressive activist Marcus Raskin, a former staff aide to President Kennedy on the National Security Council and co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies and Barbara (née Bellman) Raskin, a journalist and novelist. He graduated from Georgetown Day School in 1979, and from Harvard College (magna cum laude) in 1983, and from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude) in 1987.[3] He is a past editor of the Harvard Law Review.[3] As a lawyer, he has represented such clients as Greenpeace, the Service Employees International Union and a group of Montgomery Blair High School students fighting a ban on a television show they produced dealing with same-sex marriage. Raskin founded the Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project at the Washington College of Law. The program allows law students to teach a Constitutional law course in public high schools across the nation.

On March 1, 2006, during a Maryland State Senate hearing regarding same-sex marriage, Raskin, speaking as a constitutional law expert, told a lawmaker, "People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."[5][6][7]

Raskin has been a strong proponent of liberal issues in the Maryland Senate. He has been the sponsor of bills advocating same-sex marriage, 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 corporate form for for-profit entities that wish to consider a material societal benefit in their bylaws and decision making process.[8][9][10][11]

A former board member of FairVote, Raskin introduced and sponsored the first bill in the country for the National Popular Vote, a plan for an interstate compact to provide for the first popular presidential election in American history.[12]

Raskin also introduced Senate legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland in 2014. The bill was signed by Martin O’Malley and will go into effect in January, 2015.[13]

Raskin led the successful Senate floor fights on same-sex marriage, death penalty repeal, and medical marijuana.

Personal life

He is married to Sarah Bloom Raskin, who served as the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation from 2007-2010, and was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Federal Reserve Board on April 28, 2010.[14] On October 4, 2010, she was sworn in as a governor of the Federal Reserve Board by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.[15] She is the current United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

References

  1. ↑ Friends of Jamin Raskin (2006). "Biography". Jamie Raskin for State Senate campaign web site. Retrieved May 4, 2006.
  2. ↑ "Official 2006 Gubernatorial General Election results for State Senator". Maryland State Board of Elections. 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3
  4. ↑ Jewish Daily Forward: "Should the Government 'Get' Involved? - State Laws Target Men Who Refuse to Grant Religious Divorce" By Rachel Levmore May 02, 2012
  5. ↑ "Sun News Digest". Baltimore Sun. March 2, 2006. p. 2.A. Abstract of archived news article, provided by the newspaper's archiving service.
  6. ↑ "Emotions flare over same-sex marriage". Baltimore Sun. March 2, 2006. Archived from the original on June 17, 2006. Retrieved April 17, 2006. Archived on raskin06.com, Mr Raskin's political campaign web site.
  7. ↑ Urban Legends Reference Pages (March 28, 2006). "Jamie Raskin". Snopes.com. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  8. ↑ Raskin, Jamie et al. (January 25, 2008). "Senate Bill 290 (2008)". Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  9. ↑ Raskin, Jamie et al. (January 18, 2013). "Senate Bill 276 (2013)". Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ Raskin, Jamie et al. (January 25, 2008). "Senate Bill 803 (2011)". Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  11. ↑ Raskin, Jamie et al. (February 10, 2010). "Senate Bill 690 (2010)". Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  12. ↑ Raskin, Jamie et al. (February 2, 2007). "Senate Bill 634 (2007)". Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  13. ↑ Raskin, Jamie et al. (January 31, 2014). "Senate Bill 924 (2007)". Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  14. ↑ Reddy, Sudeep (April 29, 2010), "Obama Nominates Yellen, Raskin, Diamond to Fed Board", Wall Street Journal.
  15. ↑ Fed Press Release federalreserve.gov, October 4, 2010 (October 9, 2010)

External links

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