Booker to Chair Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism

Will be first Black chair of a Judiciary Subcommittee

Booker has championed criminal justice reform during his time in the Senate

Washington, DC — US Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism in the 117th Congress. Booker will be the first Black chair of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

“Our nation’s broken criminal justice system is a stain on the soul of our country, the result of decades of failed policies that have broken apart families and communities and have not made us safer,” Booker said. “The burden of this broken system has been disproportionately and dramatically borne by Black and brown Americans, and the poor. It’s past time for change.

“Congress has made progress in starting to turn the tide in recent years, and now is a time of great promise. I look forward to continuing and strengthening my partnership with Chairman Durbin to further advance reforms to our policing and criminal justice system.”

The subcommittee’s jurisdiction includes oversight of: the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; the Drug Enforcement Administration; COPS and other law enforcement grant programs; the Bureau of Prisons; the US Sentencing Commission; the Office of National Drug Control Policy; the Department of Homeland Security’s functions that relate to anti-terrorism enforcement and policy; and more.

Booker has made championing reforms of America’s broken criminal justice system a top priority during his time in the Senate. His numerous criminal justice reform proposals have included the Marijuana Justice Act, the Fair Chance Act, the CARERS Act, the MERCY Act, the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, the Second Look Act, and most recently the Justice in Policing Act. He was also a key architect of the most sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice system in decades, the First Step Act, which was signed into law in 2018. More recently, Booker introduced a sweeping follow up proposal, the Next Step Act, to further advance the cause of criminal justice reform.

Booker was appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee in January 2018.