February 21, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 35 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CONGRATULATING JUDGE JACK B. WEINSTEIN

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                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 21, 2020

  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate U.S. District 
Judge Jack B. Weinstein of Brooklyn on his retirement after 53 years on 
the bench at the age of 98. Judge Weinstein is well known for his 
liberal sensibilities, especially for his suggested reforms of 
sentencing guidelines to reduce the length of time most offenders spend 
behind bars. I related to him as a champion of women's rights, criminal 
justice reform and the lack of sentencing alternatives for young 
offenders. A submarine officer in the Pacific Theatre in World War II, 
he returned home and was a 1948 graduate of Columbia University Law 
School. As a young lawyer, he worked on briefs in the landmark Brown v. 
Board of Education desegregation case and recently lamented that, in 
New York as in so many other places, re-segregation of public schools 
is the reality. In a long and colorful career on the bench after being 
nominated to the district court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967, 
Judge Weinstein presided at the trial of Vincent ``The Chin'' Gigante, 
the head of the Genovese crime family, and massive tort cases involving 
asbestos and Agent Orange. In a recent interview with The New York 
Times, he said that, although the country is ``going downhill'' with a 
``very conservative'' Supreme Court at the moment, he was optimistic 
for the future because it is ``essentially a good country made up of 
people who will fight for what's right.'' It's nice to know that Judge 
Weinstein, in retirement with his newly retired physician son, will be 
studying how post-Civil War Reconstruction devolved into Jim Crowism as 
they both pursue master's degrees in history. I wish Judge Weinstein, a 
productive and fulfilling retirement and thank him for his long service 
to our country

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