A Profile by the Silver Spring & Takoma Voice

Jamin Raskin: Constitutional law professor / community activist considers run for state senate

By Melissa Pachikara

Jamin Raskin, Takoma Park citizen and professor of constitutional law at The American University, has worked to empower people to participate in democracy.

Raskin with high school participants of the Marshall-Brennan fellowship program, on a field trip to the Supreme Court.

"Democracy is a wonderful thing because it gives us all the space to innovate and act," said Raskin, who does both.  

And, someday soon, Raskin may take his ideas and his passion for community activism a step further. Raskin is considering running for state senate in the 2006 election to represent district 20, which includes the Takoma Park and Silver Spring communities in which he has been actively involved.

"He has a combination of talent and discipline that results in him actually implementing his ideas," said Marlana R. Valdez, a former colleague of Raskin's who has also known him through 15 years of community work.   "He has wonderful ideas about how the world could be different, and he goes on to make it happen."

Raskin's activism has involved finding solutions to broad problems that he sees as concerns when he works on individual legal cases.  

"He's an incredibly visionary leader, and he thinks big picture," said Maryam Ahranjani, a former law student of Raskin's who is currently Associate Director of the Program on Law and Government and Adjunct Professor at American University.    

Ahranjani witnessed this firsthand as a fellow and later as a consultant for the Marshall-Brennan Fellowship Program, a program that Raskin helped create.   The program enlists law school students to teach high school students about their constitutional rights.  

The program began after Raskin helped high school students at Montgomery Blair High School oppose their school's censorship of an episode of their cable show that dealt with gay marriage.   While Raskin helped the students win the reversal of the decision by the school board, he realized there was a greater problem.  

"I learned that even the best high schools were not educating students about the Constitution and their rights," said Raskin.  

This motivated Raskin to start the Marshall-Brennan Fellowship Program, a program named for the late Supreme Court justices, Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan, with the support of their families.  

The program uses a textbook written by Raskin, called We the Students .

"He's really mobilized and energized a generation of law students to care about education," said Ahranjani.    

Besides fostering a more educated citizenry, the program has helped high school students in many ways. Ahranjani says that high school students in the program who hadn't considered college before started thinking not only about college but about law school too.   She also said that law students were able to give the high school students legal referrals to help them deal with personal concerns related to matters like health care and housing.  

The program now includes 60 law students this year from American and Howard Universities who teach in Montgomery County and D.C. schools.   It has expanded to other law schools around the country.  

Raskin has used his constitutional expertise to lend help to other causes as well.   

Keith Harper, a former adjunct professor at American University, recruited Raskin to help on a case on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans who are suing the government for mismanagement of a trust that was being held for them.  

"We needed a top-notch constitutional law scholar.   He was the right guy," said Harper. Harper also noted that Raskin did everything he could to help. "In a word, he was tireless in the case," Harper said.

Harper is not the only one who testifies to Raskin's tirelessness.  

"I don't think he ever sleeps," said Valdez. "I have never met anyone smarter or more energetic than Jamie," said Esther P. Gelman, a member of the Montgomery County Park and Planning Commission from 1970 to 1974 and the Montgomery County Council from 1974 to 1986.  

Raskin also showed such diligence in his representation of the Houston Arms Tenants Association, which filed a claim against their landlord for failing to repair the building's elevator for five and a half months. Patricia Powell, president of the tenants association, asked Raskin for help.  

"He knew exactly what needed to be done, was focused, and represented us beautifully," said Powell.   She extolled Raskin's hard work and professionalism.  

"He has a tenacity that I love, but he fights fair." Powell said.    

Raskin said that the building might convert to condos, an effort that he has tried to help slow through legal means for the sake of the families who live there.    

Concerns about rapid development and affordable housing in district 20 are factors that help Raskin see how he might make a difference in the state senate.   Family and community activism are closely intertwined in Raskin's life.   Raskin's motivation for community work comes in part from the legacy of a public-spirited family, a spirit that he passes on to his own children.

Family man Raskin with (from left) son Tommy, daughter Tabitha, wife Sarah, Zola the dog and daughter Hannah.

Raskin's father worked with President Kennedy on the National Security Council and founded a liberal think tank.   His mother, a novelist who died in 1999, was founding president of the National Writers Union.   His family was involved with the civil rights and women's rights movements, Raskin said.   Raskin's maternal grandfather was a state senator in Minnesota, and there were union activists and judges on his father's side of the family.  

Raskin in turn fosters a sense of community activism in his own children.   He says that part of growing up is learning to take responsibility not just for oneself but also for other people.  

"This is also how Sarah and I are raising our kids," said Raskin.  

  Raskin and his wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin, another successful lawyer, have three children, Hannah, 13; Tommy, 10; and Tabitha, 8; all attending Montgomery County Public Schools.

Tommy Raskin is aware of his father's activism in the community and enjoys being included in his father's efforts.

"He comes to our schools a lot and he talks to us about different things," said Tommy.   "He was a delegate for Kerry in 2004 and I went with him to the convention.   I enjoy a lot of the stuff that we do together."

  "He's a wonderful father to his three kids," says Douglas F. Gansler, State's Attorney for Montgomery County, and a close friend. Raskin has been chairman of Gansler's campaigns for the past eight years, and Gansler would be supportive of Raskin's potential run for office.

"I think there's going to be a sea change in Democratic politics in 2006, and we would be lucky to have Jamie Raskin be a part of it," said Gansler.        

If Raskin does run for state senate, he may be able to offer coalition-building skills like those he used in his role as head of the Maryland Higher Education Labor Relations Board.   Appointed by then-Governor Parris N. Glendening to set rules for union organizations and collective bargaining on state university and college campuses, Raskin was able to get university administrators, union organizers, and low-wage workers to have a sense of common direction.   

Raskin has also done a lot of voting rights advocacy and representation, expanding on the ideas presented in his scholarly work.    

"The Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore dealt a serious blow to voting rights, said Raskin. "This makes it very important that state legislatures defend everybody's right to vote."  

At the same time, Raskin has written that democracy is more than just a set of voting institutions.  

"Democracy is a larger principle by which we strive to link the people with the power to govern society.   It is the real-life activity of the people actually taking and using power in everyday life," Raskin writes in his book, Overruling Democracy .