News
Read Representative Jerrold Nadler’s Letter
JERROLD NADLER
12TH DISTRICT, NEW YORK
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
RANKING MEMBER
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
NADLER.HOUSE.GOV
December 4, 2024
Dear Democratic Colleague:
It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary
Committee these past 7 years. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to help lead our party’s efforts to
preserve the rule of law and to provide for a more just society that respects the civil rights and civil liberties of
all Americans.
Under my leadership, the Committee responded to some of our nation’s biggest challenges. When Donald
Trump and his administration threatened the rule of law and our democratic order, I led the Judiciary
Committee’s efforts to hold him accountable for his various abuses of power, culminating in two historic
impeachments. As the epidemic of gun violences rages on, we advanced historic legislation to keep Americans
safe in their communities, leading to enactment of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act—the first significant
gun safety legislation enacted in a generation. When the Supreme Court threatened to undermine protections for
same sex marriage, we enshrined marriage equality in the law with passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
When the nation watched in horror as George Floyd was brutalized by police, we advanced legislation to hold
law enforcement accountable, while also working to ensure that our communities have the tools and resources to
keep our citizens safe. As Republican voter suppression efforts took hold across the country, we passed
legislation named after our beloved late colleague, Rep. John Lewis, to protect this most fundamental right to
vote. We worked to repair our broken immigration system with legislation to protect Dreamers and to prevent
another Muslim ban. We brought forward the Equality Act, the first comprehensive civil rights legislation
protecting the LGBTQ community. We worked to provide justice to victims of the deadly September 11th
attacks and other victims of terrorism. And we worked to preserve access to justice in the federal courts, protect
consumers from corporate abuses, lower prescription drug prices, and preserve a strong intellectual property
system that promotes innovation and drives economic growth.
The Committee also shined a light on critical issues, such as threats to reproductive freedom and bodily
autonomy in the wake of the Dobbs decision, the need for further criminal justice reform and ending mass
incarceration, the ethics crisis at the Supreme Court, and proposals to strengthen our antitrust laws to preserve
and promote healthy competition in the marketplace.
REPLY TO:
WASHINGTON OFFICE:
2132 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515
(202) 225-5635
DISTRICT OFFICE:
201 VARICK STREET
SUITE 669
NEW YORK, NY 10014
(212) 367-7350
News
Daniel Penny acquitted in NYC subway chokehold case after jury finds him not guilty of criminally negligent homicide
Daniel Penny has been acquitted in the chokehold death of a homeless man aboard a New York City subway car last year.
The 26-year-old former Marine had been charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in connection with the May 2023 death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely.
A jury found Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide Monday — three days after a Manhattan judge dismissed manslaughter charge when the 12-member panel said it could not come to a unanimous decision on the first and more serious of the two charges. The second-degree manslaughter charge carried a maximum 15-year prison sentence; criminally negligent homicide carried a maximum sentence of four years. There was no minimum sentence for either charge.
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Judge Maxwell Wiley had ordered the jury to return Monday to consider the second, lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. It deliberated for less than two hours before delivering its verdict.
According to the Associated Press, Penny “briefly smiled” as the verdict was read while others inside the courtroom reacted with applause and anger. Some, including Neely’s father, were told to leave after audibly reacting, per AP.
How the incident unfolded
Penny, an architecture student, was on his way to the gym when he encountered Neely on an uptown F train in Manhattan on the afternoon of May 1, 2023.
Witnesses say Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator, was acting erratically after boarding the train before Penny placed him in a chokehold. Some witnesses told police that Neely shouted at other passengers, threw his jacket on the ground, complained of being hungry and thirsty and threatened to hurt people on the train. Others did not report hearing those threats.
Video taken by a fellow passenger shows Penny on the ground restraining Neely with a chokehold while two other men are standing over them. Penny then lets go of Neely, who is seen lying motionless on the floor of the train.
When police arrived, Neely was unresponsive and first responders were unable to revive him. He was then taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Footage of the chokehold was shared widely online and sparked protests around the city.
Penny later told police that he “just put [Neely] in a chokehold” and “put him out” to ensure he wouldn’t hurt anyone.
What happened during the trial
Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office argued that Penny’s chokehold — which lasted approximately six minutes — became reckless when he held on too long, beyond the point when Neely represented any kind of threat to fellow passengers.
Attorneys for Penny argued that he saw “a genuine threat and took action to protect the lives of others” and that he had restrained Neely with a “variation of a nonlethal chokehold” borrowed from martial arts training he had been taught as a Marine. In doing so, they suggested that Neely’s death could have been caused by something else.
But Dr. Cynthia Harris, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Neely, testified that “there are no alternative reasonable explanations” for Neely’s death other than Penny’s chokehold.
Harris had ruled the cause of death was compression of the neck, or asphyxia.
Jurors were shown a video of an interview Penny gave to police in which he demonstrated the chokehold on Neely.
“He had his back turned to me and I got him in a hold, got him to the ground, and he’s still squirming around and going crazy,” Penny is heard saying in the video.
The defense also argued that Neely had prior arrests, a history of mental illness and drugs in his system at the time of his death.
Reactions to the verdict
The case stirred a national debate about mental illness, homelessness, public safety, the use of force and race. Neely was Black. Penny is white.
Outside the courthouse, Dante Mills, a lawyer for Neely’s family, criticized the jury.
“We’re devastated, upset, angry, hurt,” Mills said, flanked by Neely’s father, Andre Zachery. “Jordan Neely was choked to death by someone who didn’t care people was telling him to stop. Last week the jury was — they couldn’t decide on the top charge but they come back his week and they give up on us.”
“The district attorney did a good job,” Mills added. “The jury in this case let us down.”
Last week, Zachery filed a civil suit against Penny, accusing him of negligent contact, assault and battery in Neely’s death.
“I miss my son,” Zachery said. “My son didn’t have to go through this. I didn’t have to go through this either.”
News
Syria crisis latest: Turkey calls for international support for ‘inclusive administration’
Turkey’s foreign minister has called on the UN and other international actors to “extend a hand to the Syrian people and support the formation of an inclusive administration” following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Hakan Fidan said Turkey would work for the territorial integrity, political unity, welfare and security of Syria after opposition fighters, including rebels Ankara has supported since 2011, captured Damascus on Sunday.
Turkey will prevent Isis and the Kurdistan Workers’ party, a militant group with close ties to US-backed Syrian Kurds who control north-east Syria, from exploiting the situation, and will end Syria’s status as “safe haven for terrorism,” he said, adding that Ankara was already working on the return of refugees and Syria’s reconstruction.
News
Kennedy Center pays tribute to the Grateful Dead, Raitt, Sandoval and The Apollo
WASHINGTON — Not Fade Away closed out the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony on Sunday, just as honorees The Grateful Dead had used Buddy Holly’s ode to enduring love to close out hundreds of concerts over the years.
The packed house danced in the aisles to the bouncy beat after a night of honoring the Dead and other recipients of the lifetime achievement award for artistic accomplishment: director Francis Ford Coppola, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt. The venerable Harlem theater The Apollo, which has launched generations of Black artists, also was recognized.
Longtime Deadheads, including actors Miles Teller and Chloe Sevigny and talk show host David Letterman, paid tribute to the band’s blend of musical experimentation, longevity and community-building. “Their music fills the universe,” Letterman proclaimed.
The choice to honor The Apollo was an unusual one: the first time the Kennedy Center has chosen to honor a specific performance venue.
“The Apollo means so much to so many of us,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said while arriving on the red carpet. Moore pointed to iconic Apollo performances from Lauryn Hill and a young Michael Jackson as treasured memories of his youth.
The tribute to The Apollo highlighted the sheer diversity of art forms showcased at the 90-year-old theater. Savion Glover did a spirited tap dance routine; husband and wife duo The War and Treaty performed a medley of hits by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell; and comedian Dave Chappelle recounted his terrifying first Apollo performance at age 15.
“Everybody started booing. It was like I was outside my body watching,” he said. Eventually Chappelle was rushed off the stage by the theater’s infamous “Sandman,” but he credited the experience with helping him overcome his fear of bombing.
The annual gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts always features personalized tributes with performances and testimonials from fellow artists. Medallions were presented during the traditional Saturday night ceremony at the State Department.
In the first of the night’s tributes, Emmylou Harris and Dave Matthews performed a cover of Raitt’s duet with the late John Prine, “Angel from Montgomery.”
Music star Sheryl Crow paid tribute to Raitt’s trailblazing career as not just a singer or songwriter but as a widely respected blues guitarist in a male-dominated field.
“I would not be doing what I’m doing if I had not seen her perform as a 17-year old,” said Crow, who bought her first guitar shortly after seeing Raitt in concert.
Raitt herself, on the pre-event red carpet, predicted an emotional evening.
“I’ve brought a massive box of Kleenex and my waterproof eye liner,” she laughed.
Coppola received a tribute filled with previous Kennedy Center honorees, including Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino and George Lucas. All described an iconoclastic and driven auteur who loved to nurture and support younger filmmakers.
“What Francis does creatively is jump off cliffs,” Lucas said. “When you spend enough time with Francis, you begin to believe you can jump off cliffs, too.”
Sandoval’s tribute featured multiple performances from an all-star band featuring Trombone Shorty and pianist Chucho Valdez from Sandoval’s original band, plus a flamenco dance performance by Timo Nunez. It also included a bit of light roast comedy from actor Andy Garcia.
“Arturo spoke very little English when he first came to America from Cuba all those years ago,” Garcia said. “But now his English … is much worse.”
The tribute performances are often kept secret from the recipients themselves, most notably in 2018 when Cyndi Lauper flat out lied to her longtime friend Cher about being unable to attend. Lauper appeared on stage to perform Cher’s hit, “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
At a ceremony at the White House before attending the awards event itself, President Joe Biden praised each honoree. He also had De Niro, who was in the audience, stand before declaring, “If I get in trouble, I’m coming to you pal.”
De Niro grinned and nodded and others in attendance, including the honorees, laughed at what appeared to be a reference to De Niro sometimes playing hardnosed enforcers in movies like “The Godfather.” But Biden actually meant he might seek the actor’s help for post-presidency career advice.
“Things are not looking good for February,” Biden joked.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received an extended standing ovation from the audience when introduced at Kennedy Center. But this could be the last honors ceremony without political intrigue for a while.
During Donald Trump’s first four years in office, Kennedy Center officials were forced to walk a public tightrope between the tradition of the president attending the ceremony and the open antipathy toward Trump from multiple honorees. In 2017, recipient Norman Lear threatened to boycott his own ceremony if Trump attended. Trump, who takes office in January, skipped the ceremony for the entirety of his first term.
On the red carpet Sunday night, multiple Democratic political figures seemed to offer an olive branch.
“I hope he does come,” Moore said. “This is a wonderful celebration of genius in all its forms.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added, “I think he would really enjoy it.”
The awards show will air on CBS on Dec. 22.
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