Progressive where it’s productive. Moderate where it matters. When it comes to defending civil liberties, Joe Cohn is principled and tireless.

Joe grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada where he attended public schools. After graduating cum laude from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Joe moved to Philadelphia where he earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and his Masters in Government Administration from its Fels Institute of Government in 2004.

Joe met his partner Veronica while they were both studying for the bar exam. They lived in Philadelphia until 2008 when they moved to New Jersey. Since 2014, Joe and Veronica have been living on their small farm in Lumberton, New Jersey with their collie, cats, and horses.

During his 20 year legal career, Joe has worked to relentlessly advance the rights of all people. As a lawyer at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, he fought to keep roofs over the heads of people with HIV and AIDS. In private practice he fought for victims of employment discrimination and for families with loved ones killed by shocking negligence in nursing homes. As a volunteer lawyer, he represented asylum seekers looking to America for a life free from political violence. Serving as the legal director at two ACLU affiliates, he defended the rights of street performers, environmentalists, Occupy Salt Lake City activists, LGBTQ students, and prisoners who were gassed in their cells.

For the last dozen years, through his work at FIRE, Joe has defended the free speech rights of people on every part of the political spectrum. He has secured big victories against those that would forbid students and professors from discussing racial equality in college classrooms; outlaw conversations in states that have banned abortion about where women could obtain abortions lawfully; or ban colleges from hosting pro-choice speakers.

Joe believes that we must get beyond our divisions to move our country forward. He rejects the notion that his neighbors can be separated into “good vs. evil,” based on their voter registration and will focus on ways we can work together to solve real problems that affect our communities. In Congress, Joe will work hard to: protect reproductive rights and civil liberties; end the chaos in Washington; and defend democracy itself from those that would attack the press, attempt to overturn elections, and build barriers to voting.