Courses

Andrew Jason Cohen

Associate Professor

Georgia State University

Andrew Jason (“AJ”) Cohen is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgia State University. He has published articles in Ethics, The Canadian Journal of Philosophy, The Southern Journal of Philosophy, The American Philosophical Quarterly, The Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, The Journal of Ethics, and elsewhere. Much of his time is spent thinking and writing about toleration; his first book, Toleration was published in 2014 on Polity Press’s “Key Concepts” series. He is working on a second book on the same topic and also does work with issues taking the individual agent as a source of normativity, individualism and communitarianism, the nature of exchange, and the nature and morality of waste. He also blogs at http://www.bleedingheartlibertarians.com/.

Blog Posts

Why requiring Muslim visitors to register with Homeland Security is unjust

February 27, 2017
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Immigration

Throughout the presidential campaign, there was much talk of a Muslim registry. Fortunately, that seems to have fallen by the wayside since the election, and the Trump administration has been consistent, thus far, in denying it will pursue one. Still, we should remain vigilant about it because something similar is still on the table: a revived NSEERS program. And that program is unjust. Active between 2002 and 2011, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) required foreign visitors from 24 Muslim countries and North Korea, regardless of religious affiliation, to register with

Which is worse?

October 20, 2016
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Criminal Justice

Consider each of the following scenarios: Scenario 1: Police officer is riding along when he spots a car with a black male driver. As he follows a policy of racial profiling, the officer checks the database and finds out that the car is not insured. He thus pulls the car over. When he approaches the car, he smells marijuana; that gives him probable cause to check the vehicle and upon further inspection, he finds a firearm and cocaine. He arrests the driver. The marijuana possession is a misdemeanor, the cocaine possession is a felony, the firearm possession is a felony even though he is licensed

Improving Grand Juries

September 30, 2016
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Criminal Justice

I originally intended to have at least 2 more posts on grand juries, but decided against.  They were both going to be “its unbelievable how easy it is to get an indictment” pieces–so unlikely to be very fresh.  Given that, I thought I would jump right to some suggestions for improving grand juries.  I should preface this by saying its not clear to me they should be kept.  Probable cause hearings in open court may be a better alternative from a social justice perspective.  And there may be other alternatives.  But I’m not sure we should give up on grand

Grand Jury Nullification

September 26, 2016
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Criminal Justice

Here are two fictionalized cases where the arrested individuals were fortunately not indicted. Case 1. A young male stormed out of a court room after the judge indicated he should leave. In storming out, he banged the door against the wall and the door knob put a hole in the wall. He was arrested and charged with interference with government property. This would be a $20 repair and, if convicted, the young man would have a felony record. Case 2. Young man drove through a red light and a police officer pulled him over. The officer claimed she smelled marijuana coming from the vicinity