TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on May 5, 2025

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Brentwood, has introduced two bills in Congress aimed at combating crime, The Commercial Appeal reports. The "Advancing Frequent and Tailored Education to Rebuild Safe Communities and Help Orchestrate Opportunities and Learning Act," known as the AFTER SCHOOL Act, would authorize $15 million each year for four years to fund a grant for after-school programs in areas with high juvenile crime. The grants would go to after-school programs "proven to reduce juvenile crime and recidivism" in areas that have a "juvenile offense rate exceeding 10% of total violent offenses," according to the senator. The second bill, the Federal Carjacking Enforcement Act, would remove the requirement that prosectors prove an "intent to cause harm" to bring carjacking charges, instead requiring they show only that a defendant “knowingly” took the vehicle. Blackburn says the bill is needed to "fix a broken statute" and empower federal prosecutors to "hold offenders accountable." In a press release issued on the proposed bill, Blackburn says Tennessee saw a nearly 200% increase in auto theft crime by juveniles in 2023.