Legal Commentary

Jeff Sessions as Ranking Republican on Judiciary

By Jeralyn

The Senate Judiciary Committee is hugely powerful when it comes to crime bills and judges.

Today, the scope of the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction has broadened to include terrorism, human rights, immigration law, intellectual property rights, antitrust law, and Internet privacy. The Committee is also tasked with considering the President's nominees for federal judgeships, including Supreme Court justices. One of the most important functions of the Committee is to provide oversight of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Jeff Sessions is a disaster for anyone hoping for justice refrom. He's a huge drug warrior, proponent of mandatory minimums. He's also a fierce opponent of immigration reform and any kind of path to citizenship for the undocumented. [More...]

A typical Sessions quote on drug laws:

Sometimes, the sentences were tough. You'd have a 25-year-old who's been selling for a long time getting 15 to 18 years in jail, pretty tough sentences. But as they say, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. ...

His solution to the crack powder disparity includes raising the levels for powder. He's a fan of Giulianni's "broken windows" policing where you bust and jail the littlest criminals.

One of my favorite of his ignorant remarks:

Isn't it a problem that conspiracy law allows possibly innocent people to be convicted on testimony alone?

That's a theoretical problem; that's not reality. There is not a problem in reality. I've been at it for 15 years, I've seen it time and time again, people do not testify against innocent people, they, reluctantly, only testify against guilty people.

I did a federal drug case in Mobile when he was U.S. Attorney in the 80's. It was a miserable experience. I met with him once about my case, he was a cold fish. I'll spare you the rest of the details.

As to his civil rights record I have no personal knowledge and won't judge him.

As ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, he will be in a position to demand that reform bills be seriously watered down. Giving him more power on votes over federal judges is a huge mistake.

More on his record here.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 06, 2009 (boomark / email).