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Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions took office we have seen the removalof 46 U.S. attorneys, including two prominent African-Americans in Mississippi; the reversal of a policy that would have allowed federal contracts with the prison industry expire; ordered the review of consent decrees with major police departments; and most recently, ordered the end of a beneficial partnership between the government and the science community.

But the Washington Posthas detailed what could be worse than all of those things: a return to the bad old days of the war on drugs. The newspaper reports that Sessions has brought in Steven Cook, a federal prosecutor in Tennessee, to help him turn back some of the policies enacted by former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder regarding criminal justice. According to thePost, the two men plan on returning to the crime-fighting strategies of the 1980s and 90s, when crime was high, and so was the war on drugs, resulting in a detrimental net effect on communities of color.

Sessions spoke in Richmond, Va., a few weeks ago, noting that the country needs a return to the Just Say No approach to fighting drug trafficking. But far too many people remember that while late first lady Nancy Reagan asked this of the nations youth, urban violence skyrocketed as police, the prison system and the crack epidemic converged to decimate Black communities.

But noting the increase in homicides in cities such as Chicago, New Orleans and others, Sessions believes a tougher approach to crime is appropriate, despite the overall decreases in crime over the past 20 years.

If hard-line means that my focus is on protecting communities from violent felons and drug traffickers, then Im guilty, Cook said in an interview with thePost. I dont think thats hard-line. I think thats exactly what the American people expect of their Department of Justice.

In fact, during a panel by the Post in 2016, Cook was quoted as saying the federal criminal justice system is working as designed.

That design has a resulted in a total of 188,000 federal inmates alone, according to the Bureau of Prisons; 37 percent of them are Black. Thats only part of the number of incarcerated in the United States, the largest number in the world. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, there were 2.1million people either in prisonsor jails in 2015, almost 1 million of them Black. This figure doesnt count those under court or law enforcement supervision.

To put it in perspective, the total number of people incarcerated in the United States in 1980 was 503,000.

What we did, beginning in 1985, is put these laws to work, Cook boasted. We started filling federal prisons with the worst of the worst. And what happened next is exactly what Congress said they wanted to happen, and that is violent crime began in 1991 to turn around. By 2014, we had cut it in half.

Butstatistics show that manyof the people imprisoned during those days up until today have been low-level nonviolent offenders, not violent felons. They were largely driven by mandatory minimum sentences, for which organizations such as The Sentencing Project have advocated for elimination.

Obama and Holders policies included seeking the early release of certain nonviolent drug offenders and also a more intelligent approach to charging nonviolent offenders. Bills have also been introduced in Congress to reduce these sentences, rather than increase them. One in 2015 came close to passage, but Sessions spoke out against it, citing recent spikes in violent crime.

Violent crime and murders have increased across the country at almost alarming rates in some areas. Drug use and overdoses are occurring and dramatically increasing, said Sessions, who was then on the Senate Judiciary Committee and voted against it, the Post reported. Cook echoed the sentiment, saying it was the wrong time to weaken the last tools available to federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents.

The Trump administrations policy has been almost opposite of what Obamas was, favoring a heavy-handed approach to crime, particularly citing urban violence. Advocates of reducing mandatory minimums say Cook and Sessions will turn the government toward policies that have proven to tear apart families and harm communities.

If there was a flickering candle of hope that remained for sentencing reform, Cooks appointment was a fire hose, Kevin Ring, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), told The Post. There simply arent enough backhoes to build all the prisons it would take to realize Steve Cooks vision for America.

Link:
How the Justice Department May Re-Declare the War on Drugs (and On Us) - EBONY.com

One of the Obama Justice Department's signature achievements was the creation of 14 police reform agreementscalled "consent decrees"with departments in cities including Baltimore; Ferguson, Missouri; and Cleveland that have allegedly been the site of systematic civil rights abuses. The Trump administration's Justice Department is led by Jeff Sessions, a 70-year-old white man from Alabama who is named after Jefferson Davis; Sessions is a little less of a leftist on civil rights issues than Obama and Eric Holder were. He has announced plans to "review" all of the consent decrees and has been trying to delay the adoption of Baltimore's, which was only agreed to this January. That delay effort ran into a wall Fridaya wall named federal judge James K. Bredar. Via the Baltimore Sun's Justin Fenton:

Read the original post:
Judge Rejects Jeff Sessions' Bid to Back Out of Baltimore Civil Rights Deal in Quite Spicy Fashion - Slate Magazine (blog)

By Joel Connelly, SeattlePI

When discussing marijuana legalization at Senate hearing, , Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., weightily argued: "Lady Gaga says she's addicted to it and it is not harmless." According to People mag, Gaga said that she smoked marijuana to deal with the mental and physical challenges of her career

Sessions is now U.S. Attorney General. Gov. Jay Inslee and three other governors, whose states have legalized recreational marijuana, want Sessions to keep his hands off a regulatory system that is working.

When discussing marijuana legalization at Senate hearing, , Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., weightily argued: "Lady Gaga says she's addicted to it and it is not harmless." According to People mag, Gaga said that

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is no fan of the ganja. Here's some of the things he's said on it in the past.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is no fan of the ganja. Here's some of the things he's said on it in the past.

Dosages can be constructed in a way that might be beneficial, I acknowledge that, but if you smoke marijuana for example, where you have no idea how much THC youre getting, its probably not a good way to administer a medicinal amount. So forgive me if Im a bit dubious about that.

Dosages can be constructed in a way that might be beneficial, I

As U.S. Attorney in Alabama in the 1980s, Sessions famously said he thought the KKK "were OK until I found out they smoked pot."

As U.S. Attorney in Alabama in the 1980s, Sessions famously said he thought the KKK "were OK until I found out they smoked pot."

Attorney General Sessions also called Obama's lax approach to marijuana "one of his great failures."

Attorney General Sessions also called Obama's lax approach to marijuana "one of his great failures."

Stay off our pot, Inslee and governors tell AG Sessions

The Trump Administration should keep its hands off states that have legalized recreational marijuana, Gov. Jay Inslee and three other governors said in a Monday letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The open letter asked Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to "engage with us before embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems."

The letter was signed by governors of four states where voters have legalized cannabis for recreational use: Inslee, Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon, Gov. Bill Walker of Alaska, and Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado.

Sessions railed against pot during his days as an ultraconservative senator from Alabama, taking particular exception when President Obama told an interviewer that alcohol was more dangerous than cannabis.

"Lady Gaga says she is addicted to it and it is NOT harmless," Sessions told a hearing with then-Attorney General Eric Holder.

Growing, possessing and using marijuana remains a crime under the Federal Controlled Substances Act. As AG, however, Holder fashioned a policy that let Colorado and Washington go ahead with legalizing and regulating marijuana use.

The feds laid down key conditions and stipulations, namely no cannabis trade with other states, and keep gangs out of the business.

The governors' letter calls on Sessions and Mnuchin to keep the guidelines established under Holder.

They warned that a federal crackdown on marijuana "would divert existing marijuana product into the black market."

And, the governors argued that legalization has reduced "inequitable incarceration" of peoples of color. Recent evidence shows that African-Americans were a target when the Nixon Administration launched its "War on Drugs" in 1970.

"Any forced change in federal enforcement policy will interrupt the collaborative approach we have taken with local law enforcement and the federal government," Mark Bolton, an adviser to Hickenlooper on marijuana policy, said in a statement.

"Our hope is that we can continue working with the administration to build on a regulatory system that prioritizes protecting public safety and public health."

As a recently minted grandfather, Gov. Inslee in 2012 opposed the statewide initiative that legalized recreational marijuana. The initiative passed, however, carrying counties on both sides of the Cascades.

Read more here:
Stay off our pot, Inslee and governors tell AG Sessions - seattlepi.com

According to both the California State Constitution and the California Government Code, the Attorney General acts the states chief law enforcement official, charged with the fair and equitable enforcement of the law.

Additionally, he or she is the head of the Department of Justice, and oversees both District Attorneys and county sheriffs.

But its the final responsibility listed with which we are concerned:

Acts as the chief counsel in state litigation.

Why, then, does California need Eric Holder?

In January, the California State Legislature retained the law firm of Covington & Burling, the firm that former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder rejoined upon leaving the federal government in 2015. The Legislatures stated aim was that a team Covington and Burling, led by Holder, would act as outside counsel to advise the Legislature regarding probable conflicts with the Trump Administration.

To the tune of $25,000.00 a month out of the pockets of the California taxpayer.

Former Deputy Attorney General and current Assemblyman Keven Kiley, (D) Rocklin, made his case to the Opinion Unit of the State Attorney Generals Office that hiring Holder and his firm as outside counsel violates Article VII of the California Constitution. Kiley cited years of state court findings that found Article VII as forbidding private contracting for services that are of a kind that persons selected through civil service could perform adequately and competently

Among other responsibilities assigned to the Attorney General that would be assumed by Holder and his team were assisting in defending California against federal actions. This is a duty specifically assigned to the attorney general.

One must wonder if either a) the state government has so little faith in newly elected attorney general, former state Congressman Xavier Becerra that contracting outside counsel was necessary, or b) that the Legislature wanted an expert in end runs around the U.S. Constitution, as well as that of the state.

It would appear to be the latter, as representatives for both Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the Assembly, and Kevin de Len President pro Tempore of the Senate assert the Legislature is immune from those regulations that govern an executive department.

Not surprising, as de Len now famously asserted half his family are in the country illegally and with forged documents.

In an interview with the New York Times, de Len said, Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California. This means we are very, very serious.

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About what?

Flagrant disregard for Title 18 of US Code, and the movement to make California a Sanctuary State? On April 22nd, 2013, Holder said to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund: Creating a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in this country is essential. The way we treat our friends and neighbors who are undocumentedby creating a mechanism for them to earn citizenship and move out of the shadows transcends the issue of immigration status. This is a matter of civil and human rights.

So criminality is now a human right?

Perhaps the issue is the promotion of Governor Browns anti- Climate Change policies. After all, President Trump is due to sign an executive order instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to roll back the Clean Power Plan; an Obama initiative to reduce carbon emissions from power plants and require individual states to reduce their emissions.

Holders tenure as Attorney General was riddled with scandals ranging from the surveillance of reporters to threats of retaliation for Hate Speech aimed at Muslims. Holder is the only Attorney in history to have been held in contempt of Congress for his refusal to provide subpoenaed documents relating to the Fast and Furious scandal. This is not to mention his failure to act as regarding unfair targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.

Apparently, de Len thinks these are the values of the people of California that must be safeguarded.

It would appear former California Attorney General and newly elected Senator Kamala Harris agrees. In her March 24, 2017 article in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled Why I cannot support Judge Gorsuch, she cited well known progressive Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall:

You do what you think is right, and you let the law catch up.

Welcome to California, where the rules are made up, and the law doesnt matter.

More:
Why do we need Eric Holder as outside counsel? - Paradise Post

Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates

Sally Yates, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, will be this years speaker for the Class Day ceremonies at Harvard Law School. Class Day will take place on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. Yates was selected by representatives of this years graduating class.

Yates spent nearly three decades working in the U.S. Justice Department. She began her career as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. She rose to national prominence when she was the lead prosecutor in the case of Eric Rudolph, who placed a bomb in Atlantas Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Games. The explosion killed two and injured more than 100 people.

In 2010, President Barack Obama 91 named her U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Yates was the first woman to hold that position. While there, then-Attorney General Eric Holder asked her to serve as Vice Chair of the Attorney Generals Advisory Committee.

In 2015, President Obama named her Deputy Attorney General. She served in the position the second-highest-ranking job in the Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder and Attorney General Loretta Lynch 81.

After Donald Trump was elected U.S. President, Yates agreed to serve as Acting Attorney General. She was dismissed from the Trump administration in January after she instructed DOJ staff not to enforce Trumps first executive order on travel and immigration, writing in a letter that she was not convinced it was lawful.

A native of Georgia, Yates is a graduate of the University of Georgia, with a degree in journalism, and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where she was executive editor of the Georgia Law Review.

Yates visited Harvard Law School in January and spoke to students about recent strides in criminal justice reform. She told students that both Holder and Lynch had achieved significant reforms in federal sentencing, and that she was hopeful that momentum would continue into the Trump administration. Support for criminal justice reform isnt limited to Democrats or liberals or any single interest group, she said. Rather, there is a strong, bipartisan consensus, from both ends of the spectrum and every point in between, that we need to adjust our approach. And thats because fiscal realities, public safety, and basic fairness demand it.

At Harvard Law School, Yates encouraged students to be active in criminal justice reform: As current and future leaders in a profession dedicated to the integrity of the law, I hope that you will let your voices be heard and that you will demand meaningful change, and most importantly that you will act at every opportunity to effect the changes that are required to make our communities safer and our system more faithful to its core principle of justice.

See more here:
Sally Yates is Harvard Law School's 2017 Class Day Speaker - Harvard Law School News