Sessions Opposed for Wanting to Enforce the Law

Liberal critics of Sen. Jeff Sessions have come out against his bid for attorney general over concerns about his commitment to the law — including fears he intends to enforce statues they dislike.

During his confirmation hearing this week, the Alabama Republican tried to fend off allegations that he would not be faithful to laws covering civil rights and voting rights. But liberals have taken the opposite position on laws ranging from drugs to criminal justice reform to immigration. In those cases, the senator’s opponents wish he would look the other way.

“It is remarkable that with a straight face, they can oppose him because he says he is going to enforce the law.”

“His record indicates that as attorney general, he would obstruct the growing national bipartisan movement toward criminal justice reform,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said during his highly publicized testimony against Sessions.

In announcing his intention to vote “no” on the nomination, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) cited the debate in 2013 over legislative efforts to reform U.S. immigration law. The two senators took opposing positions on the bill, which ultimately failed to pass Congress.

“I am also deeply concerned by his views on immigration, which I saw firsthand during the push for comprehensive immigration reform,” Schumer said in a prepared statement Thursday.

Activist groups also have lined up against Sessions based on fears that he would enforce laws they have not managed to persuade Congress to change. Bill Piper, senior director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, urged Sessions’ defeat in a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).

“Unfortunately, Sessions still favors hardline drug law enforcement approaches over emphasizing treatment and rehabilitation,” he wrote. “He will likely escalate the failed war on drugs, at the expense of sensible reforms.”

Pressed by Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) on whether he would bring federal marijuana cases against people in states that have legalized the drug, Sessions said he would weigh more important priorities against the reality of limited resources. But he added, “I won’t commit to never enforcing federal law.”

Sessions added that it is the responsibility of the legislative branch to change objectionable laws.

“It’s not so much the attorney general’s job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our jobs and enforce laws as effectively as we’re able,” Sessions said. “The U.S. Congress made the possession of marijuana in every state — and the distribution — an illegal act. If that’s something that’s not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule.”

Although the senator was talking about marijuana, the same logic applies to immigration, sentencing reform, and other areas where legislative reform has stalled, said Washington lawyer Joseph diGenova.

“It is remarkable that with a straight face, they can oppose him because he says he is going to enforce the law,” said diGenova, who served as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia under President Ronald Reagan at the same time that Sessions was U.S. attorney in Alabama.

“It is truly kind of a bizarre development.”

John Malcolm, director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, agreed. He said it is improper for the attorney general to pick which laws to enforce and which ones to ignore.

“I’ve never heard of anyone saying, ‘I’m going to deny confirmation because you will enforce laws that Congress has passed and the president has signed,'” he said. “It’s a bizarre argument.”

Michael Johns, a Tea Party activist from Booker’s home state, said he agrees with the senator’s approach to criminal justice reform. He said many Tea Party members agree that there are too many nonviolent offenders in prison and that their sentences are too long. But he added that Booker’s opposition to Sessions for attorney general is “rooted in a complete lack of understanding of what the role of the attorney general is.”

Johns said the failure to pass reform rests with Booker as much as anyone. He said he has no doubt Sessions would follow any sentencing reform law passed by Congress — even if he personally disagreed with it — as he would other laws he might not favor as a senator.

“Sessions’ nomination is very refreshing,” he said.

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Some progressive activists argue that Sessions’ views on immigration are not necessarily disqualifiers but are part of a record of intolerance toward minorities.

Megan Essaheb, assistant director of immigration and immigrant rights at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, pointed to Sessions’ refusal to disavow the Federation for American Immigration Reform. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled it a hate group based on statements made by its founder and president.

“We’re trying to show that he has a pattern of holding nativist, white supremacist positions,” she told LifeZette.

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for FAIR, said his organization favors lower immigration levels but rejects discrimination based on race and ethnicity. He said Sessions’ willingness to enforce immigration laws sets him apart from President Obama’s two attorneys general and represents a positive, not a negative.

“It seems pretty self-evident that the job of attorney general is to enforce laws,” he said. “Each president has a right to come in and pick people who share his policy positions.”