While eyes are on Russia, Sessions dramatically reshapes the Justice Department (WaPo)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz November 24

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But legislators spent little time asking Sessions about the dramatic and controversial changes in policy he has made since taking over the top law enforcement job in the United States nine months ago.

From his crackdown on illegal immigration to his reversal of Obama administration policies on criminal justice and policing, Sessions is methodically reshaping the Justice Department to reflect his nationalist ideology and hard-line views — moves drawing comparatively less public scrutiny than the ongoing investigations into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin.

Sessions has implemented a new charging and sentencing policy that calls for prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges possible, even if that might mean minority defendants face stiff, mandatory minimum penalties. He has defended the president’s travel ban and tried to strip funding from cities with policies he considers too friendly toward undocumented immigrants.
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In meetings with top Justice Department officials about terrorist suspects, Sessions often has a particular question: Where is the person from? When officials tell him a suspect was born and lives in the United States, he typically has a follow-up: To what country does his family trace its lineage?

While there are reasons to want to know that information, some officials familiar with the inquiries said the questions struck them as revealing that Sessions harbors an innate suspicion about people from certain ethnic and religious backgrounds.
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more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/while-eyes-are-on-russia-sessions-dramatically-reshapes-the-justice-department/2017/11/24/dd52d66a-b8dd-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html




Ugh. Under Sessions it really is the Just Us Department. Of all the people who might lose office because of the Russia investigation, Sessions may be the most important in terms of restoring some sort of normality to our country.

[dalton99a]

1. Exactly what happens when you put a traitorous racist in charge of law enforcement

[2naSalit]

2. +1

[hedda_foil]

3. And lest we forget his policies on voting rights later in the piece...

The Justice Department has similarly rolled back Obama administration positions in court cases over voting rights.

In February, the department dropped its stance that Texas intended to discriminate when it passed its law on voter identification. And in August, it sided with Ohio in its effort to purge thousands of people from its rolls for not voting in recent elections — drawing complaints from civil liberties advocates.

At a recent congressional hearing, Sessions said the department would “absolutely, resolutely defend the right of all Americans to vote, including our African American brothers and sisters.”

Critics say, though, that his record shows otherwise. “We are seeing a federal government that is pulling back from protecting vulnerable communities in every respect,” Clarke said. “That appears to be the pattern that we are seeing with this administration — an unwillingness to use their enforcement powers in ways that can come to the defense of groups who are otherwise powerless and voiceless.”

[malthaussen]

4. See, there are only so many eyes to go around...

... the Trump administration and the GOP seem intent on razing America to the ground and sowing salt in the ruins. Is there any department or branch of the Federal government, including the judicial, which is not being immolated?

-- Mal

[CrispyQ]

5. "the Just Us Department"

I'm going to start using that.

[disalitervisum]

6. Sessions former chief of staff, Stephen Miller

What more do you need to know?