To: The United States Senate
Don't let Jeff Sessions take us backwards
Americans deserve a Department of Justice that vigilantly defends and advances every American’s right to vote. Sen. Jeff Sessions’ record and positions are hostile to that mission and to a democracy that represents us all.
Jeff Sessions is unfit to serve as Attorney General. The Senate must reject his nomination.
Jeff Sessions is unfit to serve as Attorney General. The Senate must reject his nomination.
Why is this important?
Sen. Jeff Sessions has spent decades undermining civil rights and the right to vote, targeting voting rights activists and favoring rollbacks to federal voting protections.
Now, he’s been nominated for Attorney General. Putting him in charge of the Department of Justice would effectively repeal the Voting Rights Act (VRA), and threaten the progress we've made towards a more inclusive and accessible democracy. We must stop him.
Sessions has repeatedly attacked the VRA, our most effective tool to stop voter suppression, calling it an “intrusive piece of legislation” and applauding the Supreme Court when it gutted major VRA protections in 2013.
As Attorney General, Sen. Sessions would be in charge of enforcing the VRA through the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. We can’t trust someone so hostile to this cornerstone civil and voting rights legislation to faithfully enforce it.
There’s compelling evidence that Sessions would use the Department of Justice to increase - not fight - voter suppression. As a U.S. Attorney in Alabama, Mr. Sessions aggressively prosecuted three civil rights activists who’d worked with Martin Luther King Jr. for their efforts to register black voters. The jury came back with a fast verdict clearing them of all charges, but not before Sessions had threatened them with up to 250 years in jail and a trumped up prosecution.
Even today, and even despite his own personal role in prosecuting civil rights workers, he denies the fact that thousands of eligible voters are being turned away at the polls each election. In 2013, he said: “if you go to Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, people aren’t being denied the vote because of the color of their skin.” This is extremely naive or willfully ignorant at best. Sen. Sessions must know that all three states have pushed voting restrictions that disproportionately harm Black voters -- something the Department of Justice is required to protect against.
Beyond the issue of voting rights, Sessions has shown, through a history of racially offensive comments and regressive policy positions, that he cannot carry out the DOJ’s responsibility to advance civil rights and prevent discrimination in housing, education, employment, and other areas of American life.
The Attorney General’s duty is to ensure that every American receives equal justice under the law. We cannot give this job to someone who spent his career obstructing progress toward equal justice and voting rights. Sen. Jeff Sessions is unfit to serve as Attorney General. The Senate must reject him.
Now, he’s been nominated for Attorney General. Putting him in charge of the Department of Justice would effectively repeal the Voting Rights Act (VRA), and threaten the progress we've made towards a more inclusive and accessible democracy. We must stop him.
Sessions has repeatedly attacked the VRA, our most effective tool to stop voter suppression, calling it an “intrusive piece of legislation” and applauding the Supreme Court when it gutted major VRA protections in 2013.
As Attorney General, Sen. Sessions would be in charge of enforcing the VRA through the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. We can’t trust someone so hostile to this cornerstone civil and voting rights legislation to faithfully enforce it.
There’s compelling evidence that Sessions would use the Department of Justice to increase - not fight - voter suppression. As a U.S. Attorney in Alabama, Mr. Sessions aggressively prosecuted three civil rights activists who’d worked with Martin Luther King Jr. for their efforts to register black voters. The jury came back with a fast verdict clearing them of all charges, but not before Sessions had threatened them with up to 250 years in jail and a trumped up prosecution.
Even today, and even despite his own personal role in prosecuting civil rights workers, he denies the fact that thousands of eligible voters are being turned away at the polls each election. In 2013, he said: “if you go to Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, people aren’t being denied the vote because of the color of their skin.” This is extremely naive or willfully ignorant at best. Sen. Sessions must know that all three states have pushed voting restrictions that disproportionately harm Black voters -- something the Department of Justice is required to protect against.
Beyond the issue of voting rights, Sessions has shown, through a history of racially offensive comments and regressive policy positions, that he cannot carry out the DOJ’s responsibility to advance civil rights and prevent discrimination in housing, education, employment, and other areas of American life.
The Attorney General’s duty is to ensure that every American receives equal justice under the law. We cannot give this job to someone who spent his career obstructing progress toward equal justice and voting rights. Sen. Jeff Sessions is unfit to serve as Attorney General. The Senate must reject him.