Senator Jeff Sessions is the wrong person to serve as U.S. Attorney General and is the Trump administration’s deliberate attempt to undo the equity, inclusiveness and diversity that the U.S. has achieved over the last decade.

As the highest law enforcement official, the Attorney General has the responsibility to protect the civil and human rights of all races, colors and genders.   Sessions is not that person and presents an extreme danger to the equality, diversity and inclusiveness that the U.S. has achieved over the last decade.

We the People of Alabama, who have first hand knowledge and have directly felt the negative impact of Jeff Sessions’ votes and actions, ask you to oppose his nomination to be the next U.S. Attorney General.  

Sessions has a long and troubling record in opposition to civil and human rights. So bad, that in 1986, the Republican controlled Senate rejected his nomination to be a U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of Alabama. The judiciary committee considered evidence that Sessions, as an opponent of civil rights enforcement, championed voter suppression, engaged in tactics targeting people of color and had a history of racially insensitive statements (Sessions repeatedly called a staff attorney “boy”; said he held the KKK in high regards until he learned they smoked marijuana; called the NAACP and ACLU un American; called a white civil rights lawyer a disgrace to his race for bringing voting rights cases). In a glaring oversight, Sessions failed to mention his rejection on the nominee questionnaire for U.S. Attorney General.  

Sessions’ allies have mounted a public relations campaign to reshape his image and combat the charges of racism that have dogged him. Their arguments don't pass judicial muster and merely attempt to exonerate politically expedient and racially coded conduct.  

One senator in an attempt to minimize the damaging 1986 vote said, ..."I want to know what's in his heart" now. In response, 144 organizations signed a letter authored by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, that documents Sessions' 30 year record. It casts in cement the image of a narrow minded individual not fit to be Attorney General.

Voting Rights -Sessions unsuccessfully prosecuted leaders who were registering people to vote (including Albert Turner, an aide to Rev. Martin Luther King), voiced strong support for restrictive voter ID laws and praised a Supreme Court decision that gutted a key part of the voting rights act.

Immigration - Sessions fiercely opposes immigration reform and has been a long-time proponent and architect of building a wall along the Mexican border. He has also associated himself with hate groups that oppose Immigration reform.

Hate Crimes - Sessions opposes hate crimes legislation - all the more needed in light of 800 plus incidents reported since the November election; argued in favor of using religion as a reason to ban immigrants from U.S.; argued for a Muslim ban;

LGBTQ- Sessions supported a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage and opposed protective hate crime legislation on the basis of sexual orientation.

Women's Rights - Sessions opposed multiple efforts to address pay equity and to protect women's access to reproductive health services.

Rights of People with Disabilities - Sessions fought against Alabama’s obligation to provide community - based services to individuals who were needlessly institutionalized.  

Criminal Justice Reform - Sessions fought for draconian mandatory minimum sentence laws and against bipartisan efforts to reduce sentences for certain nonviolent drug offenses,

Terror -Sessions supports waterboarding of suspects, a law and order agenda and certain warrantless wiretaps. If appointed, it can be reasonably assumed he will put additional restraints on free speech, dissent and people of color.

Failure to Protect Communities From Pollution and Climate Change - Sessions has a long record of voting against clean air, water and climate change protections.

Prosecutorial Misconduct - A Jefferson Alabama County, court found that " the misconduct of the Attorney General (Sessions) in this case far surpasses... any prosecutorial misconduct ever previously presented to or witnessed by this court.”