President Elect Donald Trump has nominated Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as his pick for Attorney General of the U.S. Sessions is a lightning bolt for anything related to civil rights and justice for people of color. Much of the progress seen in the Eric Holder era and now Loretta Lynch era may likely soon be erased with a much darker side taking its place. The prior history of Sessions speaking out in support of the Klu Klux Klan (“KKK”) in the past years, is troubling for civil rights advancement. Some of the areas at risk are police consent decrees, federal police lawsuits for excessive force and death of unarmed individuals, immigration legislation deferring deportation of “Dreamers”, reduction of mandatory minimums, Voting Rights legislation, federal lawsuits opposing voter disenfranchisement and the Civil rights Division, itself. Sessions favors increasing the prison population. Former Attorney General Eric Holder favored decreasing the prison population by reducing … [Read more...] about The Trump Era and Justice for People of Color
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AG Eric Holder Announces Strides in Sentencing
On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at the Press Club in D.C. and gave what may be one of his last speeches before stepping down. He announced that there have been quantitative strides in his actions taken to reform criminal sentencing in America. Holder realized very early on that the criminal disparities in sentencing in drug cases resulted in African Americans being sentenced to higher sentences and to mandatory minimums. Attorney General Holder stated, “For years prior to this administration, federal prosecutors were not only encouraged – but required – to always seek the most severe prison sentence possible for all drug cases, no matter the relative risk they posed to public safety. I have made a break from that philosophy.” Data compiled by the U.S. Sentencing Commission shows that the efforts made by Holder have helped to dramatically reduce mandatory minimums and to reserve higher and harsher sentencing to more serious offenders. Attorney General Holder’s approach … [Read more...] about AG Eric Holder Announces Strides in Sentencing
First DC Attorney General Race Heats Up
Having written a letter commentary to the Washington Post editorial board on October 21, 2010 on why the DC Attorney General should be elected, I am elated to see that day has finally arrived with five viable and diverse candidates seeking the office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia. The 5 candidates seeking the office are attorneys Lorie Masters, Karl Racine, Edward “Smitty” Smith, Lateefah Williams and Paul Zukerberg. I was finally able to see all 5 together in a forum on Tuesday, October 21 hosted by the Women’s Bar Association and moderated by Zoe Tillman, reporter for the National Law Journal/Legal Times. At the outset, I must say there are many similarities between the candidates on some of the issues. And in all honesty, I wish I could clone them into one candidate placing their best qualities in one person. When asked what would be their number one priority for the office of Attorney General, they all gave practically the same answer. Each candidate wanted to … [Read more...] about First DC Attorney General Race Heats Up