Tag: Attorney General Sessions

Justice Department rolls back guidance on fining poor defendants

The following article by David Shortell and Jessica Schneider was posted on the CNN website December 22, 2017:

 

Washington (CNN) — The Justice Department on Thursday rescinded a tranche of agency-issued “guidance documents” that explained and interpreted policy across a range of issues, including a 2016 memo that cautioned courts against the burdensome enforcement of fines for criminal offenders.

The document crunch comes as Attorney General Jeff Sessions has spent the better part of a year reversing Obama-era policies and legal interpretations, aligning the Trump Justice Department with administration priorities of deregulation and a “return to the rule of law.” Continue reading “Justice Department rolls back guidance on fining poor defendants”

Sessions orders review of Obama-era actions involving Hezbollah

The following article by Max Greenwood was posted on the Hill website December 22, 2017:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered a review of a law enforcement effort to crack down on Hezbollah’s drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations, as well as actions by the Obama administration on the issue.

Sessions ordered the Justice Department “to evaluate allegations that certain matters were not properly prosecuted and to ensure all matters are appropriately handled,” the agency said in a statement obtained by The Hill. Continue reading “Sessions orders review of Obama-era actions involving Hezbollah”

Sorry Sessions, teen pot use actually dropped after Colorado legalization

The following article by Alana Pyke was posted on the Think Progress website December 12, 2017:

The attorney general’s would-be crusade hits another stumbling block.

Far fewer teenagers are using cannabis in Colorado since the state’s tightly regulated legal market for recreational pot got off the ground at the start of 2014, new data shows.

Somebody should tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions. While the ardent drug warrior has thus far surprised critics and disappointed fans by failing to launch the kind of broad crackdown on legalized cannabis that most observers anticipated he would pursue, he has continued to hint that winter is coming for the pot industry. The question of youth pot consumption is almost always on his lips when he discusses the drug. Continue reading “Sorry Sessions, teen pot use actually dropped after Colorado legalization”

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

The following article by Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz was posted on the Washington Post website November 24, 2017:

The Post’s Matt Zapotosky explains how Jeff Sessions has been quickly and effectively implementing President Trump’s vision for America. (Joyce Lee, Matt Zapotosky/The Washington Post)

For more than five hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sat in a hearing room on Capitol Hill this month, fending off inquiries on Washington’s two favorite topics: President Trump and Russia.

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. Continue reading “While eyes are on Russia, Sessions dramatically reshapes the Justice Department”

Sessions’s plan for immigration courts would undermine their integrity

The following editorial by the Editorial Board of the Washington Post was posted on their website October 22, 2017:

AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

ATTORNEY GENERAL Jeff Sessions decried the state of the immigration courts in remarks Oct. 12 before the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, lamenting “rampant abuse and fraud” in asylum applications. As part of Mr. Sessions’s push for an overhaul of the immigration system, the department also plans to begin evaluating immigration judges on the basis of how many cases they resolve. This proposal would do little to fix the United States’ backlogged immigration courts and much to undermine their integrity.

The Trump administration hinted at the plan in a wish list of immigration policies, alongside commitments to constructing President Trump’s promised border wall and withholding federal grants from so-called sanctuary cities. According to reporting by The Post, government documents show that the Justice Department“intends to implement numeric performance standards to evaluate Judge performance.” Such a metric would probably involve assessing judges based on how many cases they complete or how quickly they decide them — a plan that the National Association of Immigration Judges has called a “death knell for judicial independence.” Continue reading “Sessions’s plan for immigration courts would undermine their integrity”

How Jeff Sessions Misrepresented the Trump Administration’s Expansion of Military Supplies for Police

The following article by Isaac Arnsdorf was posted on the ProPublica website September 1, 2017:

The attorney general mischaracterized Obama-era restrictions while citing a study that actually says new computers reduce crime more than heavy weapons do.

Credit: Cristobal Herrera/EPA

Update, Sept. 1, 2017, 1:55 p.m.: This story has been updated with a quote from Sheriff Mike Bouchard of Oakland County, Michigan.

The Trump administration made false assertions to justify an executive order expanding police forces’ access to military equipment such as tanks and grenade launchers.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Monday that President Trump would make defensive gear available to police again by undoing a policy from the Obama administration. Trump then signed an executive order whose title emphasized that branding: “Restoring State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement’s Access to Life-Saving Equipment and Resources.” Continue reading “How Jeff Sessions Misrepresented the Trump Administration’s Expansion of Military Supplies for Police”

Attorney General Sessions’s absurd link between sanctuary policies and crimes in Chicago and Miami-Dade

The following article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website August 21, 2017:

Credit: Cristobal Herrera/EPA

“So to all ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions across the country, I say this: Miami-Dade is doing it, and so can you. Work with us to enforce a lawful immigration system that keeps us safe and serves our national interest. … We have already seen that: The same Independence Day weekend when Chicago suffered more than 100 shootings and 15 homicides, Miami-Dade also had a historic number of shooting deaths — zero. I hope more jurisdictions follow Miami-Dade’s leadership by choosing to follow the law, because we all want to do the same thing: protect our families and defend our country.”
— Attorney General Jeff Sessions, speech in Miami, Aug. 15, 2017

In an effort to crack down on “sanctuary” jurisdictions, the Trump administration pulled federal grant funding from cities and counties that do not cooperate with federal immigration efforts. Continue reading “Attorney General Sessions’s absurd link between sanctuary policies and crimes in Chicago and Miami-Dade”