jeff sessions' confirmation

appawewser wrote:http://thehill.com/homenews/313484-protesters-in-kkk-robes-interrupt-sessions-hearing

Protestors dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan interrupted Tuesday's confirmation hearing of Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions, chiding the Alabama senator for past allegations of racist comments.

The two protestors were dressed in white robes and hoods, holding foam fingers with "KKK" and "Go Jeffie Boy" written on the hands. They chanted sarcastic praise at Sessions, as well as comments like "protect all the whites."

https://twitter.com/WheelerLydia/status/818828468871897089
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/818827791340802048

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department, once sought a criminal investigation against a liberal advocacy group that discouraged churches from engaging in political activity sponsored by the conservative Christian Coalition.

In a possible sign of how he will use voting laws if he is confirmed as the next Attorney General of the United States, Sessions co-signed a letter asking then-Attorney General Janet Reno to determine whether Americans United for Separation of Church and State violated a federal law providing that “whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce” someone “for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose” may be fined or imprisoned for up to a year.

I. The Threat to Property Rights.

Sessions is one of the leading advocates of asset forfeiture, the law enforcement practice of seizing the property of suspects who have often not even been charged with any crime, much less convicted.

Sessions is an uncompromising advocate of the most aggressive forms of federal drug prohibition. A large majority of Americans favor marijuana legalization (including even a narrow plurality of Republicans). Many more Republicans (some 70 percent) favor leaving the issue up to the states. But Sessions opposes even the Obama administration’s relatively modest steps to reduce federal enforcement in those states that have chosen to legalize.

Duckworth, a veteran who lost her legs in the Iraq War, questioned Trump’s selection of Sessions, when the Americans With Disabilities Act already appears to be under attack. “I personally am deeply concerned that at a time when the ADA protections seem to be eroding that we’re nominating someone who has less than a stellar record when it comes to comments made in support of disability rights,” she told The Huffington Post.

Duckworth, who served two terms in the House before winning election to the Senate in November, knows from personal experience how federal law can help individuals succeed.

“The ADA provides the basic protections that allow me to do this job. I mean if it weren’t for the ADA I probably be stuck at home and unable to work,” Duckworth said. “But because the ADA exists, I’m able to have a productive life and be a tax paying citizen.” Everyone, she said, was one bad car crash away from being in need of the ADA.

Duckworth said her concern about Sessions’ nomination stemmed from his 2012 stance against the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In a 2000 Senate floor speech, recently reported by The Huffington Post, Sessions complained that a law that protected children with disabilities in schools had led to the downfall of the education system.