Attorney General

Ramsey Clark, Presente

April 14, 2021 Sara Flounders, International Action Center. Educate! Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, US Imperialism, War crimes

We salute Ramsey Clark, who died April 9, 2021, an outspoken defender of all forms of popular resistance to oppression, a leader always willing to challenge the crimes of U.S. militarism and global arrogance. He remained optimistic that the power of people could determine history. His courageous voice will be missed. Ramsey Clark will be remembered by people and struggles around the world as a prominent individual who used his name, reputation and legal skills to defend people’s movements and leaders who the corporate media had thoroughly demonized. Clark’s early belief in the U.S. role turned, through harsh experience and observation of what he considered U.S. war crimes, to a determination to challenge U.S. policy and defend the victims of U.S. aggressions regardless of personal cost.

Breonna Taylor Grand Jurors File Petition Against Kentucky Attorney General

January 25, 2021 Celine Castronuovo, The Hill. Resist! Attorney General, Grand Jury, Kentucky, Police violence

Three grand jurors from the investigation into the police raid that killed 26-year-old Breonna Taylor are now calling for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) to be impeached over allegations that he mishandled the case. The jurors on Friday filed a petition with the state House of Representatives, arguing that Cameron breached the public’s trust and also misrepresented key grand jury findings, according to the Louisville Courier Journal, which first reported the complaint. A press release from the attorney representing the grand jurors, who remained anonymous to protect their identities, said of the jurors, “it is truly a testament to the Kentucky Constitution that they are able to be here today and to expose injustice and demand public accountability.”

More On Mueller’s Forensics-Free Findings

June 7, 2020 Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, Consortium News. Educate! Attorney General, Congress, DNC, RussiaGate

At the time of our Memo, it was already clear that Mueller’s findings would be fatally incomplete. We were virtually certain that Mueller’s report would lack the forensic findings that we VIPS had arrived at through the kind of rigorous investigation that the FBI avoided doing. So we gave our Memo to you with the title: “Mueller’s Forensics-Free Findings”. Sans forensics, Mueller’s report fell far short of Rosenstein’s earlier commitment “to ensure a full and thorough investigation”. It was also clear to us that relying for forensics on CrowdStrike, a private cyber-security firm of checkered reputation, picked and paid for by the Democratic National Committee, would signal a conflict of interest on this controversial issue. Now we know a lot more as a result of testimony released last month (but widely ignored in Establishment media).

Bar Barr Or Regret This Dictatorial Attorney General

January 21, 2019 Ralph Nader, Nader.org Resist! Attorney General, New Economy, Trump Administration

Many Senate Democrats are throwing in the towel on the nomination of William Barr for Trump’s Attorney General (a prospect assured by Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, declaring his personal vote against Barr). Let’s ask why? One would think that Senate Democrats would be appalled at Barr’s long-time unyielding conduct and writings asserting that the President can start any wars he wants even if Congress votes against it! An example of this is the constitutionally undeclared criminal invasion of Iraq by George W. Bush. Barr was also George H.W. Bush’s Attorney General and has been a long-time defender of executive branch lawlessness.

Nominee For US Attorney General Will Not Take Action Against State-Sanctioned Marijuana Industry

January 19, 2019 Staff, Norml.org Educate! Attorney General, Marijuana

Washington, DC: The Trump administration's nominee for US Attorney General, William Barr, during Senate testimony on Tuesday affirmed that he would not use the power of the Justice Department to target marijuana-related activity in jurisdictions where the plant is legally regulated. In response to a question posed by Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Barr said, "My approach ... would not be to upset the settled expectations and the reliant interests that have arisen as a result of the Cole memorandum." The 2013 Cole memo, which was rescinded by former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, directed prosecutors not to interfere with state legalization efforts and those licensed to engage in the plant's production and sale...

11 States Sue EPA Over Chemical Accident Safety Rule

July 25, 2017 Staff, www.ag.ny.gov Resist! Attorney General, Chemicals, EPA, Lawsuit, New York (NY)

By Staff of Attorney General of NY - NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, leading a coalition of 11 state Attorneys General, today filed a lawsuit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for illegally delaying a vital rule meant to protect communities, workers, and first responders from dangerous chemical accidents. The rule – the Accidental Release Prevention Requirements or the “Chemical Accident Safety Rule” – makes critical improvements to Congressionally-mandated protections against explosions, fires, poisonous gas releases, and other accidents at more than 12,000 facilities across the country—including over 200 in New York—that store and use toxic chemicals. The lawsuit is led by Attorney General Schneiderman and signed by the Attorneys General of New York, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Click here to read the lawsuit. “Protecting our workers, first-responders, and communities from chemical accidents should be something on which we all agree. Yet the Trump EPA continues to put special interests before the health and safety of the people they serve,” said Attorney General Schneiderman.

Jeff Sessions Doubled Down On Immoral, Racist, And Counterproductive War On Drugs

May 15, 2017 Udi Ofer, www.aclu.org Educate! Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, Trump Administration

By Udi Ofer for ACLU - So when most Americans learned that the incarceration rate in the United States began to decrease and that overall crime rates were at historic lows, they cheered the news. Advocates on the right and left called it a good beginning, the dawning of a new era of a smarter and more equitable criminal justice system, while at that same time recognizing that there is much more work to be done. President Donald Trump and his attorney general don’t like this new direction, and they’re doing everything in their power to paint a disturbing and even apocalyptic vision of America — one that is now being used to justify draconian policies that will lead to more Americans in prison. Listening to Attorney General Sessions and to President Trump, you would think that America is living through a crisis of crime. Sessions constantly talks about a crime epidemic, selectively using statistics in a way that is misleading, and sometimes even outright lying. In his swearing in, Attorney General Sessions talked about a "dangerous permanent trend" of increasing crime. Yet that was a lie. There is no evidence of a national crime wave, as right now we’re living at a time when the crime rate is historically low.

Sessions: Shameful And Stupid On Street Crime, Soft On Corporate Crime

May 13, 2017 Robert Weissman, www.commondreams.org Educate! Attorney General, Trump Administration

By Robert Weissman for Common Dreams - The Sessions approach will throw thousands of people – especially Americans from communities of color or with low-incomes – into prison needlessly, sabotaging their life chances and increase post-release criminality. It is shameful and stupid. Shameful because there is overwhelming empirical evidence that this approach unfairly targets and damages young people of color. And stupid because there is, equally, overwhelming empirical evidence that it will create a cycle of crime. At the same time that Sessions is announcing a clampdown on nonviolent, low-level offenders, Session’s Department of Justice is expected to announce resolution of a longstanding major corporate crime case: allegations of a massive Wal-Mart bribery scheme in Mexico and perhaps other countries. If news reports of the settlement are accurate, the settlement will involve a slap-on-the-wrist fine; no individual prosecutions; and a non-prosecution agreement with the Wal-Mart company, in which the company avoids prosecution in exchange for a promise not to break the law in the future – a meaningless commitment since the company is required to follow the law with or without an agreement with the Department of Justice.

Jeff Sessions Orders Harsher Sentences, Taking U.S. Policy Back To 1980s

May 13, 2017 Elisabeth Garber-Paul, www.rollingstone.com Educate! Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, Trump Administration

By Elisabeth Garber-Paul for Rolling Stone - On Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo ordering Justice Department staff to charge criminal suspects – specifically low-level, non-violent drug offenders – with the most severe crime possible and pursue the toughest sentences allowed, rolling back progress made under the Obama administration. The two-page memo, released to the public Friday morning, requires federal prosecutors to pursue the toughest possible charges and sentences against suspects. "It is core principle that prosecutors should charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense," he wrote. "This policy confirms our responsibility to enforce the law, is moral and just, and produces consistency." This rolls back the 2013 directive from former AG Eric Holder, known as the Holder Memo, which advised federal prosecutors to use their discretion when building a case against non-violent drug offenders, as a way to reserve harsh mandatory minimum sentences only for violent or high-level drug crimes. Under the new order, there is still room for prosecutors to decide to pursue less severe charges – but those decisions must be cleared with Sessions' office, which presumably will be a difficult process.

Why Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III Is Unfit To Be Attorney General

April 24, 2017 Bill Blum, www.truthdig.com Educate! Attorney General, Trump Administration

By Bill Blum for Truth Dig - Judge Watson clearly had the authority to render his decision. After all, the principle of judicial review—the power of the courts to declare acts of Congress and the executive branch unconstitutional—has been a bedrock tenet of American constitutional law since Marbury v. Madison was decided in 1803. I don’t fault Sessions for expressing his disappointment with the substance of Watson’s ruling. Lawyers and judges routinely disagree on matters of constitutional interpretation. All things being equal, I’d even give him a pass for apparently forgetting that Hawaii is a state, albeit one consisting of several islands. But things are rarely, if ever, equal when it comes to Sessions, especially when race, ethnicity or issues of minority rights enter the picture. Would Sessions have been equally dismissive if Judge Watson were white, or if the judge’s order had not benefitted Muslims, who comprise a statistically small but increasingly scapegoated religious community in the U.S.? Compare Sessions’ comments about Watson with the jubilation he expressed last June when the Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 in the case of United States v. Texas regarding the Obama administration’s deferred deportation program for the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens (DAPA)...

Confirmation Hearing; Sessions Opposes Protections For Reporters Publishing Leaks

January 13, 2017 Kevin Gsoztola, www.shadowproof.com Educate! Attorney General, Journalism, Leak

By Kevin Gsoztola for Shadow Proof - Republican Senator Jeff Sessions opposed protections for reporters, who have viewpoints and publish contents from national security leaks, during his confirmation hearing for the position of Attorney General. Asked by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar about upholding rules adopted by the Justice Department and avoiding the jailing of journalists who do their jobs, Sessions said, “I’m not sure. I have not studied those regulations.” Sessions suggested there were “few examples,” where the press and Justice Department disagreed on issues. “For the most part, there is a broadly recognized and proper deference to the news media.”

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