In a letter date January 3, 2017, to Senators Grassley, Leahy and Feinstein, 112 former United States Attorneys, most of them members of NAFUSA, urged the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to support the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General of the United States. Click here to view letter and list of signatories: usa-ltr-sessions-2
As former U.S. Attorneys, we are in a unique position to evaluate the qualifications of Senator Sessions to serve as our nation’s Attorney General. United States Attorneys are the top- ranking federal law-enforcement officials of their jurisdictions, tasked with setting enforcement priorities, building trust with the communities they serve, and protecting the public while respecting federalism, the separation of powers, and the individual rights enshrined in the Constitution. It is not an easy job, but it is one in which Senator Sessions excelled.
Senator Sessions’ record reflects his priorities clearly, and none of his work as U.S. Attorney was more impactful than his sustained effort to eliminate segregation in rural Alabama and break the back of the Alabama Klan. In addition to bringing and supporting civil rights cases to fight against voter suppression and school segregation, Senator Sessions supported the investigation into the brutal murder of an African American teenager, Michael Donald. His efforts, in coordination with state authorities, ensured that the perpetrator – the son of the Alabama Klan’s leader – received a capital sentence. Sessions’ office also prosecuted an accomplice in that case, who pled guilty and received a life sentence, the maximum penalty available in federal court at the time. These successful prosecutions helped the victim’s mother win a $7 million lawsuit against the Klan, effectively crippling it as a political organization within Alabama.
Senator Sessions served for a remarkable twelve years as U.S. Attorney. His lengthy tenure alone is impressive given the burdens of the job, which we well know. Senator Sessions’ conspicuous service to the law and all citizens has continued as a United States Senator. In his work as a leader on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he has espoused a consistent understanding of the Constitution, a commitment to the rule of law, and an unwavering respect for the mission of the Department of Justice.
During his 41 years of public service, Senator Sessions has proved to be a leader of strong principles and firm beliefs. His support for the 25-year extension of the Civil Rights Act in 2006 is evidence of this. He also has proved to be a leader who appreciates positions that differ from his own and who learns from the scrutiny that comes with public life. His openness to different thinking and other worldviews is evidenced by the recent statements in support of his nomination from colleagues across the political spectrum and his support for Eric Holder’s nomination as Attorney General in 2009.
As former U.S. Attorneys, we worked with and for many Attorneys General, each different, each with his or her own unique strengths. We have no doubt that Senator Sessions can do the job well, bringing to this critically important office his own unique and extraordinary strengths of courage, humility, experience, and an inviolable promise to treat all people equally under the law.