Promoted to Headline (H2) on 7/15/09:
Should Senator Jeff Sessions Serve On The the Senate Judiciary Committee?

by Dana Jill Simpson Page 1 of 1 page(s)http://www.opednews.com/articles/Should-Senator-Jeff-Sessio-by-Dana-Jill-Simpson-090714-798.html


Today is a big day for Sonia Sotomayor as they start determining whether she should be approved to be on the Supreme Court. It has recently become apparent that Senator Jeff Sessions will be a one-man bandwagon trying to play the tune that she is a racist. Truly this is ironic considering that is probably why he was not approved or confirmed to be on the Federal bench. However that is not why I am writing ya'll tonight.

I want to tell you a story about something that happened to me and why I question whether Mr. Sessions should even be allowed to sit on this important committee.

Several years ago I hired a lawyer to represent me on tax matters. At the time I was aware that my tax lawyer represented Lanny Young, who was the key witness against Don Siegelman. One day I went to my lawyer's office to sign some papers and discovered he had moved out of the building, without even telling me. I saw a dumpster that looked like a flat bed truck in his back yard. It was full of files belonging to many different people. I noticed a large number of them on top belonged to something called the "Republican Attorney General's Association" and "Republican Governor's Association."

That afternoon I called a friend who was former law enforcement and told him what I had seen. He suggested I take pictures of the dumpster. I did, and still have the pictures.

My friend also knew Lanny Young and I said to him that I didn't think it right that these files were put out there for anyone to take, and that he needed to notify Lanny as someone might steal them. A couple of weeks later, I also contacted the tax lawyer and learned he was hired in the federal public defender program in Macon, Georgia. It was a job he claimed that his good friend, Jeff Sessions, helped him get.

Shortly after, I came forward in the Siegelman case and became a witness. It was then that I became aware of the importance of those Republican Attorney General files. The importance was this: Lanny Young had provided benefit both to Republicans and Democrats and had given these files to his lawyer, who dumped them in a dumpster before the six years was up for retention of records. Those files were evidence of what went on with the Republican Attorney General's Association and were discarded before the six-year retention requirement on attorneys.

I have always wondered why Ms. Canary and her crew did not take possession of those files or give them to Siegelman or Scrushy legal team and I have wondered why they would be discarded in a dumpster when the case was still pending, but I still don't know the answers.

As many are now aware, around the time my 60 Minutes piece was to air, I was notified that this tax lawyer, who I had paid over $40,000 dollars, failed to appear at a court hearing, and a judgment had been entered against me for over $150,000. As good fortune would have it my lawyer, Ms. Duncan, who was representing me in the Siegelman matter, was able to get that judgment set aside as I had not be notified of the trial.

I suspect the Republicans would have used it against me had Ms. Duncan not found out by the good grace of God. My tax lawyer in that matter was later suspended from practicing law because of his actions in my case. After I provided pictures to the Alabama Bar Association, he did not deny discarding the files in a dumpster.

However, that brings me back to Mr.. Sessions and this is the question I have: Why is he allowed to be on the House Judiciary Committee when they are investigating the Siegelman matter?

After all he is accused of accepting gifts from Lanny Young, who is the same guy Siegelman supposedly took gifts from and was charged with.

Secondly, why did Ms. Canary allow the attorney for Lanny Young to keep the Republican Attorney General's Association records? After all, the records were evidence, so should she not have required Mr. Young to turn them over to her since he was cooperating with the government? Did she tell the Scrushy-Siegelman legal team about these records?

Then my final question is: Did Sessions help Lanny's lawyer get a Federal Defender's job - and does that explain the destruction of the records of the Republican Attorney General's Association?

With all those questions, isn't it funny that a guy who was accused of doing the same thing as Siegelman was never questioned? Isn't it also funny the lawyer didn't retain the Republican Attorney General's Association records? But after all that is said, what blows my mind most is that Mr. Sessions sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, knowing full well that he is part of the Siegelman matter and, to my knowledge, has never recused himself from this issue. He receives all the documents everyone else does on that committee - even though he could have been a party or defendant in the case.

Additionally, why would his fellow GOP'ers want a possibly compromised person on the committee? I wanted ya'll all to beware that Senator Sessions has issues and when he questions Sotomayor we should all be aware what they are.

What I find the most amusing is that this woman will get to hear the Siegelman matter if she is confirmed and I think she will get a good taste of what Sessions is all about. I don't believe he is going to come across as a guy truly concerned about our court. I suspect over the next couple of days we will see he as all about the pot calling the kettle black. In fact, maybe this will give Ms. Sotomayor a good taste of what we have been dealing with down here in Alabama.http://www.opednews.com/articles/Should-Senator-Jeff-Sessio-by-Dana-Jill-Simpson-090714-798.html

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Should-Senator-Jeff-Sessio-by-Dana-Jill-Simpson-090714-798.html didn't know if this pasted for the sessions article

Early life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Sessions

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was born in Selma, Alabama, to Abbie Powe and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Jr.[1] His father owned a general store and then a farm equipment dealership. Sessions grew up in the small town of Hybart. In 1964 he became an Eagle Scout. In his adult life, he became a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

After attending school in nearby Camden, Sessions studied at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He was active in the Young Republicans and student body president there.[2] Sessions received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Alabama in 1973.

Sessions became a practicing attorney first in Russellville and then in Mobile, where he now lives. He was also an army reservist in the 1970s, achieving the rank of captain.

Sessions and his wife Mary have three children: Mary Abigail, Ruth Walk, and Sam.

[edit] Political career

[edit] Early political career

Following a two-year stint as Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama (1975–1977), Sessions was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the United States Attorney for Alabama's Southern District, a position he held for 12 years.

[edit] Federal judgeship nomination

In 1986, Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship by President Ronald Reagan. The nomination was killed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which refused by a 9-9 vote[3] to let the nomination come to the Senate floor for a vote. Sessions's opponents accused him of "gross insensitivity” on racial issues.[4] Sessions allegedly made a variety of comments that opponents pointed to, when he jokingly said that the Ku Klux Klan was not so bad until he found out that some of them smoked marijuana.[2][4] Sessions also allegedly referred to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as "un-American" and "Communist-inspired" because they "forced civil rights down the throats of people." At his confirmation hearings, Sessions said that the groups could be un-American when "they involve themselves in un-American positions" in foreign policy.[4][4] Sessions claimed that the remarks had been made in jest.[2][4] One of those voting against him was Democratic Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama.

Sessions was quoted then as saying that the Senate on occasion had been insensitive to the rights and reputation of nominees.[3] After joining the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions remarked that his presence there, alongside several of the members who voted against him, was a “great irony.”[3] To add to the irony, after Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania left the GOP to join the Democratic Party on April 28, 2009, Sessions was assigned to be the Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee. This means that if Republicans were able to regain control of the U.S. Senate while he was still serving that he would be the chairman of the very committee that opposed his initial nomination.

[edit] Alabama Attorney General and U.S. Senate

Sessions was elected Attorney General of Alabama in November 1994. In 1996, Sessions won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after a runoff, and then defeated Democrat Roger Bedford 52%-46% in the November general election.[2] He succeeded Heflin, who had retired after 18 years in the Senate. In 2002, Sessions won reelection by defeating Democratic State Auditor Susan Parker. In 2008, Sessions defeated Democratic State Senator Vivian Davis Figures to win a third term.

Sessions was only the second freshman Republican Senator from Alabama since Reconstruction and gave Alabama two Republican senators, a first since Reconstruction. Sessions was easily reelected in 2002 becoming the first (or second, if one counts his colleague Richard Shelby, who switched from Democrat to Republican in 1994) Republican reelected to the Senate from Alabama.

[edit] Political positions

Sessions was ranked by National Journal as the fifth-most conservative U.S. Senator in their March 2007 Conservative/Liberal Rankings.[5] He backs conservative Republican stances on foreign affairs, taxes, and social issues. He opposes abortion and illegal immigration. Sessions serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee and is its only member to have unsuccessfully[clarification needed] faced the Committee before becoming a U.S. Senator. Sessions was a supporter of the "nuclear option," a tactic favored by then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in the spring of 2005 to stop filibusters of judicial nominees. When 14 Senators led by Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska struck a deal to avert the option, Sessions was one of the agreement's most severe critics.

A December 2007 poll showed Sessions with a 56-percent approval rating, with 34 percent disapproving.[6]

On September 25, 2005, he spoke at a rally attended by 400 people in Washington, D.C. in favor of the War in Iraq. It was held in opposition to an anti-war protest held the day before that was attended by 100,000 people. Sessions spoke of the anti-war protesters, saying, "The group who spoke here the other day did not represent the American ideals of freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world. I frankly don't know what they represent, other than to blame America first."[7]

On October 5, 2005, he was one of nine Senators who voted against a Senate amendment to a House bill that prohibited cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government.[8]

Sessions has taken a strong stand against any form of citizenship for illegal immigrants. Sessions was one of the most vocal critics of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Sessions was one of 37 Senators to vote against funding for embryonic stem cell research.[9]

[ Environmental record

In 2005, Sessions received a 0 percent on the Republicans for Environmental Protection's ("REP") environmental scorecard.[10] He voted in a manner inconsistent with what the REP considers pro-environment on all 15 issues considered environmentally critical by the REP. Issues in which Sessions voted "anti"-environment were all amendments to the Energy Policy Act proposed in 2005, the issue of authorizing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and fuel economy standards for vehicles.

Sessions received a 5 percent from the League of Conservation Voters ("LCV") scorecard for his pro-environment vote on the issue of natural gas facilities.[11] He voted against tabling the bill which would allow states a say in companies building new and possibly harmful natural gas facilities. This pro-environment vote, however, was balanced by his "anti-environment votes on the energy conference report, renewable energy, farm conservation programs, global warming, natural gas facilities, undermining fuel economy, increasing fuel economy, and various other issues."

In 2006, Sessions received a 0 percent from the REP[12] and a 0 percent from the LCV[11] According to this organization, he voted anti-environment on the issue of energy and weatherization assistance, drilling, environmental funding, peer review, renewable resources, and The Gulf of Mexico Security Act.


Sessions had unsuccessfully prosecuted three civil rights workers (including Albert Turner, a former aide to Martin Luther King, Jr.), on a case of election fraud for the 1984 election. Sessions spent hours interrogating African American voters in predominantly black counties, finding 14 allegedly tampered ballots out of approximately 1.7 million ballots cast. The three civil rights workers were acquitted after four hours of jury deliberation.[4]

On September 9, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Sessions called his former law professor, Harold Apolinsky, co-author of Sessions's legislation repealing the federal estate tax, which had lost momentum in Congress, and left a voicemail: "Jon Kyl and I were talking about the estate tax. If we knew anybody that owned a business that lost life in the storm, that would be something we could push back with."[13]

Sessions supported former Vice President Dick Cheney's proposal to exempt the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from any ban on the use of torture.[14]

Sessions has been opposed to parts of the Voting Rights Act, which he described as a "piece of intrusive legislation."[4] In 2006, he was in favor of letting it expire, and also said that Congress should consider if it was needed in some Northern cities and states.[15] He later voted in favor of extending it.[16][17]

Sessions has advocated the extension of FISA legislation to legalize the Bush Administration's wiretapping techniques. He compared worries about government overreach to "two dramatic errors some years ago in a situation just like this, on emotion driven by our civil libertarian friends," specifically the lack of sharing of information between the FBI and the CIA as well as prohibitions on obtaining intelligence from "dangerous" sources. Sessions was indirectly criticized for this phrasing by Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California who replied, "[Senator Sessions said] 'The civil libertarians among us' — and then he listed all the bad things he thinks the civil libertarians among us have done. I hope every one of us — every one of us in this Chamber — supports the civil liberties of the United States of America because if you don't, you don't believe in the Constitution."[18]

Sessions has been one of the most vocal critics of the reauthorization of PEPFAR in 2008. On July 14, when the bill went to debate, Sessions prepared an amendment that would allow the so-called "Helms Amendment" banning HIV-positive patients from entering the United States to be maintained, a ban that the bill would repeal. He is also opposed to the current price tag of $50 billion over five years.[19]

Sessions opposes approval of the Uniting American Families Act. In June 2009, during testimony by a 42-year-old Filipino woman who was scheduled to be deported in April 2009 despite being the mother of two American children and having a relationship for 23 years with an American woman, Sessions was audibly heard relaying to one of his aides, "Enough with the histrionics" when the woman's 12-year-old son began crying during the testimony. [20]

well first of all Jeff sessions who i think told Judge Sonia Sotomayor., she would be confirmed unless there was a meltdown which they dont expect,or maybe it was mcConnell and sessions has said he does not know how he will vote last i heard, how he votes i do not care,.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced on Friday that he would oppose the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/17/mitch-mcconnell-announces_n_237928.html
next of all the alabama former governor Don Siegelman and the super rich ,Richard Scrushy fiasco has been going on here so long ppl are sick of it.
Four months after his acquittal in Birmingham, Scrushy was indicted along with former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman on October 28, 2005, by a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama The indictment included 30 counts of money laundering, extortion, obstruction of justice, racketeering, and bribery. Although the new charges were filed a month before the previous trial ended, Scrushy's attorneys accused prosecutors of filing charges as retaliation for Scrushy's acquittal. Scrushy pleaded not guilty to all charges, but was convicted along with Siegelman in June 2006.Don Siegelman was the last democrate govenor elected,
but back to jeff sessions, he along with senator richard shelby, are super conservatives,sessions being probably a tad more conservative, the article about sessions views .the senators and most alabamians wear with a badge of honor , as alabama is a super conservative state, these 2 senators dont even have to campaign to be reelected.. and i agree with probably 95percent of jeff sessions views on the issues, of the day. and he probably is not much different than
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as for the tie in with Don Siegelman. this has been going on here for years with appeals and what ever and i have not heard anything of this,as it has faded so i put no importance to it, and it is a non issue here they are convicted and gone,now we have a black mayor of birmingham who is about to stand trial . just know shelby and sessions are very popular here . once years ago, like george wallace was a democrat , u had to be a democrat but when the democratic party started changing and went to far to the left, , ppl here and ppl elected here abandoned the democrates as Richard Shelby changed parties, now u have to be a republican to be elected here in a state wide race, only in black majority precincts will a democrat win..and thats the way it is, ,,

I don't ,care for Mitch McConnell, don't know how he keeps getting elected