1,000 law professors urge rejection of Jeff Sessions for attorney general

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Jeff Sessions, Trump’s controversial nominee for attorney general (Photo: AP)

One thousand law professors sent a letter to congress on Tuesday, imploring the Senate to reject Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’s nomination for attorney general.

In the letter, the professors state several reasons why they are urging rejection. Among them are Sessions’ support for building a wall along the border between Mexico and the U.S., his skepticism about the use of fossil fuels causing climate change, his opposition to many pieces of legislation said to support women’s rights and the LGBTQ community, and his continued support for drug policies that are directly related to mass incarceration.

The professors also cite the rejection of President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Sessions for a federal judgeship in 1986, which was “due to statements Sessions had made that reflected prejudice against African Americans.” According to the Washington Post, Sessions’ former deputy Thomas Figures, himself an African American, accused Sessions of “calling him ‘boy’ on multiple occasions” and making light of the Ku Klux Klan when “saying he thought its members were ‘okay, until he learned that they smoked marijuana.’”

Despite Sessions’ rejection during the Reagan administration, the NRA has given the republican senator an A-rating and applauded President-elect Trump’s nomination of Sessions for attorney general. An early and steadfast supporter of Trump, Sessions has close ties to the NRA and promises to continue to be a champion for gun rights if confirmed for attorney general.

Sessions’ two-day confirmation hearing will begin in front of the Senate Judiciary committee on Jan. 10.

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