The Department of Injustice Under Jeff Sessions

Jeff Sessions' tenure at the Department of Justice was a national disgrace. As attorney general, he was entrusted to enforce federal laws — including civil rights laws — and secure equal justice for all. Instead, Sessions systematically undermined our civil rights and liberties, dismantled legal protections for the vulnerable and persecuted, and politicized the Justice Department's powers in ways that threaten American democracy. When President Trump and his political appointees elsewhere in his administration tried to do the same, often in violation of the Constitution, Sessions' Justice Department went into overdrive manufacturing legal and factual justifications on their behalf and defending the unjust actions in court.

Sessions was aided by Trump-approved appointees who often overruled career attorneys and staffers committed to a high level of neutral professionalism. Under Sessions' political leadership, these Trump appointees have inflicted significant damage in the past two years. Together they have threatened the First Amendment rights of the press and protesters, targeted the communities Trump disfavors through discriminatory policies and tactics, attacked the ability of ordinary citizens to vote and change their elected government, vindictively retaliated against perceived political opponents, and thwarted congressional oversight of the Justice Department's activities. Those actions do not merely subvert the mission and powers of the Justice Department. They strike at the heart of American democracy by weakening individual liberty and undermining constitutional checks and balances.

Sessions' record in the Trump administration should come as no surprise. During his confirmation hearings, the ACLU among others voiced strong warnings that his long career as a prosecutor and senator was already tainted by a record of race discrimination, virulent hostility towards a diverse array of marginalized and vulnerable communities, and an overreaching, corrupt view of government powers. Sessions brought that very mindset to the office of attorney general, before being forced out by the president for the one decision he most famously got right: allowing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation implicating Trump's presidential campaign to move forward despite Trump's complaints.

This list of actions by Sessions' “Department of Injustice” should serve as a blueprint for corrective actions that need to be taken.