AG Jeff Sessions says Justice Department will ‘pull back’ on civil rights lawsuits against police departments 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions insisted the change in policy won't be "wrong or insensitive to civil rights or human rights,"

Attorney General Jeff Sessions insisted the change in policy won't be "wrong or insensitive to civil rights or human rights,"

 (ZACH GIBSON/GETTY IMAGES)


NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 5:19 PM



WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Department of Justice will "pull back" from the Obama administration's regular practice of suing local police departments for violating the civil rights of minorities, according to NBC News, a potentially major policy shift.

"We need, so far as we can, to help police departments get better, not diminish their effectiveness. And I'm afraid we've done some of that," Sessions told a meeting of the nation's state attorneys general in Washington, according to NBC. "So we're going to try to pull back on this."

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NBC News is engaging in what partisans call fake news.  Here is a video link on Sessions' statements, he never says what they attribute to him in the first paragraph.  In fact he notes:  "The Department of Justice has an absolute duty to insure that police operate within the law, and if they violate the law, they've committed a crime, just as much as any other citizen who commits an assault, and we'll do our duty-- I've done that as a United States Attorney to prosecute police officers who do wrong." 

NBC News and the New York Daily News have little credibility when they report without due diligence on topics so easily corroborated when people watch the actual video.  Give Sessions a little time to establish a record on what he prosecutes and what he doesn't prosecute, and then let's revisit the issue.  It's a valid fear to believe he will turn soft on civil right violations to prop up police more, but let his actual words and actions point that way, let's not create or further propagate falsified reports. 

Sessions states," we somehow undermine the respect for our police."  Most citizens are just calling for and demanding transparency and Accountability. My opinion is that Law Enforcement is undermining themselves. That is what makes their job more difficult and dangerous to them and to us. Which in turn makes them less effective in our communities. The DOJ has a duty to us and to follow the Constitution of The United States. We don't see a lot of that with the Blue Line. However, there have been recent police arrests when so much evidence has leaked out and they have no other recourse. Citizens calling for accountability are seen as the bad guys who hate cops but, it is just the opposite. We demand accountability and advocate, sometimes using sarcasm yes, to insure our Police act legally through transparency so they can do their job safely for us. We must keep them in line. They work for us! That is why we give them the tools they need and why we seek mandates for tools like body cams. To protect them from false statements and incidences that arise and, to protect us from violations of Our Constitutional Rights. Citizens need to see a clear picture of what is happening and how police are dealing with it legally, or illegally. Sessions states, "We have to help police departments get better and not diminish effectiveness and I'm afraid we have done some of this." They have! The People are calling them into account for this soul purpose. Sessions wants to "Pull-Back"  He wants citizens to live a happier and safer life. We the People have been doing that by marching and advocating and protesting. The People have a Right to demand LE do their job under the Oath they swore to uphold. "We the People" are not the bad guys here yet, we are under attack due to the incompetence of Law Enforcement. If Sessions wants to Pull-Back and Reset then he needs to start with accountability and transparency of LE. I am willing to challenge him on his statements and also willing to continue to advocate, harass and use every drop of sarcasm in my blood to get public attention to help them all reach this goal. We are not the enemy. We are victims! We will not be silenced! The wave of people video taping police is a testament to the distrust. Hopefully, our Rights will not be pushed back. Hopefully, Sessions was talking about pushing back LE. We will see...

Well said, John.  A disturbing trend in the so-called Department of Justice has been politicization, whether you object to liberal leaning Janet Reno and Eric Holden or conservative leaning Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft.  When the DOJ did get involved during the Obama reign, a lot of solid police brutality/misconduct cases with camera footage and/or plenty of witnesses were overlooked, however, unclear situations like Treyvon Martin (Florida), Michael Brown (Missouri), Dontre Hamilton (Wisconsin), etc. were actively pursued by Holder's DOJ. 

Unfortunately, agitating the base of the Democrats and scaring the base of the Republicans only works against finding a solution, since either emotions help cement those two parties and keep them from doing anything that resembles justice. 

Well, that didn't take long. looks like Sessions may not get the chance to Pull-Back. Lying under Oath to Congress... Typical. Now, let's just see if his statements about holding Officials to accountability are true. Will he admit his wrong doings and accept the consequences? I doubt it. So, let's ask ourselves again... Should we trust someone with a badge and a gun, an Official who Swore to an Oath? My answer is, NEVER!

I'd trust Sessions over Eric Holder by a loooong shot, look at all he did and didn't do under Obama. C'mon, the guy was part of the Committee on Foreign relations during his Senator days, it was expected.

I agree with Aquaman. Sessions may not be perfect but Holder was downright corrupt as was his boss.

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