Senator Jeff Sessions and his racial record

There comes a time when times passes us by. It is when one rigidly holds onto the old, unable to adjust to the new. Sort of like a fish that, through evolution, becomes a fossil. Clinging to the Ford Model T, refusing to drive the Ford Mustang. Cooking on a wood stove rather than a modern gas range.

There are some Senators that remain frozen in time, unable to cope with the new world. The Republican Party adheres to its old leaders, shunning new blood. Take Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions.

The top Republican on the Senate committee reviewing Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination said Sunday her testimony did not settle his concerns about elevating her to the Supreme Court. “I was troubled by a number of the things the nominee has said, a number of the rulings she has made,” said Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. [Townhall]

As to judges his position statement reveals:

Senator Sessions is committed to the prompt confirmation of principled, non-activist judges who are committed to the rule of law and to being neutral “umpires” for all parties that come before them. He is committed to fighting for judges who refuse to legislate from the bench and acknowledge that they are bound by the Constitution to interpret the rule of law as it is written, not as he or she would have written it.
He believes that each of the President’s judicial nominees, regardless of the party affiliation of the President, deserves a hearing before the Judiciary Committee, an expeditious vote (to recommend favorably to the full Senate or not recommend favorably to the full Senate), and a final up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. [Project Vote Smart]

Just what things did Judge Sotomayor say or rulings she made that left Senator Sessions concerned?

Just what kind of fellow is Senator Sessions? Can he objectively judge Judge Sotomayor, a female Hispanic?

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 to let the nomination come to the Senate floor for a vote. Sessions’ opponents accused him of “gross insensitivity” on racial issues. 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. 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. Sessions claimed that the remarks had been made in jest. One of those voting against him was Democratic Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama. [Wikipedia]

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. [Wikipedia]

“Sessions has long been known for his racist stands.” [News Pirates]

Here is the way Rachel Maddow sized Sessions up on May 4, 2009:

This video is 7:12 minutes long. You will have to wait until it buffers up to play. The wait is longer if you are on dialup.

But you know, whatever Senator Sessions is, he didn’t get to the United States Senate by himself. The voters of Alabama put him there. There is where the blame for Sessions lies.

Related posts:

1. The Republican vote on Sotomayor dilemma
2. The Sotomayor Vote
3. Dorothy Irene Height died today
4. Record number of candidates for voters to choose from
5. Criticism’s of Sotomayor already begun