Why I told the Senate that Jeff Sessions thought civil rights groups were ‘un-American’

Washington Post ^ | 11/23/2016 | By J. Gerald Hebert

[SeekAndFind]

J. Gerald Hebert is director of the voting rights and redistricting program at the Campaign Legal Center. From 1973 to 1994, he served in the Justice Department as acting chief, deputy chief and special litigation counsel in the voting section of the civil rights division.

___________________________________________________________

I was a young lawyer in the civil rights division at the Justice Department in 1981 when I first encountered Jeff Sessions. At the time, Sessions was the new U.S. attorney for Alabama. I met him while I was handling a major voting rights case in Mobile, and I relayed a rumor I’d heard: A federal judge there had allegedly referred to a civil rights lawyer as “a traitor to his race” for taking on black clients. Sessions responded, “Well, maybe he is.”

Five years later, that startling incident came up again, after Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship. The American Bar Association contacted me and my supervisor to ask for background on Sessions, as was standard in those days for judicial confirmations. I told the ABA about conversations I’d had with the U.S. attorney in which he referred to the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union as “un-American.” As he saw it, by fighting for racial equality, these groups were “trying to force civil rights down the throats of people who were trying to put problems behind them.”

I assumed that my deposition for the ABA would remain confidential, until one day, I got a surprise call. A car would be picking me up at the Justice Department in 30 minutes to take me to the Hill, where I would testify about Sessions in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

When I arrived, Sen. Jeremiah Denton of Alabama and a congressional staffer took me into a back room.

[Lopeover]

Blah, Blah, blah.... more Pysops from the crazy leftist fascist media! If Hillary can embrace a former KKK grand pooh bah, this is a nothing burger!

[ifinnegan]

I was hearing Sessions is going to shut down dope in the states where they voted to legalize it.

[boycott]

"J. Gerald Hebert is director of the voting rights and redistricting program at the Campaign Legal Center. " -- In other words, useless. I heard J. Gerald Hebert has sex with goats. Therefore, it must be true.

[FredZarguna]

So, this (alleged) lawyer gave defamatory testimony against Sessions on the basis of a rumor he'd heard, a rumor now being reported by FakeNews® outlet WaPo as an established fact, and we're supposed to take these smears seriously? Not even the full quote that was the basis for this rumor was given by this FakeNews® website.

[Dave Wright]

This is part of an orchestrated smear campaign that carries on the great tradition of Teddy Kennedy by “borking” any apostate of the liberal cannon. Based on the testimony of several black attorneys that have worked with Sen. Sessions throughout his career he is fair minded and as far from a racist as you can get.

[Gunslingr3]

I’m sure the 10th amendment will remain dormant and trampled regardless of who is office.

[NTHockey]

>>I relayed a rumor I’d heard: A federal judge there had allegedly referred to a civil rights lawyer as “a traitor to his race” for taking on black clients. Sessions responded, “Well, maybe he is.”<<

I heard a rumor that all Democrats lie. I told a Democrat that and he said: “Yes, they do”.

My rumor has as much credibility as his does.

[ConsCA]

“I was hearing Sessions is going to shut down dope in the states where they voted to legalize it.”

I really hope so. That stuff is evil along with the people who imbibe and sell it. The “dispensaries” are nothing but fronts for dealers.

[Bayan]

Democrats lie as naturally as they breathe.

[Chaguito]

As I told my wife, Robert Byrd is lucky he wasn’t in Alabama when Sessions broke the back of the KKK.

[trebb]

LOL! The idiot has no concept of wry humor. I pictured how Jesse J and the Rev Al are traitors to their race for the crap they do.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

I didn’t hear the author speak up against the unethical, politically corrupt behavior of Democrat Attorney Generals (Reno - WACO, the RICO mafia case LIUNA, which she quashed); Holder - just about anything relating to the police or race; Loretta Lynch, the Holder clone).

If it was his duty to speak up about Sessions, then why wasn’t it his duty to speak up about these three political cretins?

Being a hypocrite is no way to go through life!

[Carry me back]

Many are looking for handouts.