Sessions Praises Sheriffs For Upholding ‘Anglo-American Heritage’ Of Policing

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions holds a news conference at the Department of Justice December 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sessions called the question-and-answer session with reporters to highlight his department's fight to reduce violent crime.
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 15: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions holds a news conference at the Department of Justice on December 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sessions called the question-and-answer session with rep... WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 15: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions holds a news conference at the Department of Justice on December 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sessions called the question-and-answer session with reporters to highlight his department's fight to reduce violent crime. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday praised the “Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement” in a speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association.

“The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement,” Sessions said. “We must never erode this historic office.”

Sessions’ phrasing deviated from his prepared remarks as published by the Justice Department, where the line was “The Sheriff is a critical part of our legal heritage.”

Asked to clarify the meaning of Sessions’ improvisation, Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior told TPM by email: “Anglo-American law is another term for common law – which is the legal system that we use (as opposed to say, Napoleonic Code used in France) and is derived from the system of law that originated in England.”

“That said, I am confused as to why this is a story that you would need a comment on,” Prior added.

The word “heritage” is a loaded term often used by neo-Confederates and white supremacists to defend the public display of Confederate flags and statues.

Sessions has a history of making dubious off-the-cuff remarks about race and its role in U.S. history. In 1986, a Republican-controlled Senate once rejected his nomination to a federal judgeship after several U.S. attorneys testified that Sessions was hostile to civil rights cases and made racist remarks.

Among other comments, Sessions allegedly derided the NAACP and ACLU as “Communist-inspired” and “un-American,” and said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was alright until he heard that some members smoked marijuana.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that some local Southern sheriffs historically worked to enforce segregation and crack down heavily on civil rights movements in the spirit of the “heritage” that many modern white nationalists cite.

Latest Livewire
236
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Therein lies Sessions’ tensions with the president. Given his encouragement of police brutality, Drumpf seems more about importing the old German law enforcement heritage to America.

  2. “The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement,” Sessions said. “We must never erode this historic office.”

    That’s a pretty loud whistle.

  3. Avatar for zd123 zd123 says:

    a racist elf says what???

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

230 more replies

Participants

Avatar for valgalky23 Avatar for lestatdelc Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for ghost Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for sysprog Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for jackster Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for crackerjack Avatar for sniffit Avatar for arrendis Avatar for mike_in_houston Avatar for gr Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for tena Avatar for floydmaster Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for tsp Avatar for kwd101 Avatar for romi Avatar for jsrtheta Avatar for maximus Avatar for rascal_crone

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: