Never Give Up, Never Surrender

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for cabinet nominee Jeff Sessions is scheduled for this Tuesday, so there's not a lot of time left for calling your senators.

I'm sure we've all heard about Sessions's racist comments and his actions against civil rights legislation. I want to point out two other reasons to oppose his confirmation -- especially if you live in a state with legal medical or recreational marijuana.

1) Sessions strongly opposes the legalization of marijuana, and as attorney general, there would be little to keep him from returning to the usual "war on drugs" for marijuana possession and use, even in states where it's legal. Marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug by the DEA -- meaning that it is considered to be both dangerous and to have no medical use -- and is currently only avoiding federal prosecution because of a government memo, not law.

2) Adding to the problems of #1, Sessions also supports asset-forfeiture laws, which allow law enforcement departments to seize assets (like cars and houses) without any suspect being convicted of (or even charged with) criminal activity. These laws are subject to large-scale abuse, especially since the law enforcement agencies get to keep the money they make selling off the assets. Asset forfeiture is frequently used for drug cases.

Now imagine the combination of those laws being enforced in states with legalized marijuana, where growers and dispensaries are licensed by the state -- providing a ready database of targets and their assets for seizure.

WHAT TO DO

Call your senators, especially if they sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee or if you live in a state with legalized marijuana. [See the first comment to this post for a list of the current committee members.]

Sample script: "Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Jeff Sessions as our next Attorney General because of his views on legalized marijuana and asset forfeiture laws. Sessions is completely out of step with [the majority of Americans][the people of this state], and he should not be our next Attorney General."

(If you don't already have your reps contact info, this post has links for finding them.)

From The Guardian: Senators call for declassification of files on Russia's role in US election

Seven Democratic and Democratic-aligned members of the Senate intelligence committee have hinted that significant information about Russian interference in the US presidential election remains secret and ought to be declassified.

The seven senators, including the incoming ranking member Mark Warner of Virginia, wrote to Barack Obama to request he declassify relevant intelligence on the election. They did not directly accuse the Russian government or President-elect Donald Trump, a Republican, of wrongdoing in the letter.

“We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian government and the US election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels,” wrote Warner and his colleagues Ron Wyden of Oregon, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and independent Angus King of Maine.

If you have congresspeople to call, get them to support the declassification and demand that the information be released to the public.

(You can download the letter here)