Jeff Sessions sought a criminal investigation against a liberal group for engaging in free speech

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https://thinkprogress.org/jeff-sessions-sought-a-criminal-investigation-against-a-liberal-group-for-engaging-in-free-speech-422765a41ca8#.85mt2jg8u

Ian Millhiser
Justice Editor, ThinkProgress. Author of Injustices: SCOTUS’ History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted
2 hrs ago
Jeff Sessions sought a criminal investigation against a liberal group for engaging in free speech
That’s not how the First Amendment works.


Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department, once sought a criminal investigation against a liberal advocacy group that discouraged churches from engaging in political activity sponsored by the conservative Christian Coalition.

In a possible sign of how he will use voting laws if he is confirmed as the next Attorney General of the United States, Sessions co-signed a letter asking then-Attorney General Janet Reno to determine whether Americans United for Separation of Church and State violated a federal law providing that “whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce” someone “for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose” may be fined or imprisoned for up to a year.

The Justice Department considered Sessions’ allegation against Americans United and concluded that the law was not violated.

snip//

If Sessions is confirmed, he will serve under a president who has threatened to “open up our libel laws” to target news outlets and to strip citizenship from certain political protesters.

In other words, Trump appears to have a very idiosyncratic view of the First Amendment — and Sessions’ unusual crusade against Americans United suggests that he may share a similar view.

[annabanana]

1. kick . . .n/t

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2. K&R nt

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3. K&R