SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 2

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down the opportunity to consider litigation questioning California gun laws. Justices denied the challenge, effectively upholding the Ninth Circuit appellate court’s affirmation of the state’s ten-day waiting period on most firearms sales. Denial of certiorari comes amid a backlash to Second Amendment absolutism in the wake of yet another mass shooting. Demonstrations calling on Congress to enact stricter gun control laws have been led by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.–where a gunman last week killed…

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The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced criminal justice reforms for the second consecutive Congress–this time, with the executive branch kicking and screaming. The panel marked up legislation in a 16-5 vote the day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions publicly criticized the proposal, which would enhance re-entry programs and reduce some mandatory minimum sentences with retroactive effect. On Wednesday, Sessions sent a letter to Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) outlining his opposition. In 2015, when the bill first cleared the committee, then-Sen. Sessions (R-Ala.) was…

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions fumed on Monday morning at one of his former Senate colleagues for holding up Justice Department nominees in retaliation for a potential crackdown on recreational cannabis. Speaking before the National Sheriffs’ Association winter meeting in Washington, Sessions hit out at Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) without mentioning the lawmaker by name. “It’s just getting to be frustrating,” the top federal prosecutor said. “I gotta tell you.” Sessions noted how the DOJ was being “blocked” from getting top Deputy Attorney General positions confirmed. The…

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The chances for even modest criminal justice reform during the Trump era might seem remote. But the Senate Judiciary Committee is giving it a try. On Wednesday, the Committee begun consideration of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, legislation with twenty cosponsors from both parties in the upper chamber. A mark-up vote will be held next week by the committee. In October 2015, the panel advanced the proposal in a 15-5 vote. If enacted, the bill would reduce some mandatory minimum sentences, with retroactive effect,…

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The nominee to be the top lawyer at the Pentagon told senators that a new war authorization would be needed for US forces to remain in Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS). Paul Ney made the comments on Thursday, at his confirmation hearing. Ney was tapped by President Trump to be the chief lawyer for the Defense Department. The analysis could complicate war plans laid out by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Last month, Tillerson called for an indefinite US military presence…

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Officials from the Department of Homeland Security won’t release an inspector general report to a US Senator, prompting new concerns that the Trump administration is trying to muzzle oversight. The exchange occurred during a roundtable discussion Wednesday between officials from DHS and lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) raised the department’s recent decision to withhold from lawmakers and the public a watchdog report finding that the Trump administration broke the law while implementing its Muslim travel ban last year. The report…

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