Sessions: ‘We have a crime problem’
AG says we don’t have a sentencing problem in US
MIDWEST CITY — Critics of criminal justice reforms approved by Oklahoma voters in November spent an hour Thursday railing against them before yielding the lectern to an apparent ally in their fight: America’s top law enforcement officer.
“Despite the national surge in violent crime and the record number of drug deaths over the last two years, there is a move to even lighter sentences,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a gathering of the state’s sheriffs. “We must be careful here. Federal prison population is down 15 percent, the average sentence is down 19 percent. Crime is up.”
Without mentioning Oklahoma’s reforms specifically, Sessions issued bleak warnings about American society — increases in violent crime, “a rise in vicious gangs,” threats from terrorism, an erosion of juvenile
discipline — during a closed-door speech in the Rose State College student center.
“I'm afraid we don’t have a sentencing problem; we have a crime problem. If we want to bring down our prison population then we should bring down crime,” Sessions said.
In his soft Alabama twang, the notoriously tough-on-crime attorney general told the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association that some sentencing reforms work. He cited the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 that eliminated the fiveyear minimum sentence for crack cocaine possession and the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act, which instituted minimum sentences and eliminated parole for federal inmates.
“Most people obey the law. They have no desire to inflict violence on their neighbors or traffic deadly drugs to suffering addicts. They want to be safe,” Sessions said. “Most crimes are committed by a relatively few number of criminals. Putting them behind bars makes us safer.”
In November, Oklahoma voters approved two state questions to reclassify minor drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. In the spring, the Legislature rejected further efforts to do so. Opponents of reform were led by Rep. Scott Biggs, R-Chickasha, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Biggs spoke before Sessions on Thursday morning as part of an hourlong verbal broadside against sentencing reform in Oklahoma and its supporters on the political left and political right, including Republican Gov. Mary Fallin and the American Civil Liberties Union.
“The ACLU spent entirely too much money to get (sentencing reform) bills to this point. They’re not going to give up on them,” Biggs said, urging law enforcement officials to remain steadfast in their opposition to reform.
Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, said in a statement Thursday that residents of Oklahoma rejected Sessions’ tough-on-crime approach when they voted for State Questions 780 and 781.
“Oklahoma voters deserve better than to be treated like idiots,” he said. “The pedantic political deception Sessions deployed today is a waste of Oklahoma voters’ time."
Kris Steele, chairman of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform and a key player in the sentencing reform efforts, said Oklahomans deserve better than to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on incarceration of nonviolent offenders while the state cuts other services and sheds teachers.
On Tuesday, when Sessions’ visit was announced, the ACLU of Oklahoma called the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association “backward-thinking.” During his opening remarks Thursday, the group's Executive Director Ray McNair said, “I’m proud to be part of this backward-thinking group today,” a remark that was met with laughter.
Rep. Tim Downing, R-Purcell, accused sentencing reform proponents of misleading voters. He told sheriffs, “The people behind the scenes know exactly what they’re doing and it’s devastating to law enforcement.”
In a fiery speech, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, said the state must ensure counties receive adequate funding to house jail inmates. Sheriffs who oppose sentencing reform do so, in part, because they fear it will increase county jail populations.
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter told sheriffs, “I can’t do anything about the decision voters made in regards to State Question 780 and 781” but added he was “greatly concerned” about claims from SQ 781 supporters that an “avalanche of money” would descend upon the state to pay for rehabilitative programs, mental health care and substance abuse treatment. He is doubtful that will occur.
Outside the event Thursday, activists sang the national anthem and chanted slogans denouncing Sessions’ approaches to crime. His speech was not open to the public, which angered many on the community college campus.
“He came to Oklahoma as a launch pad for his War on Drugs 2.0,” said protest organizer Gwendolyn Fields with the criminal justice reform group All In One. “It seeks to incarcerate more African-Americans, more poor people and more people of color.”
As Sessions’ motorcade drove by, some activists knelt and raised a clenched fist. Signs urged Sessions to “End the Drug War” and “RESIGN.” Kimberly Jackson, a Rose State College student, thanked police officers in attendance but said she has grown concerned about law enforcement actions.
“I never saw an official as someone I should fear until I learned why I should fear them,” Jackson said.
Inside the student center, speakers reiterated their tireless support for law enforcement in an era of protests over police brutality and calls for further law enforcement transparency.
“We will always seek to affirm the critical and historic role of sheriffs in our society,” Sessions said of President Donald Trump and his Justice Department, “and we will not participate in anything that would give the slightest comfort to radicals who promote agendas that preach hostility rather than respect for police.”
Hunter began his speech with a quote from “The Usual Suspects,” a 1995 movie: “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.”
“Evil exists in this world, and you can’t ignore that in the context of law enforcement,” the state attorney general said.