Last week, Senate Democrats took advantage of the absence of some Republican members to vote on a discharge petition for President Joe Biden's nominee to be the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins. Rollins' nomination would not have moved forward without trickery from the Democrats:
Rollins's nomination has been shelved in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee since that panel deadlocked in September on whether to report it to the Senate floor, breaking with what Democrats have described as a longstanding tradition of respecting the will of presidents and home-state senators.
The advancement of Rollins's nomination came in spite of opposition from Republicans, led by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who urged President Joe Biden to withdraw Rollins's name and nominate someone new for U.S. Attorney. . .
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer moved Thursday to dislodge the nomination from committee, and the Senate voted 50-47 to advance the process forward, with both Warren and Sen. Edward Markey defending Rollins's record and her credentials. Among the votes against Schumer's motion was former Gov. Mitt Romney, who now serves as the junior senator from Utah.
Schumer must now file for cloture to end debate on her nomination, and then call a vote for confirmation. Both votes require just a majority of the Senate, though Warren's office said it did not know precisely when those next steps would take place.
Rollins is currently the district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts, where she has a policy of presumptively declining to prosecute a shockingly long list of charges:
- Trespassing
- Shoplifting (including offenses that are essentially shoplifting but charged as larceny)
- Larceny under $250
- Disorderly conduct
- Disturbing the peace
- Receiving stolen property
- Minor driving offenses, including operating with a suspend or revoked license
- Breaking and entering — where it is into a vacant property or where it is for the purpose of sleeping or seeking refuge from the cold and there is no actual damage to property
- Wanton or malicious destruction of property
- Threats – excluding domestic violence
- Minor in possession of alcohol
- Drug possession
- Drug possession with intent to distribute
- A stand alone resisting arrest charge, i.e. cases where a person is charged with resisting arrest and that is the only charge
- A resisting arrest charge combined with only charges that all fall under the list of charges to decline to prosecute, e.g. resisting arrest charge combined only with a trespassing charge
The Heritage Foundation's Cully Stimson explained:
Despite the fact that those 15 crimes were passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by the governor, Rollins has unilaterally decreed that those 15 categories of crimes should either be “outright dismissed prior to arraignment” or, “where appropriate,” “diverted and treated as a civil infraction.”
A decision to prosecute someone for committing any of these crimes must be approved by a supervisor.
Senator Tom Cotton has dubbed the George Soros-backed Rollins, “one of the most dangerous pro-crime, anti-cop U.S [Attorney] nominees in American history.”
Rachael Rollins is one of the preeminent legal arsonists in the country. She is wholly unfit to serve as a U.S. Attorney. pic.twitter.com/tkuiDPPZ0H
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 2, 2021
Beyond her own radical policies, Rollins has the backing of a coalition of rogue Leftist prosecutors from across the country.
The pro-criminal Soros "prosecutors" are advocating for Rachael Rollins to be confirmed as a U.S. Attorney.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) October 7, 2021
This group of radicals is contributing to the crime wave across the country.
Another reason why Rollins should be rejected by the Senate. https://t.co/jyRper8fQy
It would be unseemly for the Senate to confirm someone to be U.S. Attorney who shows open contempt for the American criminal justice system. Senator Cotton wrote in the Boston Herald:
Rollins hasn’t been shy about her contempt for our criminal justice system. When asked why she became a prosecutor, she answered, “I chose to jump into this job to dismantle (the system) from the inside.” She also helped found an organization of Soros prosecutors called the “Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission,” which claims that the American justice system has “been a cruel and oppressive force of injustice for … all marginalized communities,” which she claims “isn’t a bug in the system, but a feature. It’s operating exactly the way it was designed and built to function.” Rollins has also tarred police officers as “murderers,” causing the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association to condemn her for “undoubtedly incit(ing) violence against the proud men and women of the Boston Police Department.” Her response was to accuse the Boston Police of “white fragility.” These are disqualifying views for a potential U.S. attorney.
Senate Democrats should join Republicans in voting "no" on Rachael Rollins' confirmation.