Jeff Sessions hails 'Anglo-American' history of U.S. sheriffs
Source: nola.com / Times-Picayune
In a fleeting comment to the National Sheriffs' Association convention in New Orleans, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday (June 18) hailed the organization's "Anglo-American" heritage. It came at the start of his address, as President Donald Trump's chief law enforcement officer accepted the association's lifetime achievement award.
"So, with 20,000 members, 75 years of history -- actually a lot more history than that, right? -- Anglo-American history," Sessions said, pumping his right fist at the phrase "Anglo-American." "The great sheriffs who are elected by the people, you are really an important part of the entire law enforcement community. This is one of the oldest law enforcement groups in the country."
That might sound like a white supremacist remark, and critics have certainly pilloried Trump, Sessions and others in the president's administration for comments and policies deemed insensitive if not outright hostile to racial minorities. Yet Sessions might have meant something altogether different: In the world of legal academia and courts, "Anglo-American law" refers not to race but to the common legal roots of England and the United States.
Indeed, an essay on the National Sheriffs' Association website says the United States imported the office and title of sheriff from England, where the job dates from the 9th century. And this was not the first time that Sessions has linked the phrase to U.S. sheriffs; he said almost the same thing Feb. 12 while speaking to the National Sheriffs' Association winter meeting in Washington.
Read more: https://www.nola.com/national_politics/2018/06/sessions_anglo-american_sherif.html
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)sakabatou
(42,204 posts)sinkingfeeling
(51,498 posts)BumRushDaShow
(130,043 posts)Strom Thurmond would be proud.
area51
(11,944 posts)why did he pump his fist during it?
ladym55
(2,577 posts)He meant it to be racist.
Jefferson BEAUREGARD Sessions is a racist--pure and simple.
Xipe Totec
(43,892 posts)pazzyanne
(6,560 posts)Racist, white supremacist trash!
byronius
(7,413 posts)dhill926
(16,390 posts)he should resign in disgrace, but of course....he's a republican....
oberliner
(58,724 posts)by Dartunorro Clark / Feb.12.2018 / 3:58 PM ET
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/jeff-sessions-remarks-anglo-american-heritage-law-enforcement-n847286
msongs
(67,502 posts)KPN
(15,679 posts)feel they are no longer necessary.
7962
(11,841 posts)"refers not to race but to the common legal roots of England & the US"
Its been referred to that way since the Colonial times. But hearing the Termite say it just sounds wrong
CurtEastPoint
(18,685 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,603 posts)That's because it is. He has absolute control over what he says and does, and of all the words in the English language, those are the ones he chose.
The only thing he left out was "Christian."
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)B Stieg
(2,410 posts)These guys believe that sheriffs are the only legitimate, Constitutional authorities in America!
NOMOGOP
(87 posts)a person hiding his real intentions will slip up and tell the truth. Though in this case, as most others, it was an accident.