Sessions' Shorthand Cracks Up Crowd

By Kathleen Hunter | July 16, 2009 4:03 PM | | Comments (0)

Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions' attempt to shorthand a pledge to address equalizing federal sentencing for offenses involving different types of cocaine prompted heavy laughter at Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.

"We're going to do that crack cocaine thing that you and I have talked about before," Sessions promised Wade Henderson, the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, during his testimony in favor of Sotomayor's confirmation.

"We got to," Sessions continued, before being cut off by uproarious laughter.

Of course, Sessions, the panel's top Republican, was referring to the longstanding effort to equalize sentencing rules that impose harsher penalties for offenses involving crack cocaine than those involving powder forms of cocaine.

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Categories: Supreme Court

Tags: Sessions, Sotomayor

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