The Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins nomination hearing turned out to be one of the most controversial for the selection of a US attorney, and the Senate committee hit an impasse when Republicans ravaged them for their famous “do not pursue” list.
Ultimately, the 11:11 vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee was tied along the party lines. A few procedural steps are now required in order to submit your nomination to the entire senate by means of a “dismissal application”. This petition would require an entire Senate vote – where Vice President Kamala Harris may have to step in and break a tie.
And that’s just to put the final vote on Rollins’ nomination as US Attorney for Massachusetts up for debate.
In Thursday morning’s hearing, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in particular leafed through Rollins’ non-indictment list, going through count after count, and expressed concern that those who oppose arrest and shoplifting do not criminal prosecution deserve Rollins’ office eyes.
“If you’re a drug dealer, go to Massachusetts,” Cruz said.
Cruz went overboard a bit by claiming that people charged with drug trafficking in Suffolk County will never be charged, which is not true.
This came after U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, took the unusual move in early September to suspend the hearing for Rollins for a week.
“She put her pro-criminal agenda into action,” Cotton said at the hearing.
Republicans also cited Rollins’ collision with a motorist in a parking lot last year, which led to an ethical investigation. Rollins was eventually acquitted by the Attorney General.
Democrats defended them, noting that all of the current Suffolk County police chiefs – Boston, Revere, Chelsea and Winthrop – signed letters assisting them along with several Republican-appointed former US state lawyers.
“Rollins’ policies have not led to an increase in crime,” said US Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, who chairs the committee.
Rollins said in a retrospective statement that she was looking forward to the process spreading across the Senate. Throughout the process, she has touted the fact that Boston is one of the few major cities where crime has declined rather than increased this year.
US Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey continue to support Rollins, whom President Biden nominated on their recommendation.
“Today it has taken the next step towards its final confirmation and we expect our colleagues to confirm it quickly,” said the senators in a joint statement after the hearing.
If Rollins is finally approved, Governor Charlie Baker can appoint her successor, who will remain in office until voters elect a new DA in 2022.
Some of the names that have become known include Alderman Michael Flaherty, a former Suffolk County attorney who led the field in the September primary, and Danny Mulhern, Rollins’ current deputy who she has vouched for if he succeeds her. when it is confirmed.
The name of Linda Champion, a former prosecutor who previously ran for the DA, has been released along with a number of progressive activists. Some people have mentioned Boston councilor Andrea Campbell, a new mayoral candidate who received close to 20% of the vote, as a possible option, but she does not aspire to the position.
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