John,

Let’s be blunt: our criminal justice system is racist, classist, and violent.

We need to build a government that values restorative over punitive justice, and that protects our civil rights, not the wealth and political influence of powerful lobbies.

Seems self-evident, right?

So why did Chris Coons side with Republicans against President Obama and the Democrats’ efforts to appoint a qualified civil rights leader to the Department of Justice?

In 2014, Obama nominated Debo Adegbile to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice.

Adegbile is a veteran civil rights litigator who worked at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. If appointed, Adegbile would have been responsible for addressing a range of critical civil rights issues.

The Senate Democratic Caucus had the votes to confirm Adegbile...if Chris Coons and 6 other Democrats didn’t break with the party to kill his nomination.

Coons bought in to a racist smear campaign by certain law enforcement groups. He even conceded that Adegbile was qualified for the position, but said that he didn’t want to upset the law enforcement lobby by voting to advance his nomination.

What about the millions of Americans whose civil rights hang in the balance? Aren’t they worth listening to and protecting?

In this climate of rising hatred, we need elected officials who will unapologetically defend our civil rights. We can’t afford representatives who will sell us out because of bad-faith, racist smear campaigns.

Let’s retake this senate seat to fight for racial justice, together.

- Jess

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