LAW & ORDER

Sessions Sends Federal Prosecutor for Trans Teen Murder Case

The move would be unusual in any Justice Department, let alone Sessions’.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly sent a federal lawyer to Iowa to prosecute a man charged with murdering a transgender teenager last year. The move—unusual for any attorney general—goes against Sessions’ policies when it comes to LGBT protections. According to the New York Times, the department rarely sends its lawyers to assist in these types of cases. “This is just one example of the attorney general’s commitment to enforcing the laws enacted by Congress and to protecting the civil rights of all individuals,” said a DOJ spokesman said. Kedarie Johnson, 16, was fatally shot last year in Burlington, Iowa. Sessions has rolled back certain workplace protections for LGBT people, and reversed the Obama administration’s guidance on transgender individuals’ ability to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.