Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation, threw down the gauntlet for Biden’s designated attorney general, Merrick Garland.
The New York Times, when he was nominated to the Supreme Court, The New York TImes did an analysis. In 10 of 14 cases where police criminality or misconduct were on the line. Merrick Garland sided with law enforcement, in 10 of those 14 cases, while he was a district court judge. That's not great, alright? So maybe he’s evolved. Maybe he's ready to reach a higher level. People do change and improve. But that's what Merrick Garland has to do: change and improve. And bring the DOJ to a new level of justice and fairness.
Mystal praised some of Biden’s other picks for the DOJ. But he also called for greater enforcement of the current laws against domestic terrorism, especially right-wing terrorism or white nationalist terrorism.
Insurrection is already a crime, alright? Conspiracy to commit crimes are already crimes. Felony murder is already a crime. What we need to do is not have a new surveillance state commission. What we need is to take the laws we already have and apply them to white people, for like once. Let's try it. Tastes just like chicken. But take the laws we've got and apply them to white people and see what happens because I think that's the way forward, not with new laws and new regimes and new surveillance.
This is how we make change and improvement: by keeping up the pressure on elected officials. Especially when we’re about to have a new administration that’s inclined to listen.