Markey and Warren defend Suffolk DA Rollins in debate over her US attorney nomination ahead of key Senate vote

“Rollins has proven that progressive policies can be effective in curbing serious crimes that seem to frustrate their opponents,” Warren continued. “Rollins’ policies have helped contain crime in our state, but it’s also the strong partnerships it has forged with law enforcement in Suffolk County” that have been critical to its success.

Warren said the resistance to Rollins’ was “extremely disrespectful” to the many Massachusetts law enforcement agencies who supported her nomination.

Markey, also a Democrat, supported Rollins alike in an earlier speech.

“Opposition to Rachael Rollins is nothing more than a deeply partisan ploy to gain political points at the expense of the files of a respected, skilled, courageous, black, female and progressive prosecutor,” said Markey. “It is objectionable and does not serve public safety in Massachusetts or any country in our country.”

The Senators of Mass. her peers spoke ahead of an expected Senate vote on whether to move her nomination up or down from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the full chamber for a final vote.

The committee blocked, on strictly partisan lines, whether to postpone Rollins’ nomination across the Senate on September 11-11, leading to the vote scheduled for Thursday.

In his speech, Markey commended Rollins for aggressively prosecuting the worst crimes, including fentanyl murder and drug trafficking, and said crime had declined in Boston during her tenure as district attorney.

“Rachael Rollins is a prosecutor at her core, but she also believes in restorative justice and is one of Massachusetts’ greatest lawyers for crime victims,” ​​said Markey.

Rollins’ critics have resisted its policies of not prosecuting a number of low-level crimes, and during their committee hearing in September, GOP senators portrayed them as gentle on crime.

“Miss Rollins seems to measure success as a prosecutor not by how many victims and innocent people she protects, but by how many criminals she keeps from harm,” said Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, during the September hearing. “If she is confirmed as a US attorney, the cartels and gangs that fuel violence and death in our communities will be cheerful.”

But Markey pushed that rhetoric back during his speech on Thursday.

“District Attorney Rollins’ has a clear eye on her commitment to justice,” said Markey. “Justice for victims, justice for families, justice for children, and justice for communities that have historically not benefited from a system that has punished color, class and creed. She is working to restore confidence in the system by building a system that works for everyone. “

Cotton, however, redoubled his remarks in September with a bellicose speech on his own Thursday.

“Rachael Rollins is so radical that she is unprecedented as a candidate,” Cotton said on Thursday. “What do you think she will do with our federal penal laws? … President Biden should withdraw Mrs. Rollins’ nomination immediately and consider removing someone who would actually be a prosecutor rather than a pro-criminal from the police activists to serve as a US attorney in Massachusetts. “

Material from previous Globe stories has been used in this report.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/02/metro/markey-warren-defend-suffolk-da-rollins-nomination-serve-us-attorney-mass-ahead-key-senate-vote/