Political Quotes

Melvin Watt: “I guess my concern goes substantially beyond the ones that have been expressed and back to the provisions of the fourth…”

On the recordFebruary 10, 1995
I guess my concern goes substantially beyond the ones that have been expressed and back to the provisions of the fourth amendment to the Constitution which says excessive bail shall not be required, and yet here we are kind of micromanaging the State courts again and having it done by a group of people who have told us that they believe in all these States' rights, and all of a sudden we are telling the States what to do in every area of the court system, every area of the incarceration system. That is basically where I am. I mean, I just cannot understand why States' rights advocates are consistently coming into this body and micromanaging what the States have been doing. We have had no involvement in all of this time. I just have trouble understanding that.
Said by
Melvin Watt
North Carolina
Source
govinfo.gov

Editor's note · Context

Addressing concerns about federal intervention in state court and incarceration systems.

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