Pete Sessions: “I thank Senator Feingold for his concerns about civil liberties in America. It is important for us to give great…”

“I thank Senator Feingold for his concerns about civil liberties in America. It is important for us to give great attention to these issues. Police need to be constantly reminded of their responsibilities. I was a prosecutor for nearly 18 years full time. I have dealt with police. I remember clearly the policies for years against racial profiling. The law is against that. One of the most famous cases was 25 or 30 years ago, when an immigration officer stopped some individual in a car and arrested him for being an illegal alien. When he asked why he stopped him, he said he had a ``psychic feeling'' that there was something wrong there. The court said no. A psychic feeling is not good enough. A racial profile is not good enough. You have to have an articulable basis to make a stop. But we do not want to suggest, in my view, that this is a routine thing in America. Police officers I know, and the Federal agents I know, are very sensitive about these issues. They have been trained about them. They know precisely what they have to do. It almost takes a law degree to know what to do, but they know precisely how and when they can make stops and when they cannot. I believe consistently they follow those rules.”