Rachael Rollins, the former Suffolk County district attorney, was sworn in as the next United States Attorney for Massachusetts, becoming the first Black woman to be the top federal prosecutor in the state, according to WCVB.
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Rollins was nominated by President Joe Biden in July 2021 and the U.S. Senate barely confirmed her to be the next U.S. attorney in Massachusetts a month ago. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote in favor of Rollins.
From MassLive.com:
โIโm deeply honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve my community, my commonwealth and my country as the next United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts,โ Rollins said in a statement at the time. โEvery policy and initiative that I have put in place as Suffolk County District Attorney has been designed to improve the safety and wellbeing of the communities I serve, to improve the publicโs trust in law enforcement and our courts and to improve the fairness and equity of the criminal legal system. Iโm incredibly proud of the work every member of my office has done to achieve these goals, and Iโm grateful to have had the opportunity to lead an office of such dedicated, compassionate and talented professionals.โ
Not everyone was happy with Rollins being nominated, especially from the conservative side of the senate.
Republican senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas referred to Rollins as โextreme,โ โpro-crime,โ โradicalโ and โrevolutionary,โ according to MassLive.
Not sure being a revolutionary is necessarily a bad thing.
As district attorney in Suffolk County, she advocated for criminal justice reforms, justifying that people should not go to jail for crimes that result from mental health or addiction and said that she should focus on โseriousโ crimes like homicides, according to WCVB.
The day of Rollins being sworn in, she also tweeted a photo of her family wishing her father a happy birthday saying, โyour present is waiting at the Moakley Courthouse.โ
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