Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., blasted the Justice Department on Thursday for saying it would avoid terms like “felon” and “convict,” and instead use less disparaging terms in order to help people who commit crimes reintegrate themselves into society.
“Is the Department of Justice a month behind with their April Fool’s joke, or are they really this tone deaf?” Black said in a statement.
“The words ‘convict’ and ‘felon’ are not disparaging, in fact they are quite generous compared to some of the phrases we could accurately ascribe to certain criminals in the DOJ’s custody,” she added.
“While the DOJ is apparently worried about the hurt feelings of those who broke our laws, I am more interested in hearing from the families of these criminals’ victims,” she said. “I have a strong feeling this language shift is not high on their priority list.”
Last month, Black also rejected a decision by the Library of Congress to remove the terms “aliens” and “illegal aliens” from its subject headings. She said both cases show how political correctness is taking over Washington, D.C.
“Our country is in trouble and government agencies are busy thinking up politically correct terms for convicts and illegal aliens,” she said. “It defies comprehension and does not solve a single problem facing Americans’ daily lives today.”
