--- title: Read the Coretta Scott King Letter Banned From Senate Debate description: Senator Elizabeth Warren was prevented from reading the letter during the debate over the nomination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General canonical: https://time.com/4663497/coretta-scott-king-letter-warren-senate-sessions/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-08T06:35:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:16:06.487Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Read the Coretta Scott King Letter Banned From Senate Debate og:description: In the letter, King accused Jeff Sessions of "reprehensible conduct" og:url: https://time.com/4663497/coretta-scott-king-letter-warren-senate-sessions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db0b0e084603e6d/6988b93897cdff84c16af68a/gettyimages-56710525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Coretta Scott King og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Coretta Scott King Letter Banned From Senate Debate twitter:description: In the letter, King accused Jeff Sessions of "reprehensible conduct" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db0b0e084603e6d/6988b93897cdff84c16af68a/gettyimages-56710525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is the Coretta Scott King Letter That Elizabeth Warren Was Prevented From Reading in the Senate > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=064de846-e16e-42dc-a66c-70bbd34e2e97&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: GOP Senators Silence Elizabeth Warren for Quoting Coretta Scott King Letter [Watch (HLS stream): GOP Senators Silence Elizabeth Warren for Quoting Coretta Scott King Letter](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YWELpAg3.m3u8) (2:19)  _Published 2017-02-08. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has earned a rare rebuke by the Senate for quoting Coretta Scott King on the Senate floor._ by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Feb 8, 2017 6:35 AM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Feb 8, 2017 6:35 AM UTC Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced on Tuesday night during the Senate [debate](http://time.com/4656534/jeff-sessions-senate-committee-approval/) over the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General after she quoted a letter written by the late Coretta Scott King in which King spoke out against Sessions’ character, the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/07/republicans-vote-to-rebuke-elizabeth-warren-for-impugning-sessionss-character/?utm%5Fterm=.a1b3213232c9) and other outlets reported. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said that Warren had “impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama,” referring to Sessions; the Republican-held Senate then voted 49 to 43 to uphold the objection that she had breached the rules of debate. The letter in question, [first published publicly](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/10/read-the-letter-coretta-scott-king-wrote-opposing-sessionss-1986-federal-nomination/?utm%5Fterm=.1c27bfe09386) by the Washington _Post_ last month, was written by Martin Luther King’s widow to Senator Strom Thurmond in 1986, when Sessions was nominated to serve as a federal judge. King was writing the letter to “express \[her\] sincere opposition” to the confirmation of Sessions, who, she wrote, had “used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now seeks to serve as a federal judge.” The full text of that letter is below: --- > “” --- ## Transcript I'll pick up then, with Mrs. King's letter to the Judiciary committee when the Judiciary committee was considering, not then Senator Sessions, nominee Sessions for a position on the federal bench. Fathers, sons, and brothers- Mr. President. They are- Mr. President. Majority leader. The Senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama, as warned by the Chair. Senator Warren quote said, Senator Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens. I call the Senator to order, under the provisions of rule 19. Mr. President? [ INAUDIBLE ] Messages. [ INAUDIBLE ] Senator for messages. [ INAUDIBLE ] Mr. President, I am surprised that the words of Coretta Scott King are not suitable for debate in the United States Senate. I ask leave of the Senate to continue my remarks. Is there objection? Object. I appeal the ruling- Objection is heard. The Senator will take her seat. Mr. President, I appeal the ruling of the Chair, and I suggest the absence of a quorum. On this motion, the yeas are 43, the nays are 50, the motion is not agreed to. Tonight, I wanted to read that letter and Senator Mitch McConnell and the Republicans came to the floor to shut me down for reading that letter. So, right now, what I'd like to do, I'm outside the Senate, I just want to read the letter. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office. To chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district, he now seeks to serve as a federal judge. This simply cannot be allowed to happen. Mr. Sessions conduct as a U. S. attorney, from his politically motivated voting fraud prosecution To his indifference toward criminal violations of civil rights laws indicates that he lacks the temperament, fairness, and judgement to be a federal judge. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4663497/coretta-scott-king-letter-warren-senate-sessions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4663497/coretta-scott-king-letter-warren-senate-sessions/"},"headline":"This Is the Coretta Scott King Letter That Elizabeth Warren Was Prevented From Reading in the Senate","datePublished":"2017-02-08T06:35:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T07:16:06.487Z","description":"\"He has used the awesome powers of his office ... to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters\"","url":"https://time.com/4663497/coretta-scott-king-letter-warren-senate-sessions/","keywords":["Race","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db0b0e084603e6d/6988b93897cdff84c16af68a/gettyimages-56710525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db0b0e084603e6d/6988b93897cdff84c16af68a/gettyimages-56710525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Coretta Scott King","caption":"Coretta Scott King","creditText":"Hulton Archive—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/race/","name":"Race"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4663497/coretta-scott-king-letter-warren-senate-sessions/","name":"This Is the Coretta Scott King Letter That Elizabeth Warren Was Prevented From Reading in the Senate"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"GOP Senators Silence Elizabeth Warren for Quoting Coretta Scott King Letter","description":"Sen. 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