Sensenbrenner was also the driving force behind the Real ID Act. He wanted to criminalize making indecent comments on TV, punishable with jail time.
Sensenbrenner was just as bad in 2003, when he and Sen. Hatch pushed a horrid sentencing bill to restrict judicial discretion in sentencing. Then, like now, Sensenbrenner wanted to take sentencing discretion from judges and eliminate almost every departure except for cooperation.
On other issues: Sensenbrenner was one of the few Congresspersons who voted against relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. And remember when he cut off the mikes of Democrats during a hearing on the Patriot Act because they brought up detainee treatment at Guantanamo? He has also been ethically-impaired. When he didn't get his way legislatively, he attempted to interfere in judicial decisions, prompting a state investigation into his conduct.
Sensenbrenner's antics have even made the news in Australia, prompting one writer to opine that his 2004 sentencing bill was "pious extremism" which "represents the point where the war on drugs has lost its mind."
Sensenbrenner is the poster child for term limits on Congresspersons. Isn't it time for him to retire? I've said it before and will say it again: Just Say No to Sensenbrenner. And keep your fingers crossed that the Republicans don't get a majority in Congress in November.