Over the past several months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a step back on federal justice reform efforts, regressing to purportedly “tough on crime” stances. From advising increased penalties for nonviolent offenders to more recently promising an increase in the use of civil asset forfeiture by the federal government, Sessions has been doing everything in his power to give the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s full support to 80s-era policies from which many conservatives have abandoned in favor of evidenced-based practices that reduce recidivism and enhance public safety.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) is FreedomWorks’ Member of the Month for March. A freshman, Rep. Biggs sits on the House Judiciary Committee and was chosen to head the Environmental subcommittee within the Science, Space and Technology Committee in the 115th Congress.

Accountability in law enforcement is one of the things that separates a free society from a police state in which the citizens live at the mercy of their government. Police are given unique powers unavailable to the rest of society, including the ability to wield deadly force. Anyone at all concerned about liberty should at least be able to agree that such authority bears watching.

On Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) delivered his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the Arizona Legislature. Coming on the heels of a phenomenal pick for the Arizona Supreme Court, Ducey's address was filled with red meat for fiscal conservatives, including promises of lower taxes and slashing unnecessary red tape, which our friends at Americans for Tax Reform have described in some detail.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich believes the state legislature should consider civil asset forfeiture reform in the 2016 session, which begins in January. He did not offer specific ideas for reform, but he acknowledged that the state's current forfeiture laws can be abused and wants to bring interested parties, including reformers and law enforcement, together to discuss what can be done.

Arizona's civil asset forfeiture laws lack any real protections for law-abiding citizens and their property. In direct contradiction with the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee the right of due process, the property owner, who may never be charged with a crime, bears the burden to prove that his property is innocent before he can get it back. That is why the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of Arizona's forfeiture laws.

Yesterday, after months of slowly moving through the legislature, a bill to repeal Common Core education standards came to the floor of the Arizona state Senate. It wasn’t a perfect bill, but it went a long way towards removing the damaging standards and restoring state control over education from an intrusive federal government.

Arizona Republicans voted to censure Senator John McCain, refusing for now to endorse his reelection in 2016. The group cited his voting record, flip-flop on border security, and public attacks on conservatives.