What did the Sessions Memo do to prior DOJ guidance?

• A. Reinstated it.
• B. Left it unchanged.
• C. Expanded it.
• D. Rescinded prior DOJ guidance.

Answer: (D)

When a new attorney general issues a memo, it often signals a shift in how policies are applied across the department. The key idea here is that the memo wasn’t about adding new rules on top of what existed or simply preserving the old rules; it took a step back and removed the previous guidance from effect.

Specifically, this memo explicitly revoked prior DOJ guidance, effectively pulling those older directives out of current operation. That’s what “rescinding” means in practice: the prior guidance is no longer in force, and prosecutors must follow the new direction issued by the memo.

It wouldn’t be correct to say it reinstated past guidance, left it unchanged, or expanded it, because none of those describe withdrawing and replacing the old rules with a new stance.