Attorney General

4 Cops, 2 Supervisors Charged Over Katrina Danziger Bridge Deaths

Four police officers and two supervisors have been federally indicted in a civil rights case over civilian deaths on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Exactly what they have been charged with isn’t yet clear, reports CNN, and a news conference is planned by…

Jul 13, 2010 8:49 PM CDT

DOJ Files Suit Challenging Ariz. Immigration Law

Updated: The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit that challenges Arizona’s new immigration law and seeks an injunction to halt enforcement. The suit, filed in federal court in Phoenix, claims the the Arizona law is pre-empted by federal law, according to the Washington Post, Fox News and the…

Jul 6, 2010 7:15 PM CDT

AG Holder Works to Jay-Z During the Day, Sound of Silence at Night

Attorney General Eric Holder makes his most difficult decisions in the middle of the night, including his determination to try Sept. 11 detainees in New York. Holder picked the New York venue at 1 a.m. at his home while eating Chips Ahoy, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper notes his…

Jul 6, 2010 1:52 PM CDT

Ex-DOJ Lawyer Blames Dismissal of New Black Panther Case on Reverse Racism

A former Justice Department lawyer says officials ordered him to drop charges in a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party in a decision he says is symptomatic of the administration’s reverse racism. J. Christian Adams, now a Virginia lawyer and conservative blogger, told Fox News…

Jul 2, 2010 12:18 PM CDT

AG Arrives in Afghanistan to Discuss Corruption Crackdown

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is in Afghanistan to discuss a crackdown on corruption and other law enforcement issues. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had pledged to crack down on corruption, but critics say he’s been too slow to address the problems, report Reuters and CNN. Holder is the first U.S.…

Jun 30, 2010 1:32 PM CDT

Eliot Spitzer Has a New Job on CNN

A prostitution scandal hasn’t totally derailed the career of Eliot Spitzer, New York’s former attorney general and governor. This fall, Spitzer will co-host a new hour-long primetime news program on CNN that will take the form of a “roundtable discussion,” the network’s Political Ticker blog reports. The other host is…

Jun 23, 2010 4:48 PM CDT

Former Attorney General Gonzales Will Be Writing this Summer

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has summer plans: He’ll be completing his memoir. The book will cover Gonzales’ years in Washington, D.C., Texas Lawyer reports. Gonzales told the publication he plans to “open up” in the book, and he’ll be getting into some controversial issues. Gonzales just completed a “one-year…

Jun 23, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

‘Sting Operations’ at Real Estate Closings Help Feds Nab Mortgage Fraud Suspects

Federal prosecutors this week announced stepped-up enforcement against mortgage fraud and, at least in Georgia, they are apparently using a new weapon to pursue such cases. U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates says “sting operations” at the real estate closing table are becoming part of the prosecution arsenal to combat mortgage…

Jun 18, 2010 11:20 PM CDT

Utah AG Tweets Updates on Firing Squad Execution of Man Who Killed Lawyer

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was thinking about the victims before the firing-squad execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner. Shurtleff expressed his thoughts on Twitter, according to stories by BBC News and the Telegraph.Co.UK. Gardner, convicted of killing a lawyer and wounding a bailiff in a courthouse escape attempt, was executed…

Jun 18, 2010 11:34 AM CDT

AG Says Pakistani Taliban ‘Facilitated’ Times Square Car Bomb Attempt

A group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban “facilitated” an attempted car bombing in New York City’s Times Square, said Attorney General Eric Holder today in a written statement announcing an indictment against a suspect in the failed attack. Faisal Shahzad, 30, who was born in Pakistan and is a naturalized…

Jun 17, 2010 11:35 PM CDT

Criminal Fines Could Boost BP’s Legal Costs to Nearly $63B, Analyst Says

Criminal fines against BP for violations of environmental laws for the Gulf oil spill could boost the company’s legal costs to $62.9 billion, a legal analyst says. The New York Times reports on the estimate by analyst Pavel Molchanov of Raymond James and the potential for environmental prosecutions. Yesterday BP…

Jun 17, 2010 12:54 PM CDT

Bryan Cave Partner Grilled on Terrorism Article at Deputy AG Confirmation Hearing

Bryan Cave partner James Cole defended a terrorism article he wrote for Legal Times in 2002 during a hearing yesterday on his confirmation to become deputy attorney general. The article had criticized the Bush administration’s war on terrorism, report the Washington Post and Reuters. “The attorney general is not a…

Jun 16, 2010 3:25 PM CDT

Lawyer Tells 9th Circuit: Detainee’s Suit Against John Yoo Could ‘Open the Floodgate’

A lawyer arguing on behalf of John Yoo told an appellate panel on Monday that the former Justice Department official can’t be liable for his legal advice on national security. Lawyer Miguel Estrada is defending Yoo in a torture lawsuit brought by former detainee Jose Padilla, held for three years…

Jun 15, 2010 3:11 PM CDT

Sirhan May Have Plotted to Assassinate Ted Kennedy, Too, Says FBI

The man convicted of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 may also have tried to put a contract out on his younger brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, in 1977. An unidentified fellow inmate at the federal prison at Soledad, Calif., where Sirhan Sirhan was incarcerated told the Federal Bureau of…

Jun 14, 2010 7:00 PM CDT

SG: Bureau of Prisons Supplied Wrong Info to SCOTUS in Landmark Juvenile Case

Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal has notified the U.S. Supreme Court that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons supplied incorrect information about six juvenile prisoners that was cited in a recent landmark decision on juvenile sentencing. The Supreme Court ruled on May 17 in Graham v. Florida that a sentence of…

May 28, 2010 1:48 PM CDT