Attorney General

Law Prof’s Controversial Nomination Moves Once Again to Full Senate

The Senate Judiciary Committee has once again given its approval to the nomination of a controversial law professor to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. The committee voted to approve Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen by a 12-7 party line vote and sent the nomination to the…

Mar 5, 2010 5:41 PM CST

Obama Advisers Likely to Recommend Military Trial for 9/11 Mastermind

President Obama’s advisers are about to recommend a military trial for the man who has taken credit for masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks, a published report says. Anonymous administration officials told the Washington Post that the advisers are close to completing a review of the case of 9/11 mastermind Khalid…

Mar 5, 2010 12:28 PM CST

ABA Prez Defends Lawyers Dubbed ‘Al Qaeda Seven’

Updated: ABA President Carolyn Lamm on Thursday criticized efforts to smear the reputation of Justice Department lawyers who at one point represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay. “Impugning the character of lawyers who have sought to protect the fundamental rights of unpopular clients is a divisive and diversionary tactic,” Lamm said…

Mar 4, 2010 10:10 PM CST

Harvard Prof Tribe to Join DOJ to Help Boost Legal Access for Poor

Noted constitutional casebook author Laurence Tribe is headed to the U.S. Justice Department. The Harvard Law School professor and U.S. Supreme Court litigator will take a leave of absence to focus on increasing legal access for the poor, the Washington Post reports. The story is based on information from two…

Feb 26, 2010 12:04 PM CST

Md. AG Says State Will Recognize Same-Sex Marriages Performed Elsewhere

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler says in a legal opinion that the state will recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Under Gansler’s opinion, married same-sex couples would no longer have to register as domestic partners to get benefits from state agencies that are accorded to heterosexual couples, the Washington Post reports.…

Feb 25, 2010 1:51 PM CST

DOJ Plans No Sanction of Yoo and Bybee Over Terrorism Memos

In an about-face from earlier internal recommendations that two former Department of Justice lawyers be pursued for alleged ethics violations concerning their authorship of legal memoranda blessing controversial interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects, the DOJ has declined to adopt findings by the Office of Professional Responsibility that John Yoo and…

Feb 20, 2010 12:15 AM CST

Obama to Help Pick Site for Khalid Sheik Mohammed Terror Trial, Military Tribunal Possible

Responding to political backlash, President Obama plans to insert himself into the decision about where to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the accused mastermind behind the 9-11 terror attacks. The president initially delegated the task of selecting a trial site to Attorney General Eric Holder in an effort to keep the…

Feb 12, 2010 11:25 AM CST

Ex-AG Mukasey: DOJ Indecision on 9-11 Trials Looks ‘Like Amateur Night’

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey slammed the Justice Department today for indecision on where to try five accused Sept. 11 plotters. In an appearance on Fox and Friends, Mukasey showed little patience when asked about an apparent flip-flop on a Manhattan venue, the Huffington Post reports. “It makes it look…

Feb 2, 2010 4:37 PM CST

DOJ Report Won’t Trigger Ethics Referral for Authors of Terrorism Memos

Former Justice Department lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo are likely to be relieved by a forthcoming report that concludes they exercised “poor judgment” in legal memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques. The report by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has been rewritten to eliminate a finding that Bybee…

Feb 1, 2010 12:59 PM CST

Sen. Wants AG to Resign; Others Also OK’d Miranda for Alleged Bomber

The Department of Justice was one of at least four agencies that approved giving a Miranda warning to alleged underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab—after he had stopped talking, according to a published report. “Knowledgeable law enforcement officials” told the Los Angeles Times that other agencies consulted included the FBI, the…

Feb 1, 2010 12:18 PM CST

John Yoo Defends Secret Class, Says Protesters Can Enroll if They Want to Attend

In an apparent effort to deter protesters potentially seeking to make a scene at a state constitutional law class taught by the controversial John Yoo, the University of California at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall kept its location on campus a secret. At least temporarily stymied, some 25 individuals gathered earlier this…

Jan 25, 2010 11:08 PM CST

Holder Touts Financial-Crimes Fight, Cites 2,800 Mortgage Fraud Probes

Attorney General Eric Holder says the FBI is investigating more than 2,800 mortgage fraud cases, five times the number probed in 2004. Holder told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today that mortgage fraud-related charges were pending against 826 defendants as of November, the New York Times reports. The Justice Department,…

Jan 14, 2010 4:52 PM CST

Kagan’s Chief Justice Slipup Has Roberts Playing Down the Job

Two justices were quick to react when Solicitor General Elena Kagan made a slipup in oral arguments yesterday on the federal government’s power to commit sexually dangerous persons. Kagan began to address Justice Antonin Scalia as “chief,” then quickly corrected herself, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times…

Jan 13, 2010 2:35 PM CST

Jon Stewart: Terrorists May Talk if Forced to Watch His Yoo Interview

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Jan 12, 2010 12:43 PM CST

DOJ Calls for Better Law Enforcement on Indian Reservations

Citing an “unacceptable tide of domestic and sexual violence” on Indian reservations, a senior U.S. Department of Justice official has called on federal prosecutors in 33 states to step up law enforcement efforts there. In a memo, David Ogden, a deputy of Attorney General Eric Holder, also promised additional troops—47…

Jan 11, 2010 9:34 PM CST