Attorney General

Meet Kris Kobach, Law Prof Fighting for Local Role in Immigration Enforcement

University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Kris Kobach is supporting tougher measures to fight illegal immigration in several court cases throughout the country. Kobach “is on a dogged campaign to fight illegal immigration at the local level, riding an insurgency by cities and states fed up with what they see…

Jul 21, 2009 3:16 PM CDT

Baker Hostetler Partner, Vorys Sater Associate Among US Atty Nominees

A Baker Hostetler partner and an associate at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease are among six lawyers recently nominated to serve as U.S. attorneys. Steven Dettelbach is a litigator in Baker’s Cleveland office who is a member of the white-collar defense and corporate investigations practice, Crain’s Cleveland Business reports. He…

Jul 15, 2009 11:36 AM CDT

DOJ Will Pay Yoo’s Legal Tab, But Its Lawyers Won’t Handle the Case

Former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo plans to appeal a ruling in a suit claiming his legal memos led to torture, but he won’t be represented by government lawyers. The Justice Department will drop its defense of Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, according…

Jul 14, 2009 3:22 PM CDT

Ex-Colleagues Say AG Holder Is Aging Before Their Eyes

Former colleagues of Attorney General Eric Holder say he is “working like a dog” and aging before their eyes. Holder is fielding criticism from Republicans who see him as soft on terrorism and from some Democrats disappointed to learn he is mulling the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate…

Jul 14, 2009 12:54 PM CDT

Survey Finds Immigration Judges Test High for Psychological Stress

A study has found immigration judges face the same degree of psychological strain as hospital physicians and prison wardens. Judges told researchers that they were stressed by a huge volume of cases, a shortage of law clerks and interpreters, failing computers and faulty reporting equipment, the New York Times reports.…

Jul 13, 2009 2:04 PM CDT

What Alberto Gonzales Would Like to Ask Judge Sotomayor

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has a few questions he would like to ask U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. And one of them concerns the war on terrorism. Gonzales, whose Justice Department gave legal approval for harsh interrogation techniques of terrorism suspects, writes in the New York Times that…

Jul 13, 2009 1:25 PM CDT

AG Holder May Appoint Prosecutor for CIA Torture Inquiry

Attorney General Eric Holder may appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate whether terrorism suspects were tortured during CIA interrogations. Three sources told the Washington Post that Holder has reviewed a secret CIA inspection report that details several instances that could be likened to torture. He could decide whether to proceed…

Jul 13, 2009 12:45 PM CDT

Karl Rove Testifies in US Attorney Probe

Former White House political adviser Karl Rove was questioned yesterday by lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee seeking information on the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. Committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., told Politico that the deposition began around 10 a.m. and ended at about 6:30 p.m. The transcript may eventually…

Jul 8, 2009 12:10 PM CDT

Alberto Gonzales to Teach at Texas Tech

Updated: Alberto Gonzales, who resigned his Bush administration post as U.S. attorney general in August 2007, will be teaching a political science course at Texas Tech University this fall. “It’s a one-year gig, and I’m going to come in and teach one course in the fall. It will probably be…

Jul 7, 2009 7:50 PM CDT

The ‘Roach Motel’

As the DOJ’s disciplinary agency all but disappears, judges take matters into their own hands

Jul 2, 2009 4:19 AM CDT

Report: Edwards Set as Obama VP or AG, Prior to News of Affair

A riveting book proposal by a onetime aide to John Edwards offers a number of behind-the-scenes insights into recent presidential campaigns. Among them, according to Andrew Young: now-President Barack Obama promised he would appoint Edwards to be the U.S. attorney general if he didn’t make Edwards his vice presidential running…

Jun 29, 2009 7:44 PM CDT

Meet John Rizzo, Acting CIA General Counsel

When John Rizzo retires as acting general counsel of the CIA this summer, he will leave amid controversy over his role in approving harsh interrogations for terrorism suspects. Rizzo will be remembered as the most influential career lawyer in the department’s history, the Los Angeles Times reports in a profile.…

Jun 29, 2009 6:24 PM CDT

DOJ’s Corruption Unit a Mess After Stevens Case

The Justice Department is still reeling from the abandoned corruption prosecution of former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens. And to top it off, the Washington Post reports that newly discovered evidence threatens to undermine other cases while the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section changes personnel. The Post reports specifically that the section’s…

Jun 18, 2009 10:05 AM CDT

Judge Allows Lawsuit Claiming John Yoo’s Legal Memos Led to Torture

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit claiming legal memos written by former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo led to the torture of a convicted terrorist. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco allowed most of the claims against Yoo, saying even enemy combatants retain constitutional protections,…

Jun 15, 2009 12:03 PM CDT

Conn. AG Probes Law Firms Involved in Mortgage Foreclosures

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced at a press conference today that he’s sent letters to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to find out why the same two law firms have filed almost two-thirds of the servicers’ foreclosure actions. The Hartford Courant said that it reported last year on the…

Jun 8, 2009 10:46 PM CDT