Attorney General

Obama commutes sentences of 95 federal prisoners, grants 2 pardons

Updated: More than doubling the number of federal prison sentences he has commuted during his entire time in office, President Barack Obama on Friday granted clemency to 95 inmates and pardoned two. Most were nonviolent drug offenders. A total of 184 prisoners have now been granted clemency by Obama while…

Dec 18, 2015 1:40 PM CST

Aide to Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane is convicted for email snooping in violation of court order

An aide to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was convicted of criminal contempt on Tuesday for violating a protective order by reading office emails to learn about a grand jury investigation of Kane. The aide, Patrick Reese, was convicted by a Montgomery County judge, report the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.),…

Dec 9, 2015 10:29 AM CST

Justice Department will investigate use of deadly force by Chicago police

The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will launch an investigation of the Chicago Police Department that will focus on its use of force, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on Monday. Lynch said in prepared remarks that the Justice Department will investigate whether the Chicago Police Department engaged in…

Dec 7, 2015 10:20 AM CST

Should movement to ease criminal laws extend to white-collar offenders? Coalition splits on answer

A bill that would make it more difficult to prosecute alleged white-collar offenders has exposed a rift in a coalition pushing for less punitive criminal laws. The conservative Koch brothers had joined with the U.S. Justice Department to support criminal justice reform, but they are parting ways over the House…

Nov 30, 2015 6:45 AM CST

2nd Circuit rules Justice Department doesn’t have to disclose additional drone-strike memos

The U.S. Justice Department doesn’t have to disclose about 10 documents regarding the legal basis for targeted drone killings of noncitizens overseas, a federal appeals court has ruled. The October decision by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was unsealed on Monday, report the New York Times…

Nov 24, 2015 10:25 AM CST

For-profit education company will pay $95.5M to settle illegal recruiting claim

The nation’s second largest for-profit education company has agreed to pay $95.5 million to settle civil claims it ran a high-pressure boiler sales business in which admissions personnel were paid based on the number of students they recruited. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the settlement with Education Management Corp. on…

Nov 16, 2015 1:20 PM CST

Oregon digitally surveilled Black Lives Matter supporters; state AG is ‘shocked and appalled’

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum says she was “shocked and appalled” to learn that a state Department of Justice investigator conducted digital surveillance of Black Lives Matter supporters as part of threat-assessment work. One of the targets was the Oregon Department of Justice’s director of civil rights, Erious Johnson, report…

Nov 12, 2015 10:42 AM CST

Colorado governor asks court to bar state AG from suing feds without his permission

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is asking the state supreme court to issue a legal declaration stating that the state attorney general can’t sue the federal government without his approval. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, cites three lawsuits in which the Republican attorney general, Cynthia Coffman, joined in suits against federal agencies without…

Nov 6, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Supreme Court refuses appeal in anti-gay defamation case

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a former Michigan assistant attorney general who lost an anti-gay defamation suit filed by an openly gay University of Michigan student body president. The justices on Monday let stand a ruling earlier this year by the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court…

Nov 2, 2015 4:25 PM CST

New Jersey sheriff’s officer charged with illegally giving juvenile’s mugshots to newspaper

A New Jersey sheriff’s officer has been arrested on charges that he illegally leaked arrest photos of a juvenile shooting victim to a newspaper. Mercer County sheriff’s officer Christopher J. McKenna is charged with wrongful access and disclosure of information, a third-degree felony punishable by three to five years in…

Nov 2, 2015 3:15 PM CST

Justice Department hires lawyer to fight domestic terrorism; sovereign citizens a key concern

The U.S. Justice Department has created a new position to coordinate domestic terrorism cases and identify ways to battle homegrown terrorists. John Carlin, the assistant attorney general for national security, announced on Wednesday that the position was filled this week, report NBC News, the Hill and CBS News. His prepared…

Oct 14, 2015 1:18 PM CDT

Constant filming of police officers is ‘impacting their judgment,’ Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says

Chicago police are not acting proactively, because they fear that citizens will film their actions and use it against them, or post the footage to social media, the city’s mayor Rahm Emanuel told U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch in a recent meeting. The meeting, which was private, included police chiefs…

Oct 13, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

About 6,000 federal inmates will get early release at month’s end; will crime go up?

A retroactive reduction in some federal drug sentences will begin to be implemented at the end of the month when the U.S. Bureau of prisons will release about 6,000 inmates. The number is the largest amount of federal prisoners ever released at one time, the Washington Post reports. The U.S.…

Oct 6, 2015 11:57 AM CDT

Pennsylvania AG says email linked to current state justice had racial and misogynistic jokes

Minutes after her arraignment on a new perjury charge on Thursday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane alleged that an email account linked to a state supreme court justice was used to send and receive “racial, misogynistic pornography” on state computers. The allegations concern Justice J. Michael Eakin, report the Legal…

Oct 2, 2015 1:48 PM CDT

Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane faces new perjury charge for alleged denial of secrecy obligation

The legal troubles are building for Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane. Kane was charged in August with lying about a grand jury leak and suspended from law practice in September. Now she is facing new charges stemming from her claim that she had no secrecy obligation with regard to a…

Oct 1, 2015 11:00 AM CDT