Attorney General

DEA tracked billions of international phone calls in ‘blueprint’ for NSA program

In 1992, the Drug Enforcement Agency began keeping secret records of Americans’ phone calls to as many as 116 foreign countries in a program that served as a precursor to National Security Agency surveillance, a newspaper investigation has found. According to USA Today’s findings, the DEA program collected billions of…

Apr 8, 2015 8:00 AM CDT

Online art seller agrees to guilty plea in justice’s first e-commerce price-fixing prosecution

An agreement in an online price-fixing case is the Justice Department’s first criminal prosecution against an alleged antitrust conspiracy specifically targeting e-commerce. David Topkins agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing and to pay a fine of $20,000, according to a Justice Department press release. Publications with stories include the Recorder…

Apr 7, 2015 9:45 AM CDT

2nd Circuit refuses to reconsider its ruling limiting insider-trading convictions

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will not hear a challenge to a December ruling which sharply limited the ability of federal authorities to bring insider-trading cases. The New York Times reported Friday that the court issued a brief order denying a request by U.S. Attorney…

Apr 3, 2015 3:00 PM CDT

Lawyer’s proposed gay death penalty is ‘reprehensible,’ says state AG in bid to stop ballot process

California Attorney General Kamala Harris says a lawyer’s proposed anti-gay ballot measure is “utterly reprehensible” and “patently unconstitutional,” and she doesn’t want to take steps to prepare the measure for the initiative process. Harris is asking a court in Sacramento to issue a declaratory judgment relieving her of the duty…

Mar 26, 2015 7:41 AM CDT

Loretta Lynch’s attorney general nomination ‘is being held hostage,’ editorial says

More than four months after Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch was nominated for U.S. attorney general, the Senate has yet to schedule a vote on her confirmation. The New York Times editorial board doesn’t approve of the delay. Her confirmation, the board said in an editorial, “is being held hostage…

Mar 17, 2015 9:46 AM CDT

Want to tackle mass incarceration? Cap most sentences at 20 years, expert suggests

Life sentences have expanded exponentially in recent decades, and the result is an inflationary effect on all sentences, according to a sentencing-reform advocate. There’s a way to reverse the trend, according to Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project. Cap sentences at 20 years in prison, except in exceptional…

Mar 16, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Ferguson judge resigns after DOJ report; Missouri appeals judge will take over municipal docket

Updated: A Missouri appeals judge will take over the municipal court docket in Ferguson, Missouri, after a Justice Department report slammed the court for imposing fees and fines that can become crippling debt for some defendants. Municipal judge Ronald Brockmeyer, credited and criticized for generating city revenue through court fees,…

Mar 10, 2015 9:02 AM CDT

Justice Department finds ‘unconstitutional policing’ in Ferguson; racial bias, revenue focus cited

Discriminatory intent and a focus on revenue by officials in Ferguson, Missouri, are adversely affecting African Americans who are subjected to “a pattern of unconstitutional policing” in the town, a Justice Department report has found. The report, released on Wednesday, cited “substantial evidence of racial bias among police and court…

Mar 4, 2015 1:30 PM CST

Ferguson cop won’t face federal charge in Michael Brown’s death; DOJ discounts surrender accounts

The U.S. Justice Department has announced it won’t charge Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson with civil rights violations for the shooting death of unarmed teen Michael Brown. A Justice Department report said no evidence disproved Wilson’s claim that he shot Brown because he feared for his safety when the…

Mar 4, 2015 12:01 PM CST

Traffic stops by Ferguson cops are expected to be targeted in Justice Department report

An upcoming Justice Department report will criticize police in Ferguson, Missouri, for traffic stops in which blacks are disproportionately ticketed and arrested, sources tell the New York Times. The report will also criticize Ferguson for relying on fines to fill city coffers. For those who can’t afford to pay traffic…

Mar 2, 2015 9:26 AM CST

Feds won’t prosecute George Zimmerman in shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin

The fatal shooting three years ago of an unarmed Florida teenager in a gated community by volunteer neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman “was a devastating tragedy,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a Tuesday press release. However, an exhaustive investigation has failed to turn up evidence sufficient to prove beyond…

Feb 24, 2015 4:00 PM CST

American Express merchant policies are anti-competitive, judge rules

A federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled that American Express violated antitrust laws by barring merchants from encouraging customers to pay with other lower-cost credit cards. Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled against American Express on Thursday in a suit filed in 2010 by the U.S. Justice Department and 17 states, report…

Feb 20, 2015 7:44 AM CST

Eric Holder comments on his avian nickname

In an interview on Sunday, Attorney General Eric Holder learned he has a nickname. MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry told Holder that his nickname among the show’s viewers “in nerdland” is “the Duck,” report the Hill and the Washington Post. Holder appeared to suppress a smile. “The Duck?” he responded. Harris-Perry…

Feb 10, 2015 8:50 AM CST

S&P to pay nearly $1.4B to resolve allegations it inflated ratings of mortgage securities

Standard & Poor’s has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to resolve allegations that it inflated ratings of mortgage securities before the 2008 financial crisis. The agreement settles allegations by the U.S. Justice Department, 19 states and Washington, D.C., report the New York Times Dealbook blog, the National Law Journal (sub.…

Feb 4, 2015 11:08 AM CST

Amid criticism of Eric Holder, attorney general nominee promises to ‘be Loretta Lynch’

Senate Republicans heaped criticism on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder but were mostly cordial on Wednesday as they questioned the woman nominated to replace him. The nominee, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, repeatedly promised to discuss controversial issues and repeated the phrase “legal framework” as she fielded skeptical questions, the…

Jan 29, 2015 11:19 AM CST