Attorney General

DOJ lawyer who escorted James Meredith to segregated campus dies at 92

Former Justice Department lawyer John Doar, a leader in the battle against segregation, has died at the age of 92. Doar, who led the Justice Department’s civil rights division in the 1960s, accompanied black student James Meredith onto the segregated University of Mississippi campus in 1962, the New York Times…

Nov 12, 2014 8:17 AM CST

Federal prosecutor is nominated to replace Eric Holder

Updated: Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch has been nominated to replace Attorney General Eric Holder. The formal announcement was made Saturday, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported. “She has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor, aggressively fighting terrorism, financial fraud, cybercrime—all while vigorously defending civil…

Nov 7, 2014 6:00 PM CST

Appeals court hears challenge to NSA’s bulk collection of phone records; a ‘peculiar’ claim?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday considered a constitutional challenge to the bulk collection of phone records revealed as a result of leaks by Edward Snowden. The U.S. Justice Department is appealing a federal judge’s injunction against the National Security Agency program in…

Nov 5, 2014 10:39 AM CST

Fast and Furious emails released, including Holder’s complaint about ‘Issa and his idiot cronies’

Administration officials and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., differ over the revelations contained in nearly 65,000 pages of Operation Fast and Furious documents released on Monday night by the U.S. Justice Department. Issa contends the documents show abuse of executive privilege by the administration, while the U.S. Justice Department says…

Nov 5, 2014 9:45 AM CST

Lobbyists target attorneys general; Dickstein touts its ‘strong relationships’ with AGs

Lobbyists are expanding their circle of influence as they increasingly target state attorneys general in efforts to persuade the prosecutors to drop investigations or negotiate favorable settlements for corporate clients. An investigative report by the New York Times found the lobbyists buttonhole the attorneys general at lavish corporate-sponsored conferences and…

Oct 30, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

Ex-White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler asks Obama not to nominate her for AG job

Kathryn Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel to President Obama for three years, has taken her name out of the running to replace Attorney General Eric Holder. The Associated Press and The Blog of Legal Times reported late Friday that Ruemmler has withdrawn her name from consideration to replace…

Oct 27, 2014 12:02 PM CDT

DOJ denounces ‘irresponsible’ leaks in Ferguson police-shooting case

The Department of Justice has denied any involvement in multiple significant leaks concerning a state grand jury investigation of a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager. An official at the DOJ says Attorney General Eric Holder told Justice Department lawyers that he is “exasperated” by the…

Oct 23, 2014 12:23 PM CDT

Wendy Davis defends controversial wheelchair campaign ad, saying it attacks lawsuit-stance hypocrisy

Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis is attacking her Republican opponent in a so-called wheelchair ad that is raising some eyebrows. The ad begins with an image of a wheelchair and then criticizes Davis’ gubernatorial opponent, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, for opposing tort victims despite winning a multimillion-dollar settlement after…

Oct 15, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

New DOJ policy bans waiver of potential ineffective-assistance claims against defense counsel

In a new policy announced Tuesday that is effective immediately, the U.S. Department of Justice says an individual who takes a plea cannot waive a potential ineffective assistance claim against his or her legal counsel by doing so. That means federal prosecutors can no longer include such waiver language in…

Oct 14, 2014 3:37 PM CDT

TRO bans incinerated Ebola waste from being transported to Louisiana

Louisiana’s attorney general has obtained a temporary restraining order that keeps incinerated Ebola waste from being transported to the state. Judge Bob Downing issued the TRO on Monday, report the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and the Washington Post. The order blocks transport of incinerated waste…

Oct 14, 2014 8:33 AM CDT

DEA agent created imposter Facebook page with real woman’s info to lure suspects, suit says

A woman arrested in a drug investigation contends in a lawsuit that the federal government set up a Facebook account using her name, photos and personal information in an effort to find suspects in a drug ring. The suit by Sondra Arquiett of Watertown, New York, has spurred an investigation…

Oct 8, 2014 10:59 AM CDT

Eric Holder won’t be held in contempt over ‘Fast and Furious’ documents, rules judge

Eric Holder got some good news and some bad news as he wraps up his six-year tenure as U.S. Attorney General. On Monday, a federal judge refused to hold him in contempt of court for failing to turn over documents to House Republicans investigating Operation Fast and Furious, reports the…

Oct 7, 2014 12:22 PM CDT

Pennsylvania official named in pornographic email scandal refuses to resign

Embattled Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has requested the resignation of a third state official accused of exchanging pornographic emails over state computers. However, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Corbett’s request to state parole board member Randy Feathers has fallen on deaf ears. Feathers has sent a letter to Corbett and…

Oct 6, 2014 12:19 PM CDT

Divided appellate court strikes part of North Carolina’s controversial voting law

An appellate court has thrown out part of North Carolina’s controversial voting law. According to the Charlotte Observer, a divided three judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit kept most of the provisions in the state’s electoral law intact, but issued a temporary order allowing…

Oct 2, 2014 11:56 AM CDT

Big Tobacco appeals court-mandated anti-smoking advertisements

Tobacco companies have appealed a court order requiring them to admit in advertisements that they lied about the health risks of cigarettes. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that several tobacco companies have filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In the appeal, the…

Sep 30, 2014 1:30 PM CDT