Attorney General

Fed’l Appeals Judge Tells DOJ to Write Memo by Thursday Explaining Obama ‘Judicial Activism’ Claim

In response to a “judicial activism” comment by President Barack Obama, since clarified, about the health care law currently being reviewed for constitutionality by the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal appeals court judge overseeing a different health-care case has called for the Department of Justice immediately to provide a three-page…

Apr 3, 2012 11:30 PM CDT

Arizona AG Says Disgruntled Prosecutor ‘Conjured Up’ Accusations of Campaign Violations

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is denying allegations that he worked illegally with an independent campaign committee that ran attack ads against his opponent in 2010. Horne said a disgruntled employee “conjured up” the allegations, the Arizona Republic reports. The complaint by former prosecutor Don Dybus was filed in February…

Apr 3, 2012 1:29 PM CDT

Should SG Verrilli Be Criticized? After All, He Was Interrupted 103 Times in 56 Minutes

A veteran of Supreme Court oral arguments says Solicitor General Donald Verrilli shouldn’t be criticized for his Supreme Court performance last week. In a column for the Washington Post, lawyer James Feldman says Verrilli was interrupted 103 times last Tuesday during his initial 56-minute argument to uphold the health law’s…

Apr 3, 2012 12:41 PM CDT

Where Do Lawyers Prepare for Health Care ‘Endurance Contest’? A Law School and Possibly a Lunchroom

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. will be squaring off against Paul Clement in health care arguments this week for the second time on health issues since November 2003, when Clement was deputy solicitor general. How are they preparing this time around? In the 2003 case, Verrilli, then a lawyer at…

Mar 26, 2012 1:14 PM CDT

Justice Department to Investigate Death of Fla. Teen; Does ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law Protect Shooter?

Federal authorities will investigate the death of a black Florida teen shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will join with the FBI to investigate the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot last month after he left his home to buy…

Mar 20, 2012 2:13 PM CDT

Holder Calls US Citizenship a ‘Relevant Constitutional Consideration’ in Targeted Killings Overseas

When determining whether the United States is justified in placing terrorist operatives overseas on a so-called kill list without first seeking court approval, their American citizenship is a “relevant constitutional consideration” but “alone does not make such individuals immune from being targeted,” Attorney General Eric Holder told law students at…

Mar 7, 2012 2:43 PM CST

Obama Takes Advantage of Waiver Provision in Terrorism Law

Republicans who back a military detention requirement in a recent terrorism law intend to hold hearings on President Obama’s decision on Tuesday to take advantage of a waiver provision. Obama issued an order that exempts broad categories of terrorism suspects from the military detention requirement and gives civilian authorities broad…

Feb 29, 2012 4:25 PM CST

Jones Decision Spurs FBI to Disable 3,000 GPS Devices and to Consider Legality of Trash Can Trespass

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on behalf of a defendant challenging GPS tracking has forced the FBI to change its procedures. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Jones, the FBI turned off about 3,000 GPS devices, many of them stuck underneath cars, according to FBI…

Feb 28, 2012 3:17 PM CST

Meet Donald Verrilli, the Lawyer Who Will Defend President Obama’s Health Care Law

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli isn’t talking about the challenge to the Obama administration’s health care law, but he does reflect on his transition from BigLaw to government service in a newspaper interview. Verrilli is a former Jenner & Block partner who oversaw the firm’s Supreme Court practice. He tells USA…

Feb 17, 2012 3:09 PM CST

9th Circuit Refuses to Edit Prosecutor’s Name Out of Opinion, Tells DOJ to Own Up to Error

A federal appeals court that criticized a prosecutor last month for a “half-truth” was unmoved and apparently irked by a request to remove his name from the opinion. In an amended opinion (PDF), the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kept the referral to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry…

Feb 15, 2012 1:44 PM CST

DOJ Losses in Two High-Profile Bribery Trials Linked to Racy Texts by FBI Agents

Federal prosecutors failed to win any convictions in two high-profile foreign bribery trials after the defense used the words of FBI agents to attack their credibility. One trial of six defendants ended in Washington, D.C., federal court last month, the Washington Post reports. The jury foreman, a nonpracticing lawyer, told…

Feb 14, 2012 1:38 PM CST

Judge Demands DOJ Emails on Immigration Claim, Says SCOTUS May Have Been Misled

The federal judge in New York who challenged several settlements by the Securities and Exchange Commission is now questioning whether Justice Department lawyers misled the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has ordered the government to turn over Justice Department emails documenting how its lawyers developed a claim…

Feb 13, 2012 12:00 PM CST

Mob Murder Victims’ Relatives Seek Profits From Killer’s Daughter’s Memoir

Relatives of some of murderous Mob underboss Salvatore “Sammy the Bull’ Gravano’s victims are seeking a share of the profits from his daughter’s upcoming memoir, Mob Daughter. The victims’ kin are enlisting the Arizona attorney general’s help in going after Karen Gravano’s earnings from the sale of the book under…

Feb 10, 2012 8:15 PM CST

$26B Foreclosure Settlement Announced After Holdout AGs Join Pact

Updated: State and federal officials have announced a $26 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the nation’s largest banks that was reached after two holdout attorneys general supported the deal. The pact announced today is the largest since a multistate tobacco settlement was reached in 1998, the Washington Post reports.…

Feb 9, 2012 12:44 PM CST

Arnold & Porter Partner Nominated to Head DOJ’s Antitrust Division

William J. Baer, a partner with Arnold & Porter, was recently nominated to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division. The New York Times’ DealBook blog today notes that Baer’s law firm represented AT&T in its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA, which the Justice Department successfully nixed. Baer, a former director…

Feb 6, 2012 10:06 PM CST