Justice Department

Justice Officials Refuse To Take Oath Before Intelligence Briefing

AP | PAMELA HESS | Posted 10.08.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — A House intelligence committee meeting was abruptly terminated when Justice Department officials refused to be sworn in before brie...

Trial by Firefight

Rob Fishman | Posted 10.07.2009 | Media


Rob Fishman

It's clear that Cameron Todd Willingham was (mis)tried by a kangaroo court, but will justice be better served by the media zoo that's ensued?

Napolitano, Holder In Denver Stressing Vigilance, Cooperation Against Extremists

AP | P. SOLOMON BANDA | Posted 10.05.2009 | Denver


DENVER — U.S. Attorney Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Monday stressed the importa...

75 Guantanamo Prisoners Cleared for Release; 31 Could Leave Today

Andy Worthington | Posted 10.05.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

If the rationale for not releasing the Yemenis from Guantánamo was extended to the U.S. prison system, no prisoner would ever be released at the end of their sentence, because prison "might have radicalized" them.

Google and Amazon: Making Theft and Price-Fixing the Legal Default

Alex Green | Posted 11.28.2009 | Media


Alex Green

An agreement between Google, The Authors Guild of America, and the Association of American Publishers has touched off the most vociferous battle between technology companies since the inception of the Internet.

3 Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Transferred To Ireland, Yemen

AP | Posted 11.26.2009 | World


WASHINGTON — With the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison by a January deadline in doubt, the Justice Department Saturday announced the transfe...

Justice Dept. To Address Backlog Of Civil Rights Complaints

Washington Post | Krissah Thompson | Posted 11.25.2009 | Politics


There is the ongoing review of the death of a man beaten by four white teenagers in a park in Shenandoah, Pa. The kids, all high school football playe...

Al Franken Trumps DOJ Official With The 4th Amendment

Washington Independent | Daphne Eviatar | Posted 11.23.2009 | Politics


Just in case he wasn't familiar with it, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) decided to read the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution to David Kris, assistant a...

Obama To Set Higher Bar For Keeping State Secrets

washingtonpost.com | Carrie Johnson | Posted 11.22.2009 | Politics


The Obama administration will announce a new policy Wednesday making it much more difficult for the government to claim that it is protecting state se...

Obama: Patriot Act Surveillance Law Should Stay

AP | LARRY MARGASAK | Posted 11.22.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — The Obama administration promised Congress on Tuesday to negotiate stronger privacy protections for Americans under terrorism surve...

9/11 Trial At Guantanamo Delayed Again: Can We Have Federal Court Trials Now, Please?

Andy Worthington | Posted 11.22.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

Scarcely in its history has the United States entertained such a shabby and shamelessly politicized travesty of justice as the Military Commissions.

Siegelman Blasts DoJ and Judge In 'Final' Reply Seeking Hearing

Andrew Kreig | Posted 11.21.2009 | Politics


Andrew Kreig

Facing a sentence of 20 additional years in prison recommended by Bush Justice Department holdovers, former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman has finally taken off the gloves against his prosecutors and the judge.

What This Week's Terrorism Arrests Reveal About the Post-9/11 Strategy

Brian Levin, J.D. | Posted 11.20.2009 | Politics


Brian Levin, J.D.

One thing is certain, authorities have powerful tools to get people off the streets in the array of statutes that they have at their disposal. They also have an extraordinarily difficult job of balancing their obligations.

Judge Orders Release From Guantanamo of Kuwaiti Who Met Bin Laden

Andy Worthington | Posted 11.18.2009 | World


Andy Worthington

Following Judge Kollar-Kotelly's ruling, the DOJ did not indicate whether it will appeal the decision, but I sincerely hope that the government follows the judge's advice and repatriates al-Rabia.

Jamie Leigh Jones: Halliburton Employee's Gang Rape Not Workplace Injury, Court Rules

Mother Jones | � by Stephanie Mencimer | Posted 11.17.2009 | Business


Remember Jamie Leigh Jones, the Halliburton/KBR contractor who alleged she was gang raped by her co-workers in Iraq and then imprisoned in a shipping ...

Thomas Perez Confirmation To Lead DOJ Civil Rights Division Held Up For Six Months

The American Prospect | Adam Serwer | Posted 11.17.2009 | Politics


For months, the Obama administration and Attorney General Eric Holder have been promising to restore the Justice Department's role in protecting minor...

Gale Norton, Former Interior Secretary, Is Focus Of Corruption Probe

Los Angeles Times | Jim Tankersley and Josh Meyer | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics


The Justice Department is investigating whether former Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton illegally used her position to benefit Royal Dutch Shell PLC,...

EPA Smog Limit: Agency Scraps Bush-Era Smog Rule And Will Start Over

AP | DINA CAPPIELLO | Posted 11.16.2009 | Green


WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is scrapping a controversial Bush-era rule that set stricter limits for smog but fell short of ...

Joseph Cassano, AIG Execs Could Face Grand Jury In Brooklyn

wsj.com | AMIR EFRATI and SUSAN PULLIAM | Posted 11.11.2009 | Business


Federal prosecutors, capping an 18-month investigation, are preparing to impanel a grand jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., to consider an indictment of a former...

Spanish Judge Resumes Torture Case Against Six Senior Bush Lawyers

Andy Worthington | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

Judge Baltasar Garzón is pressing ahead with a case against six senior Bush administration lawyers for implementing torture at Guantánamo.

Orly Taitz Floats Another Forged Obama Birth Certificate

Washington Independent | David Weigel | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics


Josh Gerstein is all over the Justice Department's filing in Orly Taitz's latest "birther" lawsuit. Taitz's suit includes -- not as evidence, but as s...

Treasury Backs Down In Clash With Bailout Watchdog

AP | JIM KUHNHENN | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department has decided not to challenge the independence of the government watchdog agency that Congress created to ov...

Who Are the Two Syrians Released From Guantanamo to Portugal?

Andy Worthington | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

Their stories, as revealed in publicly available documents from Guantánamo, reveal that neither man had any connection whatsoever to international terrorism.

Reagan's Deputy AG Calls For Expanded CIA Probe

The Raw Story | John Byrne | Posted 10.18.2009 | Politics


In an interview late Tuesday, Bruce Fein, an Associate Deputy Attorney General during President Ronald Reagan's administration, said the Justice Depar...

Hypocrisy Alert: Cheney Relies on the Objectivity of the Justice Department to Defend Torture

Mitchell Bard | Posted 10.17.2009 | Politics


Mitchell Bard

The gall of Cheney's statements is that he was a key part of the administration that deconstructed the objectivity of the Justice Department, which he now relies on to defend the use of torture.