Department of Justice

Name:

To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.

The Judiciary Act of 1789, ch. 20, sec. 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92-93 (1789) created the Office of the Attorney General. Originally a one-person part-time position, the Attorney General was to be "learned in the law" with the duty "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments, touching any matters that may concern their departments." The workload quickly became too much for one person, necessitating the hiring of several assistants for the Attorney General. With an increasing amount of work to be done, private attorneys were retained to work on cases.

In 1870, after the post-Civil War increase in the amount of litigation involving the United States necessitated the very expensive retention of a large number of private attorneys to handle the workload, a concerned Congress passed the Act to Establish the Department of Justice, ch. 150, 16 Stat. 162 (1870) setting it up as "an executive department of the government of the United States" with the Attorney General as its head. Officially coming into existence on July 1, 1870, the Department of Justice, pursuant to the 1870 Act, was to handle the legal business of the United States. The Act gave the Department control over all criminal prosecutions and civil suits in which the United States had an interest. In addition, the Act gave the Attorney General and the Department control over federal law enforcement. To assist the Attorney General, the 1870 Act created the Office of the Solicitor General.

The 1870 Act is the foundation upon which the Department of Justice still rests. However, the structure of the Department of Justice has changed over the years, with the addition of the Deputy Attorneys General and the formation of the Divisions. Unchanged is the steadily increasing workload of the Department. It has become the world's largest law office and the central agency for enforcement of federal laws.

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2 hours:

Paciolan sale complete

Music News: Comcast-Spectacor purchased ticketing service -- The sale of ticketing service Paciolan to Comcast-Spectacor was completed Tuesday, fulfilling a major proviso for approval of the Live Nation Entertainment merger by the Department of Justice. - read more at Variety

4 hours:

U.S. woman indicted for planning terrorist attacks overseas

A U.S. woman was indicted for planning to recruit Jihadist fighters and to commit murder overseas, according to a document released by U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday. Colleen LaRose, also known as "Jihad Jane," was charged with " conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy ... - read more at People's Daily

5 hours:

David Isenberg: The Politic on PMSC

As much of the public discussion, including college campuses, of private military and security contracting (PMSC) is, unfortunately, noted for its inaccurate characterization of contractors as mercenaries, and frequently over the top characterizations of companies as war profiteers, or extreme rightwing ... - read more at Huffington Post

tags: Yale University Press Yale University

5 hours:

Jihad Jane, Colleen LaRose, Recruited Terrorists And Plotted ...

PHILADELPHIA (AP)-- A suburban Philadelphia woman "desperate to do something" to help suffering Muslims has been charged with using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas, even agreeing to move to Europe to try to kill someone, prosecutors said Tuesday. Authorities said ... - read more at Huffington Post

tags: YouTube

7 hours:

Maia Szalavitz: Shocking Stupidity: Boston Globe Ignores Research ...

The Boston Globe ran an op-ed today that perfectly characterizes a key failure of American journalism: that is, it reports on a medical question that can be answered by scientific research, but fails to even mention that such data exists or should exist. The piece, headlined "Shocking Truths," claims ... - read more at Huffington Post

tags: Lawrence Harmon

20 hours:

Ken Starr: Liz Cheney Wrong For Attacking Department Of Justice ...

Liz Cheney has been under fire from both left and right after she tried to paint Department of Justice attorneys as terrorist sympathizers for working on the defense of Guantanamo detainees. One of the sternest rebukes comes from a law school dean, former judge, and well-known former special prosecutor. ... - read more at Huffington Post

3/9/10:

Lawsuits pull the plug on voting-machine monopoly

The nation's largest voting-machine company probably won't be called a monopoly for much longer in Florida and other states.<p/> Under a proposed settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and nine states that include Florida, Election Systems & Software will divest itself of ... - read more at Miami Herald - Florida

tags: Diebold Inc Premier Election Solutions Election Systems & Software

3/9/10:

Blue Care drops plan to buy Lansing HMO

Blue Care Network, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, has nixed plans to acquire an 80,000-member health insurance plan based in Lansing, after the Department of Justice said it would file an antitrust lawsuit blocking the purchase. - read more at Detroit News (Business)

3/8/10:

DOJ requires changes to e-voting acquisition

The U.S. Department of Justice will require Election Systems & Software (ES&S) to sell off some voting equipment systems it purchased as part of its September acquisition of Premier Election Solutions in order to preserve competition among voting systems in the U.S., the agency announced Monday. ... - read more at The Industry Standard

tags: Premier Election Solutions Election Systems & Software

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