Tag Archives: Merrick Garland

Commentary Vanessa Gallman, Kentucky Lantern The fallout of the 2020 Breonna Taylor killing by police, resulting from an invalid warrant, made clear that the Louisville police department has serious problems in management and training. But a two-year federal investigation into the department exposed the depth of the bullying and overall …

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that he has appointed Jack Smith, a longtime federal prosecutor, as special counsel to oversee ongoing investigations into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents and his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The announcement comes days …

Henry L. Chambers Jr., University of Richmond As the 2022 midterm campaigns approach Election Day on Nov. 8, 2022, a federal probe into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents is testing an unwritten policy of the U.S. Justice Department. Some legal analysts have suggested that the so-called 60-day …

The gunman accused of killing ten people in a Buffalo, New York supermarket has been charged with hate crimes by the U.S. Department of Justice. Authorities believe that suspect Payton Gendron, 18, was motivated by racial hatred. Almost all the victims in the shooting were black. He now faces 26 …

Delta Air Lines is asking the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to put airline passengers convicted of disrupting flights on a national no-fly list, barring them from traveling on any commercial flights, according to the letter obtained Friday by several news outlets. In the letter, dated Thursday and first …

The Justice Department has announced the launch of a new initiative to combat redlining. Redlining is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race or national origin of the people who live in those communities. The new Initiative represents …

A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of Texas’s controversial six-week abortion ban late Wednesday, delivering an early victory to the Biden administration in its legal challenge to the law. In a 113-page order, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman of Austin said the law is an “offensive deprivation of such an …

Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Civil Rights Division have announced that the Justice Department has opened a pattern or practice investigation into the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department (PhxPD). The investigation will see if the department engages in discriminatory policing, …

The Department of Justice on Wednesday released guidance for states that are conducting post-election audits. “The guidances issued today describe certain federal laws that help ensure free, fair, and secure elections,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “Where violations of such laws occur, the Justice Department will not hesitate to act.” …

The Department of Justice apprehended two men that were planning to attack the Democratic headquarters in Sacramento, California. Ian Benjamin Rogers and Jarrod Copeland were arrested and charged with conspiracy to destroy a building used or in affecting interstate commerce by fire or explosive.  Rogers is also facing weapons chargers …

The Justice Department announced on Friday that it is launching a task force to investigate the rise in threats against election officials, according to a memo sent to all federal prosecutors and the FBI. “The Department of Justice has a long history of protecting every American’s right to vote, and …

The U.S. Department of Justice announced it is taking definitive action and is suing the state of Georgia over the controversial voting restrictions laws enacted as part of Republican efforts nationwide to limit voting access in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election defeat. “Where we see violations of federal …

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that should Republicans regain control of the Senate after the 2022 midterms, they would not confirm Supreme Court nominee if a vacancy were to become available. “I think it’s highly unlikely — in fact, no, I don’t think either party, if it were different from …

On Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. The National Strategy is designed to coordinate and provide a principled path for the federal government’s efforts to counter the heightened domestic terrorism threat, using all available tools. It is the culmination of an effort undertaken at …

Attorney General Merrick Garland says that the Justice Department will aggressively fight nationwide efforts to restrict voting access. Within the next 30 days, the Justice Department is going to double the number of employees in the Civil Rights Division’s “enforcement staff for protecting the right to vote.” “There are many …