Justice Department

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1 in 100 Americans in Prison
1 in 100 Americans in Prison
Feb 28, 2008 2:45 PM CST

1 in 100 Americans in Prison

'Tough on crime' proving expensive stance as state resources dwindle, study reports

(Newser) - One American adult out of 100 is incarcerated, a new study shows—the first time in US history such a high proportion of the population is behind bars. The Pew Center on the States reports the nationwide prison population grew by 25,000 last year, to 1.6 million, with...

House Panel May Go After Clemens on Perjury

Panel drafts letter asking Justice Dept. to investigate

(Newser) - The congressional panel that questioned Roger Clemens about steroids has drafted a letter asking the Justice Department to investigate whether he committed perjury, the New York Times reports. The letter doesn't name his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who testified the same day and insisted Clemens is lying, but that could...

Blogger Wins Award, Vindication
Blogger Wins Award, Vindication
Feb 25, 2008 1:00 PM CST

Blogger Wins Award, Vindication

Talking Points Memo founder captures Polk Award

(Newser) - The blogosphere is rejoicing in the news that “local boy” Joshua Micah Marshall garnered a George Polk Award for legal reporting. Marshall's Talking Points Memo blog is the first Internet-only operation to win the award, and many bloggers see that as validation, reports the New York Times. Marshall won...

Wiretaps Continue Under Lapsed Law
Wiretaps Continue Under Lapsed Law
Feb 24, 2008 11:31 AM CST

Wiretaps Continue Under Lapsed Law

Nervous phone firms agree to cooperate with government

(Newser) - US spy agencies are continuing wiretap surveillance despite the fact that a law re-authorizing the administration's controversial program failed to pass a divided legislature last weekend. Telecommunications companies are cooperating with the government despite concerns, Reuters reports. Wiretaps will resume under the current law "at least for now,"...

Police Seek Broader DNA Database
Police Seek Broader DNA Database
Feb 23, 2008 3:02 PM CST

Police Seek Broader DNA Database

US wants to follow UK's lead and track down suspects' relatives

(Newser) - US law enforcement currently catalogs 5.6 million DNA profiles, about 2% of Americans, but hopes to expand that and the scope of their searches, the Wall Street Journal reports. A bigger database would allow "familial searches"—looking for near matches of a suspect's brother or sister, for...

DOJ Probes Itself Over Torture Memos

Ethics chief reveals inquiry into advice that OK'd waterboarding

(Newser) - The Department of Justice is probing its own legal approval of waterboarding for the CIA, the New York Times reports. DOJ ethics chief H. Marshall Jarrett confirmed today that his office is conducting the first public inquiry of the 5-year-old advice and may issue a non-classified report when it is...

Blackwater Probers Return to Baghdad

Feds investigate massacre that killed 17, seek trial in US

(Newser) - Federal authorities investigating the Blackwater shootings that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead will revisit the scene of the massacre this week. Prosecutors from the Justice Department have already arrived in Baghdad, to be joined by inspectors from the FBI. But the inquiry has been hamstrung by the American government's promise...

Waterboarding Is Illegal: Justice Dept.

Legal expert to tell House committee it's no longer acceptable

(Newser) - A top Justice Department official will declare to a House subcommittee today that waterboarding is no longer legal—a day after Congress defied President Bush's veto threat to explicitly outlaw the controversial interrogation tactic. "The set of interrogation methods authorized for current use is narrower than before, and it...

Bush: 'No Place in America' For Lynching Jokes

President says noose displays aren't harmless pranks

(Newser) - President Bush said today that Americans should agree that noose displays and lynching jokes are “deeply offensive.” “They are wrong and they have no place in America today,” Bush said at a Black History Month event at the White House. The Justice Department is investigating noose...

Senate Grills Mukasey Today on Waterboarding

Mukasey warns he'll stonewall on questions about legality

(Newser) - A high-noon face off is looming today between Attorney General Michael Mukasey and the Senate Judiciary Committee over waterboarding, the simulated drowning interrogation technique that many consider torture. Committee chair Patrick Leahy said Mukasey faces "serious questions" on the issue at today's hearing. But Mukasey has warned Leahy in...

Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks
Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks
Jan 16, 2008 11:33 AM CST

Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks

DOJ runs up against immunity deal, possible gaps in US law

(Newser) - The Justice Department warned Congress last month that major legal obstacles stand in the way of any prosecution of private security firm Blackwater for a September shooting in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Immunity granted by the State Department to Blackwater employees represents a possible roadblock; Justice also has...

Doctor Sues 3 Officials in Anthrax Case

Claims they leaked info, caused 'severe emotional distress'

(Newser) - A former army doctor identified as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks is suing three US officials for leaking information about him, the Los Angeles Times reports. In his five-year-old suit, physician Steven Hatfill claims the case caused him "severe emotional distress" and hindered his...

House Probes Clemens Denial
House Probes Clemens Denial
Jan 10, 2008 8:06 AM CST

House Probes Clemens Denial

Legend & accuser to testify about steroids

(Newser) - Congress will investigate baseball legend Roger Clemens' vehement denials that he used steroids. Both Clemens and his accuser, personal trainer Brian McNamee, were scheduled to testify next week before the House committee that exposed drug abuse in baseball. But their testimony has been postponed a month for a wider and...

Judge Refuses to Step Into CIA Tape Case

Justice Department's investigation sufficient for now, justice rules

(Newser) - A federal judge today denied a request by a lawyer representing terrorism suspects that he open hearings into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the AP reports. Judge Henry H. Kennedy said that he had no evidence that the Bush administration had defied court orders and that the Justice Department's...

Justice to Probe CIA Tapes
Justice to Probe CIA Tapes
Jan 2, 2008 3:02 PM CST

Justice to Probe CIA Tapes

Department launches criminal investigation

(Newser) - The Justice Department has launched a criminal probe into the CIA's destruction of videotapes documenting the interrogation of  two Al-Qaeda suspects. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey appointed John Durham, a federal prosecutor from Connecticut, to head the inquiry. Durham has a reputation as a tough prosecutor; he has overseen investigations...

Senators Fly Solo, Foiling Bush Move

Seconds-long sessions continue, preventing recess appointments

(Newser) - A contentious Justice Department nomination lies behind Harry Reid's plan to keep the Senate in session over the holidays, if only for seconds at a time. Dems offered to give the White House a pass on a slew of other recess appointments in exchange for putting controversial terrorism expert Steven...

Judge Won't Order Probe of Gitmo Tapes

Jurist reluctant to duplicate DoJ's efforts in CIA investigation

(Newser) - In the first public hearing on the issue, a federal judge today refused to immediately order an investigation into the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes. Lawyers for Yemeni nationals held at Guantanamo argued that the destruction violated a 2005 order by Judge Henry Kennedy, who ordered today's hearing. The White House...

Chocolate Makers Face Sticky Probe
Chocolate Makers Face Sticky Probe
Dec 20, 2007 5:25 PM CST

Chocolate Makers Face Sticky Probe

US and Canada investigate possible price-fixing

(Newser) - Following a similar investigation in Canada last month, the Justice Department has launched a probe into possible price-fixing in the US chocolate industry. The suspects form a rich, creamy lineup: M&M maker Mars acknowledged it has been contacted by the DOJ, the Wall Street Journal reports. Nestle, too, says...

CIA to Surrender Tape Records
CIA to Surrender Tape Records
Dec 20, 2007 4:32 AM CST

CIA to Surrender Tape Records

House will get secret documents on destroyed water boarding videos

(Newser) - The CIA will provide documents on the destruction of interrogation videotapes to the House Intelligence Committee and allow the agency's top attorney to testify, the New York Times reports. It's unclear whether the man who ordered the videos destroyed, clandestine service chief Jose Rodriguez, will also testify. The tapes showed...

Big Sites Fold on Net Gambling
Big Sites Fold on Net Gambling
Dec 20, 2007 1:39 AM CST

Big Sites Fold on Net Gambling

DOJ has winning hand in legal battle with Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!

(Newser) - Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo have agreed to cough up $31.5 million to settle Justice Department charges they promoted Internet gambling by accepting advertising from gambling sites for the past 10 years, Reuters reports. The high-tech giants will pay some of that amount in fines, and will create PSAs telling...

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