Justice Department
U.S. attorney general defends FBI probe of threats against school board members
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland for more than four hours on Wednesday about a Justice Department investigation into threats made to local school board members in multiple states. Garland at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing declined to revoke a memo he wrote asking the FBI to meet with local law enforcement to […]
DOJ civil rights official urges Congress to act soon on voting rights
WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official on Monday stressed the need for Congress to pass legislation named after the late Georgia civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis in order to protect voting rights across the United States. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke told lawmakers that since a 2013 Supreme Court […]
VP Harris says DNC will pour $25M into voting rights protection
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the Democratic National Committee will spend $25 million to protect voting rights, in response to a wave of laws pushed by Republican lawmakers in state legislatures that would restrict voting access. The move comes after Democrats have been stymied in their attempts to enact a national […]
U.S. Justice Department to send staff to monitor polling places in 18 states
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice will have staffers on the ground in 44 counties and cities across 18 states on Election Day, including Cuyahoga County, monitoring for violations of federal voting-rights laws — fewer states than in 2016. The localities this year are in battlegrounds like Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, […]
‘Much worse than a cruise ship’: Prisoners’ lives at risk from COVID-19
WASHINGTON — More than 2 million people are incarcerated in the United States. That’s more people than there are living in major U.S. cities like Phoenix and Philadelphia. They’re particularly vulnerable to health risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. They live in close-quarters. Many are elderly or pregnant. Many also have pre-existing medical conditions that put them […]
Here’s the danger at the heart of Trump’s meddling in the judiciary | John L. Micek
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was absolutely right about this much: President Donald Trump has learned his lesson. And he’s learned it by heart. Thanks to the Senate’s cowardly abdication of its responsibilities two weeks ago, the Republican president now feels absolutely emboldened to trample on what few constitutional norms remain standing in Washington D.C. In the barely […]