Justice Department – News Stories About Justice Department - Page 41

Apr 4, 2008 1:23 PM CDT

Bush Threw Out 4th Amendment After 9/11

Newly revealed Yoo memo voided search and seizure protections

(Newser) - Just a month after Sept. 11, 2001, the Justice Department concluded that anti-terror military operations on US soil were not constrained by the Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure. The conclusion was detailed in a memo written by John Yoo, the theorist behind many of President Bush's expansions of...

This Is What a War Criminal Looks Like

OPINION

Apr 2, 2008 5:35 PM CDT

This Is What a War Criminal Looks Like

Newly released docs show ex-deputy AG's 'depraved criminality'

(Newser) - John Yoo, who as deputy AG wrote a crucial memo justifying torture, is a war criminal, Salon columnist Glenn Greenwald bluntly argues: Newly released documents reveal "a government official who, in concert with other government officials, set out to enable a brutal and systematic torture regime, and did so....

Probe Blames Feds
for Utah Mine Horror

Apr 1, 2008 3:15 AM CDT

Probe Blames Feds for Utah Mine Horror

Labor Dept. cites negligence by mine safety agency

(Newser) - A federal probe into a Utah mine disaster that killed nine people has accused the federal agency overseeing mine safety of negligence. The finding by the Labor Department's Office of Inspector General does not rule out the possibility that the owner of the site used undue influence on the Mine...

Delta-Northwest Deal May Be Back On, Without Pilot Input

Mar 28, 2008 4:41 PM CDT

Delta-Northwest Deal May Be Back On, Without Pilot Input

Dispute over seniority scotched initial merger agreement

(Newser) - Northwest is trying to resuscitate the Delta merger that nearly went through in February with a deal that wouldn’t need pilot agreements or include anticipated salary increases, the Wall Street Journal reports. The pilots' inability to agree on seniority rules appeared to derail the deal, which didn't require labor...

Bankrupt Lender's Audit Lapses 'Mind Boggling'

Mar 27, 2008 8:23 AM CDT

Bankrupt Lender's Audit Lapses 'Mind Boggling'

Bankrupt subprime lender, auditor ripped in report on business practices

(Newser) - Auditors at now-bankrupt New Century Financial—once one of the nation’s largest subprime lenders and one of the earliest to fail—were accused of “mind boggling” lapses in a Justice Department report on the debacle released yesterday. Partners at accounting firm KPMG are said to have ignored “...

Satellite Merger Clears Hurdle

Mar 24, 2008 3:32 PM CDT

Satellite Merger Clears Hurdle

Justice Dept. doesn't see threat to competition; FCC must still weigh in

(Newser) - The Justice Department today approved the proposed merger between satellite radio firms Sirius and XM, the Wall Street Journal reports. The FCC must still sign off, but the pair appears to have allayed antitrust concerns about the merger of the industry's two largest companies by arguing that they face competition...

Feds Defend Tough Pursuit
of Spitzer

Mar 21, 2008 3:22 PM CDT

Feds Defend Tough Pursuit of Spitzer

Corruption fears spurred unusually zealous hunt

(Newser) - The Justice Department's unusual pursuit of the Emperor's Club—and its most famous client—grew out of suspicions of corruption, not moral turpitude, department officials tell the New York Times. Agents tailed Eliot Spitzer, tapped his phone, and pored over his financial records, steps more costly and intrusive than prostitution...

Court Hears Gun Case Today

Mar 18, 2008 9:08 AM CDT

Court Hears Gun Case Today

Nation's firearms laws in the balance as Supremes hear arguments

(Newser) - One of the oldest and most hotly debated constitutional amendments—the right to bear arms—comes under scrutiny by the Supreme Court today. The court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of Washington DC's stringent ban on handguns. The ruling, which will arrive in June, is sure to have a...

Audit Slams
FBI Over Terror Watch List

Mar 18, 2008 6:03 AM CDT

Audit Slams FBI Over Terror Watch List

Agency provides inaccurate, outdated info on suspects

(Newser) - The FBI provides inaccurate information about suspects on the nation's terror watch list, leaving innocent people on it too long and failing to provide timely updates about those who pose genuine threats, a Justice Department audit shows. The FBI says it will fix the problems within 6 months, the AP...

US Families Sue Chiquita Over FARC Murders

Mar 12, 2008 11:00 AM CDT

US Families Sue Chiquita Over FARC Murders

Claim protection cash to Colombia rebels tied to missionary slayings

(Newser) - Fruit giant Chiquita stands accused in a federal lawsuit of contributing to the deaths of five US missionaries at the hands of Colombian rebel group FARC during the 1990s, the Wall Street Journal reports today. Families of the missionaries say protection money the Cincinnati-based company admitted to secretly paying the...

Dems Slam Ashcroft for 'Backroom' $52M Contract

Mar 11, 2008 4:22 PM CDT

Dems Slam Ashcroft for 'Backroom' $52M Contract

Ex-AG denies charges in House hearing

(Newser) - John Ashcroft angrily denied congressional Democrats' allegations today that a lucrative no-bid contract the Justice Department awarded him represents a conflict of interest, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Democrats characterized the contract as a “backroom sweetheart deal” because Ashcroft's ex-subordinates selected his firm to monitor a medical supply company...

Feds Forge National Crime Dragnet

Mar 6, 2008 11:23 AM CST

Feds Forge National Crime Dragnet

Link data of local police agencies for instantaneous search

(Newser) - Law enforcement agencies all over the country are building a new information "dragnet" that will dramatically boost data-sharing, the Washington Post reports. This month the Justice Department will begin hooking up local and county police forces to the new federal National Data Exchange, creating a "one-stop-shop" that...

FBI Begins Clemens Probe

Feb 28, 2008 5:59 PM CST

FBI Begins Clemens Probe

Agency looking into allegations pitcher lied to Congress about steroids

(Newser) - The FBI today began investigating whether Roger Clemens committed perjury when he told Congress that he never used performance-enhancing drugs, Bloomberg reports. The agency opened a preliminary review one day after a House panel told the Justice Department it suspected Clemens of lying. The pitcher insists he never took steroids...

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

Feb 26, 2008 10:54 AM CST

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

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

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

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

Feb 22, 2008 8:15 PM CST

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

Feb 21, 2008 5:13 AM CST

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...