MetaFilter posts tagged with justicedepartment

"A serious interference with AP's constitutional rights..."

BobbyVan — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:34:04 -0800

"The U.S. Department of Justice notified The Associated Press on Friday, May 10, that it had secretly obtained telephone records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP journalists and offices, including cell and home phone lines." AP: GOVT OBTAINS WIDE AP PHONE RECORDS IN PROBE

The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. The government would not say why it sought the records. U.S. officials have previously said in public testimony that the U.S. attorney in Washington is conducting a criminal investigation into who may have leaked information contained in a May 7, 2012, AP story about a foiled terror plot. The story disclosed details of a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al-Qaida plot in the spring of 2012 to detonate a bomb on an airplane bound for the United States.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt vehemently protested the intrusion, stating that "we regard this action by the Department of Justice as a serious interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news." [pdf]

Smile, You're On Camera

veedubya — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:42:56 -0800

As police departments around the country are increasingly caught up in tussles with members of the public who record their activities, the U.S. Justice Department has come out with a strong statement supporting the First Amendment right of individuals to record police officers in the public discharge of their duties.
In a surprising letter sent on Monday to attorneys for the Baltimore Police Department, the Justice Department also strongly asserted that officers who seize and destroy such recordings without a warrant or without due process are in strict violation of the individual’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The largest settlement in history over fair lending practices

2bucksplus — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:12:00 -0800

Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations that Countrywide Financial engaged in widespread discrimination against African-American and Hispanic borrowers on home loans. The Department of Justice is calling this the largest settlement in history over fair residential lending practices. According to the DOJ’s complaint, Countrywide systematically charged more than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher fees and interest rates than white borrowers with similar credit profiles. The suit also claims that Countrywide steered more than 10,000 minority borrowers into costly subprime mortgages when white borrowers with similar credit profiles received prime loans. The settlement will be used to compensate victims of Countrywide’s discriminatory mortgage loans from 2004 through 2008, prior to Countrywide's acquisition by Bank of America, when it originated millions of residential mortgage loans as the nation’s largest single-family mortgage lender. The settlement is subject to court approval. Earlier this year Countrywide refunded $108 million in refunds to more than 450,000 homeowners who were overcharged for property inspections and other fees, which was at the time one of the largest mortgage-related settlements ever brought before the Federal Trade Commission. Last summer Countrywide agreed to pay out $600 million to settle shareholder lawsuits that the mortgage giant concealed mounting losses.

Great shot kid, that was one in a million

cashman — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:48:20 -0800

AT&T drops its bid to acquire T-Mobile. After wrangling with the justice department, AT&T ends it's attempt to take over T-Mobile. [via] "To reflect the break-up considerations due Deutsche Telekom, AT&T will recognize a pretax accounting charge of $4 billion in the 4th quarter of 2011. Additionally, AT&T will enter a mutually beneficial roaming agreement with Deutsche Telekom."

Gideon's Strumpets?

sallybrown — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:45:51 -0800

Former Second Daughter Liz Cheney (who, it should be noted, received her JD from The University of Chicago Law School in 1996) and her Keep America Safe 501(c) posted a video demanding that the Justice Department publicly release the names of its "Al Quaeda Seven," seven Justice employees who served as counsel for Guantanamo detainees. Reaction has been swift and fierce. Fox News managed to "uncover" the names of the Seven after "an extensive review of court documents and media reports." Cheney and Keep America Safe are facing opposition from lawyers and non-lawyers on both the left and right wings of the political spectrum, including former University of Chicago Law professor Richard Epstein ("There's something truly bizarre about this...I don't know what moves her" and "I am not...one of those lefties"), People for the American Way president Michael Keegan ("Joseph McCarthy himself couldn’t have done a better job"), and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. The Brookings Institution put out a letter (signed by notable conservative figures including former Independent Counsel Ken Starr) calling Cheney's campaign a "shameful series of attacks...both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications" and reminding Cheney of "the American tradition of zealous representation of unpopular clients," including John Adams' defense of British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre, and more. Yesterday, former U.S. Attorney Andy McCarthy, an ally of Cheney's, told Politico “People are awfully prissy."

More prosecutorial misconduct from the last Justice Department

anotherpanacea — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:12:09 -0800

Former Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) un-convicted.

The Justice Department - brought to you by the letters ORLY?

dejah420 — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:31:07 -0800

The Justice Department - brought to you by the letters ORLY? The left gets to hate him because he "is the RIAA's favorite lawyer". (Note however, that the RIAA has still never actually won a judgement against a file sharer.) The right gets to hate him because he was the lawyer for Terry Schiavo's husband. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Thomas J. Perrelli, Obama's selection for associate Attorney General. Also announced was the appointment for the number two spot at Justice; David Ogden, who successfully defended extending the Copyright Act, and who fought tirelessly against the ACLU to implement the Child Online Protection Act.

Vote Machine: How Republicans hacked the Justice Department

chunking express — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:22:33 -0800

Vote Machine: How Republicans hacked the Justice Department.

Guevara With a Sweet Southern Tan

spiderwire — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:51:03 -0800

Do the Coup D'etat. The White House has made the Constitutional Crisis official: the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges against an official invoking executive privilege -- even if it's blatantly illegal.

US Justice Department Religious Rights Division

the Real Dan — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:45:36 -0800

A Los Angeles Times article describes a Justice Department behavior rectifying years of "illegal discrimination against religious groups and their followers". Registration required. Found through the excellent How Appealing.

Lest we forget: Outsourcing Torture

y2karl — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 09:51:13 -0800

Outsourcing Torture The secret history of America’s “extraordinary rendition” program.

The Mind Reels

ursus_comiter — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 08:55:29 -0800

What is the justice department trying to censor in the ACLU's case against the Patriot Act? Anything they feel like, apparantly, including quotes from The Supreme Court. [via boingboing]

The war on pornography

homunculus — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 00:29:32 -0800

John Ashcroft's Patriot Games. An interesting article from last month's Vanity Fair on Ashcroft and his revolution inside the Justice Department. Now the Justice Department wants to wage a war on porn, and "are spending millions of dollars to bring anti-obscenity cases to courthouses across the country for the first time in 10 years. Nothing is off limits, they warn, even soft-core cable programs such as HBO's long-running Real Sex or the adult movies widely offered in guestrooms of major hotel chains." [Via Boing Boing and Instapundit.]

Your call is important to us

digaman — Sat, 13 Mar 2004 08:51:04 -0800

The DOJ wants to tap your IMs, your email, your VOIP calls, and your Web browsing -- and they want you to pay for it. The Justice Department is seeking to expand its ability to monitor online traffic by forcing broadband providers to make their services "wiretap-friendly," and a petition filed with the FCC this week says you will foot the bill. Get ready for CALEA 2.0. "As a means of espionage, writs of assistance and general warrants are but puny instruments of tyranny and oppression when compared with wire tapping," the prescient Justice Brandeis observed in 1928.

Moussaoui Wowie

hairyeyeball — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 06:38:01 -0800

Drop charges against accused 9-11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui? In a statement, the Justice Department said, "We believe the Constitution does not require, and national security will not permit, the government to allow Moussaoui, an avowed terrorist, to have direct access to his terrorist confederates who have been detained abroad as enemy combatants in the midst of a war." Confused? I know I am.

Operation TIPS calls routed to "America's Most Wanted"

busbyism — Tue, 06 Aug 2002 13:52:06 -0800

Operation TIPS calls routed to "America's Most Wanted" (Salon premium, sorry) What hack wrote this script we Americans now find ourselves playing out, and why does he have such an on-the-nose sense of humor? Is this funny, depressing, painful or outrageous? Or all four?

Investigation of disenfranchisement in 2000 election

engelr — Wed, 22 May 2002 03:20:26 -0800

Investigation of disenfranchisement in 2000 election getting underway at Bush's Dept of Justice. Finally.

Justice Department Coverup

matteo — Sat, 26 Jan 2002 09:57:15 -0800

Justice Department Coverup Attorney General John Ashcroft was fed up with having his picture taken during events in the Great Hall in front of semi-nude statues. So he has ordered massive draperies to conceal the offending figures (cost: 8,000 bucks)

raaka — Fri, 11 Jan 2002 04:10:33 -0800

Welcome to Enrongate. Ashcroft and his aide David Aryes are off the Justice Department investigation which means Larry Thompson, the Deputy Attorney General, is heading it up. Thompson worked as an attorney for law firm King & Spalding, whose client list included Enron subisidiaries like Enron Global LNG, Enron Energy Services and Enron Global Markets. Check out Larry Thompson’s King & Spalding bio courtesy of the Web Archive. Apparently, some of his areas of expertise are in "white collar criminal defense matters" and "Government Investigations".

The RFK Department Of Justice?

flip — Mon, 19 Nov 2001 08:49:14 -0800

The RFK Department Of Justice? That's what the news is. President Bush will name the Justice Department after Robert F. Kennedy citing his contributions to fighting organized crime and the logical links to today's war on terrorism. The book, Robert Kennedy: His Life, has great stories on how RFK took on the mafia. But don't you think Bush is pulling a fast one to get liberals to forget how much the current AG John Ashcroft is rolling back civil liberties?

The latest trial balloon

faisal — Sun, 21 Oct 2001 11:22:26 -0800

The latest trial balloon - the Justice Department apparently wants the right to torture suspects.

Congress Will Hold Hearing: Is Income Tax Legitimate?

dagny — Mon, 23 Jul 2001 16:56:20 -0800

Congress Will Hold Hearing: Is Income Tax Legitimate? Robert Schulz’s We The People Foundation announced that the Justice Department and the U.S. Congress had committed in writing to appear in a recorded public meeting with IRS representatives. There they will officially answer charges challenging the legal jurisdiction of the IRS and the illegal enforcement of U.S. income tax laws against U.S. citizens.