Department of Justice Suing Georgia Over Voting Restrictions

The Department of Justice is filing a lawsuit challenging new voting restrictions in Georgia.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the DOJ‘s action during a press conference this morning.

“This lawsuit is the first of many steps we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote, that all lawful votes are counted, and that every voter has access to accurate information,” he said.  read more

DOJ Expected to Announce Investigation of Minneapolis Police

Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to announce that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will launch an investigation into the policing practices of law enforcement in Minneapolis.

The investigation will examine practices used by police, including the use of force, and whether the department engages in discriminatory practices, according to the person. It will also look into the department’s handling of misconduct allegations among other things, the person said. It’s unclear whether the years under investigation will begin when Floyd died or before,” The Associated Press reported. read more

Democrats Call for DOJ to Investigate Florida Senate Races

The Miami Herald reported today that Florida Democrats are calling for the Department of Justice to investigate state Senate races.

11 of Florida’s Democratic U.S. House members sent a letter to United States Attorney General Merrick Garland saying that  “a cloud of corruption hangs over Florida’s 2020 election cycle, which thus far, has received only a limited formal investigation.” read more

Hundreds of Attorneys and Judges Offer Support to Anyone Against “Political Misuse” of Justice Department

Hundreds of attorneys and judges have signed an open letter offering support to any Trump administration officials opposed to “political misuse” of the Department of Justice.

“We, the undersigned, are attorneys from across the political spectrum and across the country. We write to express support for Department of Justice (“DOJ”) professionals who may face difficult choices about participating in political misuse of the DOJ in the election period ahead,” reads the letter from Lawyers Defending American Democracy. “The public and these professionals should know that if they stand up to such misuse — whether via resignation, public statements, or other forms of expressive dissent — they will have broad support in the legal profession, whose best traditions they will be upholding.” read more

Justice Department Wants Data on Nursing Home Deaths in States Led by Democrats

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent letters to the Democratic governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan to ascertain whether states violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals, an action that critics say spread the novel coronavirus and possibly contributed to the death toll. DOJ prosecutors say these orders “may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents.”  read more

Former Republican DOJ Officials Back Biden and Warn of Trump’s “Autocracy”

A group of former Republican Department of Justice officials have endorsed Joe Biden for president, becoming the latest Republicans to publicly break from Donald Trump.

The Biden campaign announced the endorsements from a bevy of former Justice Department appointees from the Reagan administration and both Bush administrations, as well as one from the President’s own transition team. read more

Trump’s Own DOJ Finds No Link to Antifa In Protests

The Justice Department has issued a report showing no link to Antifa, an organization that doesn’t exist, at protests following the killing of George Floyd.

After NPR reviewed court documents for 51 individuals who are facing federal charges related to the demonstrations, they found none with any connections to the Antifa––or antifascist––movement. Of those 51 cases, 20 involve allegations relating to arson, 16 involve allegations relating to illegal possession of a firearm, and eight involve inciting a riot. read more

Jeff Sessions Makes An Unbelievable Promise to Protect Civil Rights For All Communities

On Thursday, Attorney-General Jeff Sessions told Federal Prosecutors he is committed to prosecuting hate crimes. Why don’t I believe him?

During Sessions’ speech he pledged “to protect the civil rights of all Americans — and we will not tolerate the targeting of any community in our country” I feel so much better about the rise in hate crimes since the election. No, I don’t. It’s because the evidence contradicts his words. The context is in reference to a successful prosecution of a hate crime in Mississippi where a transgender woman was murdered. read more

Republicans Condemn North Korean Human Rights Violations While Ignoring Their Own

The hypocrisy of this nation co-sponsoring a resolution condemning anyone country for human rights abuses (torture) is beyond the pale. Particularly in light of the recent Senate Intelligence Report verifying what the world has known for several years; America is guilty of committing gross human rights abuses on its own citizens and "suspected terrorists" held in captivity.

Friday Fox Follies – Diseased Central

What's more contagious than Ebola with absolutely no cure? As we head into next week's election, Fox "News" has been stricken with a near-fatal form of Obama Derangement Syndrome. Worse: Quarantines won't work against it -- unless you switch off your tee vee.

The DEA Has Become Too Powerful as a Lobbying Force to Keep the Disastrous War on Drugs

This week, no less than eight former directors of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) signed onto a public letter to two Senators accusing the Obama Administration of abandoning the War on Drugs simply because he has indicated he plans to largely respect the decisions of voters in Colorado and Washington when they legalized marijuana in November. President Obama would be esteemed by many if he were to  restrain federal agents more than he did during his first term with regard to raids of medical marijuana dispensaries in other states, such as California or the 17 other states where the voters have supported medical marijuana. In fact, President Obama promised before entering the presidency that his justice department would not be perpetrating the failed War on Drugs as so many presidents had done before him, but this is one area where people can point to what the President said he would do and what he actually did, and the disparity is unfortunately significant. Once he got into office, he faced tremendous pressures from lobbyists who stoke the War on Drugs, and the primary culprits are enforcers like the DEA and the profiteers of this ‘war’, such as the prison industrial complex. As Mansfield Frazier writes, read more