Carrie Johnson

Key Charge Against Ex-BP Official In Spill Case Dismissed

Carrie Johnson — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:11:00 +0000

It's another bad day for the Justice Department.

A federal judge in Louisiana has thrown out the central criminal charge against a former BP executive because prosecutors failed to prove he knew about a pending congressional investigation into oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico three years ago. U.S.

Justice Department Secretly Obtains AP Phone Records

Carrie Johnson — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:25:00 +0000

The Associated Press is protesting what it calls a massive and unprecedented intrusion into its gathering of news. The target of that wrath is the U.S. Justice Department, which secretly collected phone records for several AP reporters last year. The AP says it's caught in the middle of a Justice Department leak investigation.

The scope of the Justice Department subpoenas is what gives David Schultz, a lawyer for AP, pause.

"It was a very large number of records that were obtained, including phone records from Hartford, New York, Washington, from the U.S.

Head Of Environmental Crimes Unit Is Leaving Government

Carrie Johnson — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Ignacia Moreno, the point person at the Justice Department for prosecuting environmental crimes, says she will leave government service next month.

Moreno, the first Latina to lead the department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in November 2009. Her tenure spanned one of the worst disasters in U.S. history, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April 2010.

Study: Release Program For Terminal Inmates 'Poorly Managed'

Carrie Johnson — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:47:00 +0000

A new watchdog report (PDF) says a Federal Bureau of Prisons program designed to help terminally ill inmates get early release is "poorly managed and implemented inconsistently."

The study by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, which was released Wednesday morning, finds that in 13 percent of cases in which prisoners were approved for the program, inmates died before bureaucrats in Washington made a final decision.

Congress gave the Bureau of Prisons the authority to reduce an inmate's sentence for "extraord

ATF Allies Say Agency Handicapped By Lack Of Director

Carrie Johnson — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:18:00 +0000

It's one of the smallest law enforcement agencies in the federal government, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has sure had a busy couple of weeks.

Dozens of its agents raced to Boston, where they analyzed bombs left near the finish line of the marathon. Others went south to Texas, where a fertilizer plant exploded under mysterious circumstances.

Boston Search Shines Spotlight On Surveillance Cameras

Carrie Johnson — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:43:00 +0000

Footage from surveillance cameras along the Boston Marathon route gave the FBI early clues about the bombing suspects. And prosecutors say they'll use some of those images to try to prove their criminal case against 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Labor Nominee's Civil Rights Work Draws Praise, Controversy

Carrie Johnson — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 01:44:00 +0000

President Obama's nominee to lead the Labor Department has been one of the most aggressive advocates for civil rights in decades.

Some Public Defenders Warn: 'We Have Nothing Left To Cut'

Carrie Johnson — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:22:00 +0000

Steven Nolder joined the federal public defender's office when it opened in Columbus, Ohio, nearly 18 years ago.

The Hunt Is On For A New FBI Director

Carrie Johnson — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:20:00 +0000

Robert Mueller became FBI director just days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, he's been the U.S. government's indispensable man when it comes to national security.

But Mueller's term has expired, and the clock is ticking on an unprecedented extension that Congress gave him two years ago.

The first time the Obama White House thought about a replacement for Mueller, back in 2011, officials threw up their hands and wound up begging him to stay. Congress passed a special law to allow it. Then Republican Sen.

Judicial Vacancies Languish On Key Federal Appeals Court

Carrie Johnson — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:25:00 +0000

The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., is sometimes called the second most important court in the country, regularly delivering the final word on major environmental, labor and national security cases.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has a whopping four vacancies, the most in the nation, including one opening that dates all the way back to 2005, when John Roberts moved to the U.S. Supreme Court.

For some insiders, the Washington appeals court represents the legal version of Triple-A baseball, the last destination before a player hits the majors.