U.S. Department of Justice

Man accused of targeting Black neighbor with swastika, slurs

Aug. 6, 2020 8:26 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana man, allegedly angered by the removal of a tree, is charged with a hate crime for attempting to intimidate an African American neighbor because of his race, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday. Shephard Hoehn, 50, became angry when a construction crew began...

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2015, file photo, Marlin Gusman, sheriff of New Orleans, speaks outside a new jail facility in New Orleans as buses transferring inmates from the old jail arrive. Gusman can be put back in control of the city’s notoriously troubled jail despite still-serious problems that triggered a 2012 lawsuit and U.S. Justice Department oversight, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

New Orleans sheriff regains authority over troubled jail

Aug. 5, 2020 7:27 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The sheriff of New Orleans can be put back in control of the city’s long-troubled jail despite still-serious problems that triggered U.S. Justice Department oversight and a 2012 lawsuit, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Sheriff Marlin Gusman had agreed to cede authority over the...

FILE - This Sept. 2, 2015 file photo shows the the door to the cell at Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Va., where 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell was found dead Aug. 19, 2015. The Justice Department has proposed that a Virginia jail comply with a consent decree that would require officials to improve medical treatment for inmates. The announcement on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, marks one of the first times the department has proposed such a resolution in the Trump administration.(Bill Tiernan/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)

Feds propose consent decree to ensure care at Virginia jail

Aug. 5, 2020 7:25 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department proposed Wednesday that a Virginia jail comply with a consent decree requiring officials to improve medical treatment for inmates, marking one of the first times the department has proposed such a resolution in the Trump administration. The rare action follows a...

FILE - In this May 15, 2020, file photo, Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Donald Trump, speaks in Laurel, Md. The Trump administration is awarding more than $35 million in Justice Department grants to organizations that provide safe housing for survivors of human trafficking. The grants are being announced Tuesday, Aug. 4, at a White House event attended by Attorney General William Barr, presidential adviser Ivanka Trump, other administration officials, survivors of human trafficking and organizations that serve them. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Trump gives $35 million to aid human trafficking victims

Aug. 4, 2020 5:18 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Tuesday announced more than $35 million in Justice Department grants to organizations that provide safe housing for victims of human trafficking. Attorney General William Barr and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump announced the awards at a White House event...

FILE - In this July 17, 2020, file photo the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown. The Justice Department scheduled two additional federal executions on Friday, July 31, an announcement that comes weeks after it fought off last-minute legal challenges and successfully resumed federal executions following a 17-year pause. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Justice Department schedules 2 additional federal executions

Jul. 31, 2020 8:04 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department scheduled two additional federal executions on Friday, an announcement that comes weeks after it fought off last-minute legal challenges and successfully resumed federal executions following a 17-year pause. The executions of Christopher Andre Vialva and William...

FILE - Trinetta Brown, center left, 19, and Triniya Brown become emotional during a memorial service for their brother, Michael Brown, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, in the Canfield Green apartment complex in Ferguson, Mo. St. Louis County's top prosecutor announced Thursday, July 30, 2020, that he will not charge the former police officer who fatally shot Brown. But, he said,

Prosecutor: No charges for officer in Michael Brown’s death

Jul. 30, 2020 11:20 PM EDT

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis County’s prosecutor announced Thursday that he will not charge the former police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a dramatic decision that could reopen old wounds amid a renewed and intense national conversation about racial injustice and...

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn arrives at federal court in Washington. A former federal judge appointed to review the Justice Department's motion to dismiss criminal charges against ex-national security Michael Flynn has found that the government's request should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power.” Former U.S. District Judge John Gleeson says in a filing Wednesday that the government “has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President.” (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Full appeals court agrees to wade into Michael Flynn case

Jul. 30, 2020 8:53 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The entire Washington-based federal appeals court is stepping into the legal dispute over former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn as it weighs whether a judge can be forced to dismiss a case that the Justice Department no longer wants to pursue. The action Thursday by the...

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2019, file photo Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz testifies at a Senate committee on FISA investigation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The FBI said Thursday, July 30, 2020, that errors in more than two dozen applications for surveillance warrants were not as severe as the Justice Department inspector general made them out to be. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FBI: Review of surveillance applications found minor errors

Jul. 30, 2020 7:20 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI said Thursday that it found mostly minor errors during a review of more than two dozen applications for national security surveillance warrants, suggesting the problems were less serious than the Justice Department inspector general had made them out to be earlier this year. The...

Federal agencies appeal suspension of abortion pill rule

Jul. 30, 2020 1:11 PM EDT

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to reinstate a rule that has required women to visit a hospital, clinic or medical office to obtain an abortion pill during the COVID-19 pandemic. A federal judge in Maryland agreed earlier this month to temporarily block...

U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider announces Wednesday, July 29, 2020, that dozens of federal agents and deputy marshals are being assigned to Detroit to combat gun violence and arrest fugitives. Detroit police said hundreds of guns were seized in a recent four-week period. Schneider added that

Prosecutors: Agents will probe crimes, not bust protests

Jul. 29, 2020 5:24 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Federal prosecutors worked Wednesday to dispel concerns that federal agents headed to a number of U.S. cities will be used to break up protests, insisting that the agents will work side-by-side with local and state investigators to solve violent crimes. President Donald Trump recently...

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