United States Department of Justice
Associate Attorney General | |
Website | justice.gov |
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The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a
The Justice Department contains most of the United States'
The U.S. Congress created the Justice Department in 1870 during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The Justice Department's functions originally date to 1789, when Congress created the office of the Attorney General.
History
The office of the
Following unsuccessful efforts in 1830 and 1846 to make attorney general a full-time job,
Grant appointed
Both Akerman and Bristow used the Department of Justice to vigorously prosecute Ku Klux Klan members in the early 1870s. In the first few years of Grant's first term in office, there were 1000 indictments against Klan members, with over 550 convictions from the Department of Justice. By 1871, there were 3000 indictments and 600 convictions, with most only serving brief sentences, while the ringleaders were imprisoned for up to five years in the federal penitentiary in Albany, New York. The result was a dramatic decrease in violence in the South. Akerman gave credit to Grant and told a friend that no one was "better" or "stronger" than Grant when it came to prosecuting terrorists.[12] George H. Williams, who succeeded Akerman in December 1871, continued to prosecute the Klan throughout 1872 until the spring of 1873, during Grant's second term in office.[13] Williams then placed a moratorium on Klan prosecutions partially because the Justice Department, inundated by cases involving the Klan, did not have the manpower to continue prosecutions.[13]
The "Act to Establish the Department of Justice" drastically increased the attorney general's responsibilities to include the supervision of all United States attorneys, formerly under the Department of the Interior, the prosecution of all federal crimes, and the representation of the United States in all court actions, barring the use of private attorneys by the federal government.
With the passage of the
In 1884, control of federal prisons was transferred to the new department, from the
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order which gave the Department of Justice responsibility for the "functions of prosecuting in the courts of the United States claims and demands by, and offsenses [sic] against, the Government of the United States, and of defending claims and demands against the Government, and of supervising the work of United States attorneys, marshals, and clerks in connection therewith, now exercised by any agency or officer..."[18]
Headquarters
The U.S. Department of Justice building was completed in 1935 from a design by
Various efforts, none entirely successful, have been made to determine the original intended meaning of the Latin motto appearing on the Department of Justice seal, Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur (literally "Who For Lady Justice Strives"). It is not even known exactly when the original version of the DOJ seal itself was adopted, or when the motto first appeared on the seal. The most authoritative opinion of the DOJ suggests that the motto refers to the Attorney General (and thus, by extension, to the Department of Justice) "who prosecutes on behalf of justice (or the Lady Justice)".[19]
The motto's conception of the prosecutor (or government attorney) as being the servant of justice itself finds concrete expression in a similarly-ordered English-language inscription ("THE UNITED STATES WINS ITS POINT WHENEVER JUSTICE IS DONE ITS CITIZENS IN THE COURTS") in the above-door paneling in the ceremonial rotunda anteroom just outside the Attorney General's office in the Department of Justice Main Building in Washington, D.C.[20] The building was renamed in honor of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 2001. It is sometimes referred to as "Main Justice".[21]
Organization
Leadership offices
- Office of the Attorney General
- Office of the Deputy Attorney General
- Office of the Associate Attorney General
- Office of the United States Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General
- Office of the Solicitor General of the United States
Divisions
Division | Year established (as formal division) |
---|---|
Antitrust Division | 1919[22] |
Civil Division[a] | 1933[23] |
Civil Rights Division | 1957[25] |
Criminal Division | 1919[26] |
Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD)[b] | 1909[27] |
Justice Management Division (JMD)[c] | 1945[28] |
National Security Division (NSD) | 2006[29] |
Tax Division | 1933[30] |
The Justice Department also had a War Division during World War II. It was created in 1942 and disestablished in 1945.[31]
Law enforcement agencies
Several federal law enforcement agencies are administered by the Department of Justice:
- United States Marshals Service (USMS) – The office of U.S. Marshal was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The U.S. Marshals Service was established as an agency in 1969, and it was elevated to full bureau status under the Justice Department in 1974.[32][33]
- Charles Bonaparte. The following year, this force was officially named the Bureau of Investigation by Attorney General George W. Wickersham. In 1935, the bureau adopted its current name.[34]
- Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) – the Three Prisons Act of 1891 created the federal prison system. Congress created the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 1930 by Pub. L. No. 71–218, 46 Stat. 325, signed into law by President Hoover on May 14, 1930.[35][36][37]
- National Institute of Corrections (NIC) – Founded in 1974, the National Institute of Corrections is organized under the Federal Bureau of Prisons and has a legislatively mandated mission to assist state and local correctional institutions, and to manage the American Federal Prison System by keeping records of inmates.
- Homeland Security Act, ATF was split into two agencies – the new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was transferred to the Department of Justice, while the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) was retained by the Department of the Treasury.[38]
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – Created in 1973 as part of the war on drugs, the DEA was formed from various previously existing law enforcement agencies that were parts of either the Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury or the Food and Drug Administration. The DEA enforces the Controlled Substances Act and also interdicts foreign drug trafficking.
- Office of the Inspector General (OIG) – The Office of Inspector General performs basic internal auditing functions, and has the power to make arrests and prosecute members of the Department of Justice who are found to be in violation of laws regulating conduct of government officials.
Offices
- Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)
- Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA)
- Executive Office of the United States Trustee(EOUST)
- Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management (OARM)
- Office of the Chief Information Officer
- In May 2014, the department appointed Joseph Klimavicz as Department of Homeland Security.[40]
- In May 2014, the department appointed Joseph Klimavicz as
- Office of Dispute Resolution
- Office of the Federal Detention Trustee(OFDT)
- Office of Immigration Litigation
- Office of Information Policy
- Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR)
- Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
- Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
- Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
- National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
- Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
- Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking Office (SMART)
- Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education
- Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)
- Office of Legal Policy (OLP)
- Office of Legislative Affairs
- Office of the Pardon Attorney
- Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties (OPCL)
- Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
- Office of Public Affairs
- Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children
- Office of Tribal Justice
- Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
- Professional Responsibility Advisory Office (PRAO)
- United States Attorneys Offices
- United States TrusteesOffices
- Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
- Community Relations Service (CRS)
Other offices and programs
- Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States
- INTERPOL, U.S. National Central Bureau
- National Drug Intelligence Center
- Obscenity Prosecution Task Force
- United States Parole Commission
In March 2003, the
In 2003, the Department of Justice created LifeAndLiberty.gov, a website that supported the
On October 5, 2021, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has announced the formation of a "Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team" during the Aspen Cyber Summit.[42]
Finances and budget
In 2015, the Justice Department's budget was as follows:[43]
Program | Funding (in millions) |
---|---|
Management and Finance | |
General Administration | $129 |
Justice Information Sharing Technology | $26 |
Administrative Reviews and Appeals
|
$351
|
Office of the Inspector General | $89 |
United States Parole Commission | $13 |
National Security Division | $92 |
Legal Activities | |
Office of the Solicitor General | $12 |
Tax Division | $109 |
Criminal Division | $202 |
Civil Division | $298 |
Environmental and Natural Resources Division | $112 |
Office of Legal Counsel | $7 |
Civil Rights Division | $162 |
Antitrust Division | $162 |
United States Attorneys | $1,955 |
United States Bankruptcy Trustees | $226 |
Law Enforcement Activities | |
United States Marshals Service | $2,668 |
Federal Bureau of Investigation | $8,347 |
Drug Enforcement Administration | $2,018 |
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives | $1,201 |
Federal Bureau of Prisons | $6,894 |
Interpol-Washington Office | $32 |
Grant Programs | |
Office of Justice Programs | $1,427 |
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services | $248 |
Office on Violence Against Women | $410 |
Mandatory Spending | |
Mandatory Spending | $4,011 |
TOTAL | $31,201 |
See also
- Capital punishment in the United States
- Incarceration in the United States
- Justice
- Litigation
- OneDOJ
- Punishment
Footnotes
- ^ The Civil Division was originally called the Claims Division; it adopted its current name on February 13, 1953.[23][24]
- ^ The ENRD was originally called the Land and Natural Resources Division; it adopted its current name in 1990.[27]
- ^ The JMD was originally called the Administrative Division; it adopted its current name in 1985.[28]
References
- ^ Revision of Original Letter Dated 14 February 1992 Archived September 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of Justice.
- ^ Madan, Rafael (Fall 2008). "The Sign and Seal of Justice" (PDF). Ave Maria Law Review. 7: 123, 191–192. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "2020 Budget Summary". The United States Department of Justice. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- ^ "Meet the Acting Solicitor General". www.justice.gov. January 20, 2021. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
- ^ @TheJusticeDept (March 11, 2021). "Judge Merrick Garland takes his oath of office as the 86th Attorney General of the United States as he is sworn in by Assistant Attorney General for Administration Lee Lofthus" (Tweet). Retrieved March 11, 2021– via Twitter.
- ^ "United States Department of Justice: About DOJ". September 16, 2014. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
- ^ Madan, Rafael (Fall 2008). "The Sign and Seal of Justice" (PDF). Ave Maria Law Review. 7: 123, 127–136. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ John P. Frank, "Edward Bates, Lincoln's Attorney General", American Journal of Legal History 10#1 (1966) pp 34-50.
- ^ Madan, Rafael (Fall 2008). "The Sign and Seal of Justice" (PDF). Ave Maria Law Review. 7: 123, 132–134. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Public Acts of the Forty First Congress". Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ Chernow, Ron (2017). Grant. Penguin Press. p. 700.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 542–547.
- ^ a b Williams (1996), The Great South Carolina Ku Klux Klan Trials, 1871–1872, p. 123
- ^ "Act to Establish the Department of Justice". Memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
- ^ "About DOJ – DOJ – Department of Justice". September 16, 2014. Archived from the original on November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
- ^ Langeluttig, Albert (1927). The Department of Justice of the United States. Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 9–14.
- ^ Langeluttig, Albert (1927). The Department of Justice of the United States. Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 14–15.
- ^ Executive Order 6166, Sec. 5 (June 12, 1933), at [1] Archived October 18, 2020, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Madan, Rafael (Fall 2008). "The Sign and Seal of Justice" (PDF). Ave Maria Law Review. 7: 123, 125, 191–192, 203. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ Madan, Rafael (Fall 2008). "The Sign and Seal of Justice" (PDF). Ave Maria Law Review. 7: 123, 192–203. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM DIRECTS DESIGNATION OF MAIN JUSTICE BUILDING AS THE "ROBERT F. KENNEDY JUSTICE BUILDING"". U.S. Department of Justice. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ History of the Antitrust Division Archived July 13, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of Justice.
- ^ a b Gregory Sisk & Michael F. Noone, Litigation with the Federal Government (4th ed.) (American Law Institute, 2006), pp. 10–11.
- ^ Former Assistant Attorneys General: Civil Division Archived January 31, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Department of Justice.
- ^ Kevin Alonso & R. Bruce Anderson, "Civil Rights Legislation and Policy" in Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History (2006, ed. James Ciment), p. 233.
- ^ Organization, Mission and Functions Manual: Criminal Division Archived December 3, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of Justice.
- ^ a b Arnold W. Reitze, Air Pollution Control Law: Compliance and Enforcement (Environmental Law Institute, 2001), p. 571.
- ^ a b Cornell W. Clayton, The Politics of Justice: The Attorney General and the Making of Legal Policy (M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1992), p. 34.
- ^ National Security Cultures: Patterns of Global Governance (Routledge, 2010; eds. Emil J. Kirchner & James Sperling), p. 195.
- ^ Nancy Staudt, The Judicial Power of the Purse: How Courts Fund National Defense in Times of Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2011), p. 34.
- ^ Civilian Agency Records: Department of Justice Records Archived October 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, National Archived and Records Administration.
- ^ Larry K. Gaines & Victor E. Kappeler, Policing in America (8th ed. 2015), pp. 38–39.
- ^ United States Marshals Service Then ... and Now (Office of the Director, United States Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Justice, 1978).
- ^ The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide (Oryz Press, 1999, ed. Athan G. Theoharis), p. 102.
- ^ Mitchel P. Roth, Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2006), pp. 278–79.
- ^ Dean J. Champion, Sentencing: A Reference Handbook (ABC-CLIO, Inc.: 2008), pp. 22–23.
- ^ James O. Windell, Looking Back in Crime: What Happened on This Date in Criminal Justice History? (CRC Press, 2015), p. 91.
- ^ a b Transfer of ATF to U.S. Department of Justice[permanent dead link], Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
- ^ Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau Archived April 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Federal Register.
- ^ a b Malykhina, Elena (April 25, 2014). "Justice Department Names New CIO". Government. InformationWeek. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
- ^ Dotgovwatch.com Archived November 9, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, October 18, 2007
- ^ "DOJ Forms Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team - October 6, 2021". Daily News Brief. October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ 2015 Department of Justice Budget Authority by Appropriation Archived July 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of Justice, Accessed July 13, 2015
External links
- Official website
- United States Department of Justice at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
- Department of Justice on USAspending.gov
- USDOJ in the Federal Register