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Articles on Department of Justice

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The recent court decision about the Voting Rights Act could be a setback for people’s right to vote. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Who can defend voting rights? An appeals court ruling sharply limiting lawsuits looks likely to head to the Supreme Court

The ruling could make it impossible for groups like the ACLU to file lawsuits to protect people’s right to vote – significantly changing how the Voting Rights Act has been interpreted so far.
At a January 2017 executive order signing, adviser Peter Navarro is third from left behind Trump, while Steve Bannon is on the far right. Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images

Prison sentence for Trump adviser Navarro gives new teeth to Congress as watchdog over the White House

The conviction and incarceration of 2 former Trump aides who refused to comply with the House Jan. 6 committee’s information requests could revive a potent tool for accountability.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announces on Aug. 11, 2023, that he has appointed a special counsel to handle the investigations into Hunter Biden. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Special counsels, like the one leading the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden, are intended to be independent − but they aren’t entirely

Special counsels can help presidential administrations avoid the perception of bias, but they are not as independent as the independent counsels of the past.
The indictment of Donald Trump and an aide was ‘laced with rhetorical and narrative techniques.’ Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Trump’s classified-documents indictment does more than allege crimes − it tells a compelling story

Department of Justice prosecutors could have composed a technocratic document intelligible only to other criminal law insiders when indicting Donald Trump in the documents case. They did much more.
The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., where an Aug. 11, 2023, hearing was held on the Trump case. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s free speech faces court-ordered limits, like any other defendant’s – 2 law professors explain why, and how Trump’s lawyers need to watch themselves too

What can President Trump and his lawyers say about documents and witness statements used as evidence in his upcoming trial over his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election?
The former president boards his plane at Reagan National Airport following his Aug. 3, 2023, arraignment in Washington. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Donald Trump is right − he is getting special treatment, far better than most other criminal defendants

While Trump has received early warnings ahead of indictments and detailed explanations behind the charges, criminal defendants typically get a bare-bones explanation.
Buoy barriers are shown in the middle of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 18, 2023. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Federal government is challenging Texas’s buoys in the Rio Grande – here’s why these kinds of border blockades wind up complicating immigration enforcement

Setting up buoys in a section of the Rio Grande is more likely to result in migrants seeking pathways elsewhere, rather than deterring migration altogether.
Former President Donald Trump’s classified documents trial will take place at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. United States Courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Despite calls for her to recuse herself from Trump’s criminal case, Judge Aileen Cannon’s situation doesn’t meet the standard for when a judge should step away

Trump appointed Cannon to the bench, but that alone is not a good enough reason for her to recuse herself from the case.
Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to reporters on June 9, 2023, in Washington about the investigation of Trump’s retention of classified records. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File

Why Trump’s prosecution for keeping secret documents is lawful, constitutional, precedented, nonpartisan and merited

A former national security staffer, now a scholar of secrecy law, says criticisms of Trump’s federal indictment for hoarding classified documents are unfounded.
Police walk around the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. federal courthouse in Miami before Donald Trump’s arraignment on June 12, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Trump’s trial will soon be underway in Florida – here’s why prosecutors had little choice in selecting any other courthouse location

The Constitution says that a trial must be held where an alleged crime happened – while Trump’s indictment mentions Washington, D.C. and Florida, there are a few reasons why Florida was the pick.
Former President Donald Trump on his airplane on June 10, 2023, two days after his federal indictment. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

‘If you want to die in jail, keep talking’ – two national security law experts discuss the special treatment for Trump and offer him some advice

If you were Trump’s lawyer, what would you advise him to do now? Two national security specialists have some words for and about the former president after his federal indictment.
Special counsel Jack Smith prepares to talk to reporters on June 9, 2023, after the indictment of former President Donald Trump. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump indictment unsealed – a criminal law scholar explains what the charges mean, and what prosecutors will now need to prove

There are 38 felony charges against former President Donald Trump, and while it’s unlikely, he could potentially be sentenced to serve 400 years if found guilty on all of them.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in New Hampshire on April 27, 2023. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Do federal or state prosecutors get to go first in trying Trump? A law professor untangles the conflict

If a person – in this case, the former president of the United States – is charged by federal and state prosecutors, or prosecutors in different states, at the same time, which case goes first?
President Nixon urged the IRS to audit his perceived enemies; Donald Trump wanted to do the same. LPettet/ iStock / Getty Images Plus

The weaponization of the federal government has a long history

The House GOP is scrutinizing federal investigators for alleged abuses of power. But will they probe abuses that may have been committed by members of their own party?

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