the Judiciary Act of 1789Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789 which, among other things, established the Office of the Attorney General.
July 1, 1870United States Department of Justice / FoundedOfficially coming into existence on July 1, 1870, the Department of Justice was empowered to handle all criminal prosecutions and civil suits in which the United States had an interest.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Office of the Attorney General (AG) to represent the federal government in cases before the US Supreme Court and to give legal advice to the President or the heads of cabinet-level departments.
Edmund Jennings RandolphOn September 26, 1789, Edmund Jennings Randolph was appointed the first Attorney General of the United States by President George Washington.
Within the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is responsible to the attorney general, and it reports its findings to U.S. Attorneys across the country. The FBI's intelligence activities are overseen by the Director of National Intelligence.
EnglandThe legal system of the United States traces its roots back to the common law of England. The enforcement of those ancient laws was the responsibility of a criminal justice system that grew and evolved over a protracted period.
William BarrPresidentGeorge H. W. BushPreceded byDonald B. AyerSucceeded byGeorge J. Terwilliger IIIUnited States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel30 more rows
Attorney general offices therefore play an active role before the Supreme Court. Collectively, they are the second most active litigant before the Court, behind only the U.S. government.
Jeff SessionsOfficial portrait, 201784th United States Attorney GeneralIn office February 9, 2017 – November 7, 2018PresidentDonald Trump33 more rows
California Former Attorneys GeneralMatthew Rodriguez2021 – 2021John K. Van de Kamp1983 – 1991George Deukemejian1979 – 1983Evelle J. Younger1971 – 1979Thomas C. Lynch1964 – 197129 more rows
2, 2001 – Feb 3, 2005: John Ashcroft, a Republican, was nominated and appointed by George W. Bush to be the 79th attorney general. He is a graduate of Yale University and also the University of Chicago, the latter of which is where he earned his law degree.
Of the 50 Attorneys General, 25 do not have a formal provision specifying the number of terms allowed. Of the 44 elected attorneys general, all serve four-year terms with the exception of Vermont, who serves a two-year term. 11 face a two term limit, otherwise unspecified.
The Judiciary Act was passed by Congress and signed by President George Washington on September 24, 1789 , making the Attorney General position the fourth in the order of creation by Congress of those positions that have come to be defined as Cabinet level positions.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Office of the Attorney General which evolved over the years into the head of the Department of Justice and chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government.
The Department of Justice traces its beginning to the First Congress meeting in New York in 1789, at which time the Congress devoted itself to creating the infrastructure for operating the Federal Government.
The Attorney General represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested. In matters of exceptional gravity or importance the Attorney General appears in person before the Supreme Court.
After meeting for several months the legislators passed a bill known as the Judiciary Act that provided for the organization and administration of the judicial branch of the new government, and included in that Act was a provision for appointment of “…a meet person, learned in the law, to act as attorney-general for the United States…”.
The Office of the Attorney General was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, sec. 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92-93), as a one-person part-time position . The Act specified that the Attorney General was to be "learned in the law," with the duty "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments, touching any matters that may concern their departments."
Officially coming into existence on July 1, 1870, the Department of Justice was empowered to handle all criminal prosecutions and civil suits in which the United States had an interest.
From its beginning as a one-man, part-time position, the Department of Justice has evolved into the world's largest law office and the chief enforcer of federal laws. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The most sacred of the duties of government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.”.
The 1870 Act remains the foundation for the Department’s authority, but the structure of the Department of Justice has changed over the years, with the addition of the offices of Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, and the formation of various components, offices, boards and divisions. From its beginning as a one-man, part-time ...
The US Attorney General is considered the federal government’s top legal official, responsible for advising the President and his cabinet on matters of the law and managing the Justice Department’s many offices and departments. Although the AG post is held by a lawyer, the attorney general is often viewed as much a political figure as a legal one. The AG’s office has been no stranger to controversy over the years, including during the administration of George W. Bush, which has seen three different attorneys general become involved in the government’s use of illegal and unconstitutional tactics in its fight against terrorism.
In 2007 all of Washington, DC, was abuzz over revelations that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had fired eight US Attorneys, some for apparently political reasons. The dismissed attorneys had all been appointed by President George W. Bush more than four years earlier.
Civil libertarians and some law experts expressed concerns from the very beginning of the Bush administration’s answer to combating terrorist threats , beginning with the passage of the Patriot Act. What concerned opponents the most was, in essence, that in order to save the country, the administration was undermining the very constitutional basis and system of laws which make America special in the world. For human rights experts, the messages put forth by Ashcroft, Gonzales and others were appalling, demonstrating no political conscience for what their policies would ultimately mean for the nation’s present and future form of democracy.
11, 2001, the Bush administration embarked on aggressive and legally questionable strategies to pursue and imprison suspected terrorists using means that fell outside the American system of jurisprudence, not to mention not common decency. The tactics employed under the Global War on Terrorism campaign provoked a fiery debate that sometimes lined up conservatives and Bush administration officials on one side and civil libertarians and Democrats on the other. But not always. At times, even members of Bush’s inner circle privately or publicly expressed reservations for the strategies employed on behalf of protecting the country.
Prior to entering public service, Ashcroft taught business law at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield. He began his career of public service in 1973 as Missouri auditor and was later elected to two terms as the state’s Attorney General.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, Alberto Gonzales graduated from Rice University and Harvard Law School. Gonzales served in the US Air Force between 1973 and 1975 and attended the US Air Force Academy between 1975 and 1977.
In 2004, as then-Attorney General John Ashcroft lay in a hospital bed recovering from having gallbladder surgery, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and Chief of Staff Andrew Card tried to convince Ashcroft to renew the administration’s secret surveillance program which had just been deemed illegal by the AG’s legal advisors. Ashcroft’s top assistant, James Comey, rushed to the hospital to stop Gonzales and Card from trying to manipulate the seriously ill Ashcroft into continuing the program.
In 1868, after the House Judiciary Committee asked Stanbery to respond to a similar inquiry, Representative Thomas Jenckes of Rhode Island introduced a bill to establish a department of justice. This bill was referred to the Joint Select Committee on Retrenchment, a committee impaneled to consider legislation to reduce the size and cost ...
It is a curiosity of history that while the office of the Attorney General of the United States was created by the first congress as a part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Department of Justice was not authorized until over eighty years later, in 1870. And there shall also be appointed a meet person, learned in the law, ...
And there shall also be appointed a meet person, learned in the law, to act attorney-general for the United States, who shall be sworn or affirmed to a faithful execution of his office; whose duty it shall be to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be ...
The Treasury Department would continue to have a role in supervising the work of local attorneys until the creation of the Department of Justice. Later in the 19th century, each executive department, and the Court of Claims, would be authorized to hire legal staff. Only a few cases would arise under the nascent federal criminal law, ...
The act provided for the appointment of a marshal for each court, who could, as needed, designate deputies. The Attorney General was to receive compensation set by the Congress, but the local district United States Attorneys were paid fees based on their courtroom work. The United States Attorneys were not under the supervision ...
Section 35 also established the office of an attorney for each district court, an individual “learned in the law,” who was responsible for representing the United States in all civil and criminal trials before the district court, except for those before the Supreme Court. The act provided for the appointment of a marshal for each court, who could, ...
Only a few cases would arise under the nascent federal criminal law, the most famous of the early Republican period being the treason trial of Aaron Burr. For a number of years, the local attorneys were not authorized to employ staff, but they were later allowed to retain local counsel to assist as needed.
The Office of the Attorney General was created in 1789 and was intended to be a one-person position. The person in the position was supposed to be “learned in the law” and was tasked with conducting all suits in the Supreme Court and advising the president and cabinet in law-related matters.
To mitigate the situation, Congress created the Department of Justice , an executive department with the Attorney General as its head.
Barr has served as Attorney General twice, once during the George H.W. Bush administration from 1991 to 1993, and currently in the Trump administration. Barr has been consistent in his determination that the Executive branch claims absolute executive authority, contrary to our system of checks and balances.
In addition, Barr has indicated he is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the power of the Trump presidency, even if constitutional violations occur. Barr began his tenure last year by lying about the content of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
There is also a succession plan in place in the event there is no Attorney General due to absence or death, which allows the Deputy Attorney General to assume all powers and duties of the office. While the Deputy Attorney General would not be a confirmed Attorney General, they would have all of the powers of the office at hand as interim Attorney ...
The Department of Justice is responsible for most of the legal business of the government, and therefore, many of the law enforcement agencies throughout the country . There are six litigating divisions in the department: Antitrust.
The Department of Justice should be arguing to uphold the law and the office should not be politicized due to presidential influence or pressure. The Justice Department is supposed to be an independent agency and not subject to the pressure of the executive branch.
Early years of the office (1704-1946) The position of New Jersey Attorney General was first established in 1704, shortly after the provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey were reunited as a single colony.
Division on Civil Rights. In 1963, the Attorney General assumed responsibility for the enforcement of the state’s civil rights laws.
The 1970 Act also granted the Attorney General the authority to issue statements of statewide policy – known as “law enforcement directives” – binding on all state, county, and local law enforcement officers in New Jersey. Division of Consumer Affairs. The following year, in 1971, the state established the Division of Consumer Affairs within ...
In 1944, the state created the Department of Law, which assisted the Attorney General in providing legal advice to the Governor and state agencies.
Today, the Department of Law & Public Safety employs more than 7,700 public servants, including 2,800 uniformed officers and 600 lawyers. The New Jersey Attorney General remains one of only seven state attorneys general that is not popularly elected, and one of only five state attorneys general that is appointed by the governor and confirmed by ...
In 2018, the Attorney General established the Office of Public Integrity & Accountability to investigate public corruption and other abuses of public trust. In the modern era, the Department embraced the diversity of its employees.
In 1921, for example, the state created the New Jersey State Police, an independent Department under the supervision of its first Superintendent, H. Norman Schwarzkopf.