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American Government Lecture Four (view source)

Revision as of 06:14, October 7, 2012

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=== Department of Justice ===
 
=== Department of Justice ===
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The Department of Justice is responsible for handling all prosecutions and litigation for the federal government.  Originally, the federal government prosecuted very few crimes.  Treason was one.  Counterfeiting was another.
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Now the federal government prosecutes thousands of crimes in all areas of life.  Fraud.  Accounting deception.  Monopolies.  Lying to a federal official is a special federal crime.  Obstruction of justice is a federal crime, when someone interferes with an investigation.  Certain types of murder are now federal crimes.  It was the Department of Justice that attempted to break up Microsoft’s monopoly; it is the Department of Justice that prosecuted Martha Stewart.
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Unlike state prosecutors, federal prosecutors are not elected.  They work under the Attorney General, who is appointed by the president.  They are called U.S. Attorneys or assistant U.S. Attorneys.  State prosecutors are called District Attorneys.  The top state prosecutors are elected, and thus directly accountable to the public.  When a state prosecution meets with public disapproval, the responsible district attorney can be defeated at the next election.  But the president has to be defeated to change the Department of Justice, and presidential elections are typically determined by economic rather than legal issues.
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After 9/11, the George W. Bush Administration (the executive branch while George W. Bush was president) sought and achieved new powers to target criminals under the Patriot Act.  While nearly everyone favors catching and prosecuting real terrorists, many opposed the loss of liberty in the War on Terrorism.  After all, some say, it is liberty that we are defending against terrorism in the first place.
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The main dispute revolves around the Fourth Amendment.  The Patriot Act reduced the requirements for federal investigators to seize evidence and tape-record calls of alleged terrorists.  No longer must a local judge issue a warrant based on a detailed affidavit of probable cause prior to searches of alleged terrorists, broadly defined.  Also, federal investigators can now search certain homes without leaving a copy of a warrant so that the owner knows it has been searched.  This is known as “sneak and peak,” and many criticized this expansion in federal power.
    
=== Environmental Protection Agency ===
 
=== Environmental Protection Agency ===
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