[Alamo-Girl]

Oh, I suspect the person filing the complaint always believes it is legitimate. But I would imagine the DOJ gets a ton of such complaints and sorts them down into areas and priorities for assignment. From there, I would expect the low priority complaints to go on the back burner until they become a non-issue.

That's just a guess based on the relative size of the DOJ and that even the U.S. attorneys are political appointees. (One of the first things Clinton and Reno did was to fire all US attorneys and replace them with their own.)

In sum, I see the DOJ as primarily motivated by the law - but subject to politics. That's why, in this case, because an "unintended consequence" could be religious institutions having to hire pagans - I wouldn't be surprised to see it on Ashcroft's desk. He might prefer to "punt" the underlying issue to the White House or Congress to clarify the law before doing anything else. That would be a good result, IMHO.

[Nebullis]

In sum, I see the DOJ as primarily motivated by the law - but subject to politics.

I agree. I would add but, subject to religious beliefs as well. That trumps law, doesn't it? And this is a case certain creationist want to see processed.