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DOJ requesting $2 million for ‘Gun Safety Technology’ grants Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday that gun tracking bracelets are something the Justice Department (DOJ) wants to “explore” as part of its gun control efforts. When discussing gun violence prevention programs within the DOJ, Holder told a House appropriations subcommittee that his agency is looking into technological innovations. “I think that one of the things that we learned when we were trying to get passed those common sense reforms last year, Vice President Biden and I had a meeting with a group of technology people and we talked about...

IRS agents testified before Congress that the agency’s political targeting did not apply to progressive groups as Democrats and the media have claimed, according to a bombshell new staff report prepared by the House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa. IRS agents testified before Oversight that ACORN groups were scrutinized because the agency thought they were old organizations applying as new ones. Emerge America was scrutinized for potential “improper private benefit.” No evidence exists that the IRS requested additional information from any Occupy Wall Street group. “Only seven applications in the IRS backlog contained the word ‘progressive,’ all of which...

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday said the Justice Department has not decided whether to file federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Martin in an incident that captured national interest, was acquitted of murder charges in July. But the Justice Department could still pursue a federal civil rights case. Holder said the agency’s investigation is under way. “I'm not sure exactly how much longer that will take, but we will get to a point where we are able to make a...

A planned immigration reform rally will take place on the National Mall on Tuesday even though the site is closed due to the government shutdown. ~~~SNIP~~~ Susana Flores, a spokesperson for the rally, confirmed for the Washington Examiner that the Park Service will allow the event to take place under the group's rights granted by the First Amendment. About 30 members of Congress are expected to attend the rally, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

I don’t believe America has ever seen such a thing. The leader of the free world just followed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s honest, visionary, and serious U.N. speech with a speech of his own in the Rose Garden. More like it, President Obama just recorded essentially an infomercial on the disastrous Obamacare rollout. In a speech full of unserious claims and low-level false accusations against those who disagree with his liberal, unworkable policies, this president engaged in doublespeak without even blinking. It was unreal. Obama just proclaimed all our predictions about Obamacare were wrong. The economy is doing great, he...

It wasn't quite a "Network" moment, but normally mild-mannered Attorney General Eric Holder showed a flash of anger Monday as he discussed the impacts of a looming government shutdown and the so-called budget sequester on rank-and-file workers at the Justice Department. "This has real-world consequences for the employees of this department, who have to pay mortgages, who have to pay car notes, who have to buy groceries and I think that is something that people as they're trying to make their political points need to keep in mind: there are good, hardworking Americans who are going to suffer because of...

Two more cases from the ATF's troubled gun-buying sting in Milwaukee have been dismissed, this time because the prosecutor says she can't use the operation's lead agent as a witness.Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Karen Loebel said in court Fridaythat she could not call U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Jacqueline Sutton to testify — the latest setback for an operation riddled with problems exposed bya Journal Sentinel investigation.Loebel, who has dropped eight of the 18 cases she charged from the 2012 sting, said she was not allowed to disclose why Sutton could not take the...

With our civil liberties continually under threat from this Administration, I offer to the American people a good news/bad news combo that is sure to serve as a bittersweet victory for those who have opposed the IRS’ campaign of harassment against political dissidents. Lois Lerner, the embattled IRS official who was in charge of overseeing the tax exempt division of the IRS that has been routinely targeting and harassing conservative and Tea Party groups for years, has retired. Good riddance….However, the sound of the other shoe dropping is heard as Lerner can now look forward to over $50,000 in annual...

After a key provision in the Voting Rights Act was struck down by the Supreme Court in June, the Obama Administration turned to another tactic to seek pre-clearance for changes to election laws, starting with the Lone Star State. In Texas, following Holder's announcement, the DOJ claimed clear evidence of discrimination both in the past and present, and asked a federal court to impose at least 10 years of required pre-clearance. Holder also pledged to block a Texas voter ID law passed in 2011 that state Attorney General Greg Abbott had green-lighted immediately following the Supreme Court’s Shelby County ruling...

The verdict in the Zimmerman case was hardly a surprise to those closely following the case. But despite the evidence supporting the jury's decision, unrest and calls for federal charges have already begun. Zimmerman Not Guilty; Unrest and Calls for Federal Charges Begin The New American 14 July 2013 Shortly after George Zimmerman was found not guilty late Saturday of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the self-defense shooting death of Trayvon Martin, unrest hit the city of Oakland as race-mongers like Al Sharpton, the NAACP and even some Democrat members of Congress publicly demanded that the Obama administration pursue...

The 2012 Florida Statutes Title XLVI CRIMES Chapter 776 JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE 776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.— (1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance...

The Justice Department said Sunday that it will review the George Zimmerman case for possible civil rights violations, after a jury acquitted the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, while Zimmerman's attorney says his client's safety is at risk. NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous started the drive by posting a petition Sunday morning on the website MoveOn.org that is addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder. "The most fundamental of civil rights -- the right to life -- was violated the night George Zimmerman stalked and then took the life of Trayvon Martin," Jealous wrote...

“Attorney General Eric Holder,” the petition reads, “The Department of Justice has closely monitored the State of Florida’s prosecution of the case against George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin murder since it began. Today, with the acquittal of George Zimmerman, it is time for the Department of Justice to act.” “The most fundamental of civil rights — the right to life — was violated the night George Zimmerman stalked and then took the life of Trayvon Martin,” the NAACP wrote. “We ask that the Department of Justice file civil rights charges against Mr. Zimmerman for this egregious violation.” “Please address...

A conservative watchdog group accused the Justice Department of helping manage the "pressure campaign" last year against George Zimmerman in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, citing documents that show an obscure agency spent thousands assisting local demonstrations.

This week, I am grateful I am not a civics teacher. The entire legal and constitutional framework under which we believe we live seemed to have been turned upside-down. To start with, as former U.S. Appeals Judge Michael McConnell argued so well, Obama's suspension of the employer mandate of ObamaCare conflicts with his obligations under Article II, Sec 3 to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which advises the president on legal and constitutional issues, has repeatedly opined that the president may decline to enforce laws he believes are unconstitutional. But...

"We are outraged and heartbroken over today's verdict," NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said in a statement. "We will pursue civil rights charges with the Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the removal of Stand Your Ground laws in every state, and we will not rest until racial profiling in all its forms is outlawed," Jealous said. A civil rights probe had previously been opened by the Department of Justice and a spokeswoman said the department would continue to "evaluate the evidence generated during the federal investigation, as well as the evidence and testimony from the state trial."

Aren't people bored with how predictable this guy is? Politico: The Rev. Al Sharpton said Sunday that "clearly there are grounds for civil rights charges" after George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed Trayvon Martin was found not guilty of second-degree murder in Florida. Sharpton said that he and Martins' family met with a U.S. attorney and that legal options had not been exhausted. "The trial happened. The verdict came in. It does not exhaust the legal options of this family and the bigger community issues of civil rights," Sharpton said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We now have...

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Sunday that the Justice Department had a tough choice in deciding whether to bring federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. A former prosecutor, Klobuchar said that the department would need to wait until their investigation collected all the evidence they could. “I know that investigation’s going on. As a former prosecutor, I know you wait until you see all the evidence,” Klobuchar said on ABC’s “This Week.” “They’re going to have to make that decision. It’ll be a tough one.” (snip) On “This Week,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) called the verdict “devastating.” “I just...

Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained documents proving that the Department of Justice played a major behind-the-scenes role in organizing protests against George Zimmerman. Zimmerman is on trial for second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the DOJ on April 24, 2012. According to the documents JW received, a little-known DOJ unit called the Community Relations Service deployed to Sanford, FL, to organize and manage rallies against Zimmerm

Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained documents proving that the Department of Justice played a major behind-the-scenes role in organizing protests against George Zimmerman. Zimmerman is on trial for second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the DOJ on April 24, 2012. According to the documents JW received, a little-known DOJ unit called the Community Relations Service deployed to Sanford, FL to organize and manage rallies against Zimmerman. Among JW’s findings: •March 25 – 27, 2012, CRS spent $674.14 upon being “deployed to...