United States Department of Justice history

Due to the initial and highly successful efforts of the new Department of Justice and Attorney General Akerman, there was a dramatic decrease in violence in the South by the time he left office in 1872.

The Office of the Attorney General was established in May 20, 1891.

946), and redesignated the Office of the Pardon Attorney in 1894.

On November 16, 1909, Attorney General George Wickersham signed a two-page order creating "The Public Lands Division" of the Department of Justice to step into the breach and address the critical litigation that ensued.

The Clayton Act was enacted in 1914 to work alongside the Sherman Act to prohibit anticompetitive price discrimination, keep corporations from forming unreasonable monopolies and allow individuals to more easily sue for damages.

Although the Antitrust Division had been in existence since June 1919, Harold M. Stephens was sworn-in as the first official Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division.

On May 10, 1924, Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone appointed the 29-year-old Hoover acting director of the Bureau, and by the end of the year Mr.

On August 26, 1926, Eliot Ness swore in as a temporary prohibition agent with the Prohibition Unit, to which ATF traces its legacy, in Chicago.

The Bureau of Prisons was established within the Department of Justice in 1930 and charged with the management and regulation of all Federal penal and correctional institutions.

On June 10, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order consolidating within the Department of Justice the control of all federal tax litigation.

Federal Prison Industries (FPI) – more commonly known by its trade name UNICOR – was established by Congress on June 23, 1934, as a wholly owned government corporation.

It was originally known as the Bureau of Investigation (BIA). In 1935, they were officially renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 1947, the Oregon Department of Justice was created with the Attorney General named as department head.

In 1953, Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr., renamed the Claims Division to the Civil Division and broadened its responsibilities to include the disbanded Customs Division.

Following the Act, W. Wilson White became the first Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and on December 9, 1957, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division was created.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to establish federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone’s attempt to register to vote.

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 signed into law in April 1968–popularly known as the Fair Housing Act–prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin and sex.

On October 1, 1970, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Kashiwa created a new Pollution Control Section and assigned it responsibility for both civil and criminal enforcement actions by the United States to abate air, water, and other types of pollution.

In June 1972, Jo Ann Kocher was sworn in as the first female ATF special agent.

The Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys (AGAC) was first announced in 1973 by Attorney General Elliot Richardson.

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, Public Law 93–415, as amended, established the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to support local and state efforts to prevent delinquency and improve the juvenile justice system.

Attorney General Edward H. Levi defined its function formally by order dated February 13, 1976, setting its responsibilities forth in 28 CFR 0.10.

The Office of the Associate Attorney General (OASG) was created on March 10, 1977, by Attorney General Order No.

The United States Trustee Program was established by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 to promote the efficiency and protect the integrity of the Federal bankruptcy system.

In 1980, AAG Moorman created a new Environmental Enforcement Section.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is charged by Congress with administering the Crime Victims Fund, established through an amendment to the Victims of Crime Act of 1984.

Congress established ICITAP in 1986.

As a young lawyer, Comey worked mostly in the offices of United States attorneys (federal prosecuting attorneys with regional jurisdiction). In 1987 he became an assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, serving under Rudolph W. Giuliani.

OPDAT was created in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in 1991 to promote the rule of law and good governance in emerging democracies and transitioning justice sectors.

In 1993 he moved to Virginia and became a partner in the McGuireWoods law firm.

In 1994 Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in recognition of the severity of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

The Office of Tribal Justice was established in 1995 in response to requests from Tribal leaders for a dedicated point of contact for Indian country-specific legal and policy matters.

Returning to government service, Comey became an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in 1996.

The United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft on May 18, 1998, alleging that the world’s largest supplier of computer software for personal computers had engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of the Sherman Act.

VAWA 2000 reauthorized grant programs created by VAWA, recognized needs of victims of dating violence, established new grant programs addressing vulnerable populations such as older victims and those with disabilities, and strengthened federal criminal law against cyberstalking.

Hanssen pled guilty to 15 counts of espionage on July 6, 2001 and was sentenced to fifteen consecutive life sentences at ADX Florence, the federal supermax prison near Florence, Colorado.

In a high-profile case, his office brought charges of financial misconduct against the homemaking entrepreneur Martha Stewart; she was convicted in 2004.

The Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (OVT), a component of the National Security Division (NSD), was created by Congress in Section 126 of the Department of Justice Appropriations Act of 2005, Pub.

The National Security Division (NSD) was created in March 2006 by the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization and Improvement Act.

The 2007 movie “Breach” is based on the true story of Robert Philip Hanssen.

On October 7, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act that authorized the federal government to reopen racially motivated cold cases for investigation and prosecution, in an attempt to bring perpetrators to justice and discover the truth.

The office was recognized as an official component of the Justice Department by statute on July 29, 2010, with the passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act.

Comey was easily confirmed by the Senate, and his 10-year term began on September 4, 2013.

In July 2016, shortly before Clinton was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, Comey—in an unprecedented move—gave a press conference in which he questioned her judgment but announced that she had been cleared of criminal impropriety.

In May 2017 Comey’s memo concerning a February meeting with Trump was leaked to the media.

The DOJ’s inspector general oversaw a lengthy investigation into the FBI’s handling of the Clinton case, and the final report was released in June 2018.

And, on June 23rd, the Justice Department offered a $10,000 reward (approx. $200,000 in 2020) for the arrest of Dillinger, and a $5,000 (approx. $100,000) reward for information leading to his arrest.