United States Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

U.S. federal executive department

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Seal of the U.S. Department of Justice | |
Flag of the U.S. Department of Justice | | | |
The Robert F. Kennedy Building is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Justice. (2024) | | Agency overview | | Formed | July1, 1870;155 years ago(1870-07-01) | | Type | Executive department | | Jurisdiction | U.S. federal government | | Headquarters | Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C., United States
38°53′36″N77°1′30″W / 38.89333°N 77.02500°W / 38.89333; -77.02500 | | Motto | " Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur" ( Latin: "Who prosecutes on behalf of justice (or the Lady Justice)")[1][2] | | Employees | 113,114 (2019)[3] | | Annualbudget | $37.52 billion (FY 2024) | | Agency executives | - Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General
- Todd Blanche, Deputy Attorney General
- Stanley Woodward Jr., Associate Attorney General
- D. John Sauer, Solicitor General | | Website | justice.gov |

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ) is an executive department of the United States federal government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the United States attorney general, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche currently serves as the acting attorney general.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unite

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History

The office of the attorney general was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789.[5] Until 1853, the salary of the attorney general was set by statute at less than the amount paid to other Cabinet members. Early attorneys general supplemented their salaries by running private law practices, often arguing cases before the courts as attorneys for paying litigants.[2] The lightness of the office is exemplified by Edward Bates (1793–1869), attorney general under President Abraham Lincoln (1861–1864). Bates had only a small operation, with a staff of just six. Their main function was to generate legal opinions at the request of Lincoln and cabinet members and to handle occasional cases before the Supreme Court. However, Lincoln's cabinet was full of experienced lawyers who seldom felt the need to ask for his opinions. In addition, Bates had no authority over U.S. Attorneys across the country. The federal court system was handled by the Department of the Interior, and the Department of the Treasury handled claims. Most of the opinions turned out by Bates's office were of minor importance. Lincoln gave him no special assignments and did not seek his advice on Supreme Court appointments. Bates did have an opportunity to comment on general policy as a cabinet member with a strong political base, but he seldom spoke up.[6]

Following unsuccessful efforts in 1830 and 1846 to make attorney general a full-time job,[2] in 1867, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, led by Congressman William Lawrence, conducted an inquiry into the creation of a "law department" headed by the attorney general and also composed of the various department solicitors and United States attorneys. On February 19, 1868, Lawrence introduced a bill in Congress to create the Department of Justice. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill into law on June 22, 1870.[7]

The "Act to Establish the Department of Justice" drastically increased the attorney general's responsibilities to include the supervision of all United States attorneys, formerly under the Department of the Interior, the prosecution of all federal crimes, and the representation of the United States in all court actions, barring the use of private attorneys by the federal government.[8] The law also created the office of Solicitor General to supervise and conduct government litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States.[9]

The organization of the department was a part of the general effort to control patronage, retrenchment in the workforce, and to improve the status of lawyers.[10]

Grant appointed Amos T. Akerman as attorney general and Benjamin H. Bristow as America's first solicitor general the same week that Congress created the Department of Justice. The Department's immediate function was to preserve civil rights. It set about fighting against domestic terrorist groups who had been using both violence and litigation to oppose the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.[11]

Thomas Nast illustration entitled "Halt," published October 17, 1874

Both Akerman and Bristow used the Department of Justice to vigorously prosecute Ku Klux Klan members in the e

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