U.S. Department of Justice

Marijuana: Is Obama Administration Softening Stance on Pot?

It's the Obama administration Department of Justice that has been raiding and shutting down marijuana dispensaries in medical-legal places like, oh, right here in Los Angeles. That alone has produced a love-hate relationship between the cannabis nation and a president who admitted inhaling in his y ... More >>

Record Gas Prices Fueled By Oil Manipulation? Senators Want Big-Time Investigation

If you felt reamed during October's California gas-price spike, in which records were set at the pump even though there was no real oil supply crisis at all, you have some powerful company. The U.S. senators from California, Washington and Oregon this week asked the U.S. Department of Justice to do ... More >>

L.A. FBI Agents Ready To Investigate Allegations Of Voter Fraud in Southern California

Voter fraud is rarer than a global-warming denier in New York City right now. Republican efforts to scare away the poor, dark and Democratic vote in states like Pennsylvania and Florida have made this non-issue a hot topic nonetheless. Ironically, some of the biggest headlines about voter fraud th ... More >>

Minorities Paid More For Wells Fargo Home Loans in L.A? Feds Settle For $175 Mil

Since before the days of Ronald Reagan's "welfare queen," the racist's take on the American minority is often that she is a moocher, a taker of food stamps, and "living on the dole." The reality, of course, is that life is often harder for American minorities, who sometimes pay more for stuff but g ... More >>

Finally: Gay Bullying Gets Recognized as a Civil Rights Issue

Hollywood Websites Attacked by Anonymous Hackers in Wake of Megaupload Bust, SOPA Support

Hollywood might be on the offensive when it comes to limiting your internet freedom (via the controversial and moribund Stop Online Privay Act), but it appeared to be against the ropes today following the U.S. Justice Department's takedown of file storage sight Megaupload at the behest of the conten ... More >>

Marijuana Prosecution Memo From Feds Indicates 999 Plants is Okay, 1,000 is Not

DEAFederally legal?​Marijuana advocates today circulated a transcript of a memo that appears to define U.S. Department of Justice guidelines for marijuana growing and possession prosecution targets. In other words they got their hands on the blueprint for what it takes to get the DOJ to crack ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Digs In

Lost Boys

New research demolishes the stereotype of the underage sex worker — and sparks an outbreak of denial among child-sex-trafficking alarmists nationwide

Rooting for Weed

Marijuana Crackdown in California: U.S. Department of Justice Says it's Not President Obama's Fault

Don't blame this guy.​As we've noted, marijuana advocates are mad at President Obama. An Occidental College-educated lefty, Obama's supposed to be one of them. But when his U.S. Department of Justice cracked down on pot dispensaries in California, essentially saying that all weed shops are il ... More >>

Marijuana Protest During President Obama's Visit to L.A.

The Weed BlogWeed advocates want Obama to hear them.​During Monday's Obamajam on the Westside marijuana advocates will be out in force to protest the U.S. Justice Department's crackdown on cannabis dispensaries in California. California NORML is staging a demonstration outside the downtown Fe ... More >>

Medical Marijuana Crackdown in California by Feds Blasted by Golden State Lawmakers Leno, Ammiano

Tiffany RoseFeds want to tear up this prescription.​A pair of California lawmakers is pushing back against a federal crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries in the Golden State. Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano today lashed out against the pronouncement by Depa ... More >>

More Fun With the Department of Justice: $16 Muffins

Flickr/etringitamuffins​ These are gorgeous muffins, but it's probably safe to say that they didn't cost $16 a pop. Unless they were served and eaten by the Department of Justice, that is. According to CBS News, a report issued Tuesday by the Justice Department's inspector general discovered " ... More >>

L.A. County Probation Unions Express 'No Confidence' in Probation Chief Donald Blevins

DaR​In the wake of a rare proposal to have a sheriff's department oversee thousands of state parolees, a job that would normally go to local probation officials, union boards representing 95 percent of L.A. probation employees today announced a vote of "no confidence" in their Chief, Donald Bl ... More >>

Married Same-Sex Couples Can Legally File For Joint Bankruptcy in U.S. Court

Aw, they're broke like the rest of us.​It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ... Innit? The U.S. Justice Department last week decided to back off on its costly opposition to married same-sex couples' joint bankruptcies, u ... More >>

Watchdog Group Sues DOJ for Refusing to Release Congressman Jerry Lewis Investigation Records

Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis​Six months ago, the U.S. Department of Justice wrapped up an investigation into Congressman Jerry Lewis, a 17-term Republican from Redlands, for improperly handling earmarks and government contracts. The DOJ decided not to prosecute and everyone involved moved ... More >>

Los Angeles Man Slapped With $250,000 Fine and 5 Years in Prison for Uploading Kanye West Album

​Via PC World: A California man who participated in a so-called warez music-sharing group faces a sentence of five years in prison and a US$250,000 fine after pleading guilty to copyright infringement charges in a California court. He was a member and leader of an Internet music release group ... More >>

City Of Walnut Sued By United States For Blocking Construction Of Buddhist Temple

​The San Gabriel Valley city of Walnut is being sued by the federal government for alleged religious discrimination after it blocked the construction of a Buddhist house of worship, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday. The Chung Tai Zen Center was denied a conditional use permit i ... More >>

Juvenile Probation: L.A. County Board To Consider $8 Million Infusion After U.S. Justice Authorities Decry Rate Of Reform

Mark Ridley-Thomas.​After receiving a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice expressing concern with the pace of progress in Los Angeles County's promised juvenile probation reforms, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a nearly $8 million infusion of cash to help imple ... More >>

National NAACP Asks Federal Authorities To Probe L.A. Probation Department

Mark Ridley-Thomas.​The national NAACP on Thursday passed an emergency resolution calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigated the troubled Los Angeles County Probation Department following a wave of troubles for the embattled law-enforcement organization, including alleged physic ... More >>

Federal Probe Of County Probation Department Sought By Mark Ridley-Thomas

Mark Ridley-Thomas.​County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas on Wednesday called for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the county Department of Probation, which was recently scandalized by revelations that some of its employees used county issued credit cards to buy personal items such ... More >>

Details Emerge On Obama's Pot Stance

Just as a crackdown on the city's medical marijuana dispensaries is being set in motion, the Obama administration is calling off the federal fight against sellers and buyers who abide by laws in California and 13 other states that allow the distribution of doctor-approved pot, the Associated Press i ... More >>

Wife-Beating and Ethnic Slurs: A Deeper Look

Janet Napolitano = Homeland Futility

Governor Napolitano's sorry service in Arizona makes her a terrible choice for Homeland Security secretary

Handcuffs for Bushies

Out of the dark side, Jane Mayer's investigation into the Bush administration, a rogue's list for prosecution

City Hall's E-Mail War on the Poor

Is DOJ probing the Alexandria? Or is it a ruse by the powerful to slime the powerless?

Ladies Love Gay Male Porn

All the Right Enemies

A purged prosecutor exemplifies Bushies’ mendacity

A Flawed Democracy

Federal election monitors note a few problems in L.A.’s election last week

A Vulgar Betrayal

The FBI’s troubled history with terrorism

Chong Family Values

Challenging the Recall

The War on Due Process

With Patriot Act power, Bush and Ashcroft try to conquer the legal system

The List

The Terror Path

The Red Delicious Menace

Letters

No Secrets

Two courts reject ashcroft's anti- terror strategy

A Small Universe of People

Porn Jitters

Maybe W. can’t spell “pornography”

Righting the Ship

What it will take to fix the LAPD

Philadelphia Story

Like L.A., the City of Brotherly Love had to confront cowboy cops

Hard Line

Feds demanded change in Pittsburgh

No Respect

Police Commission falters on Rampart

Tracking Delays

A how-not-to guide for monitoring bad cops

Cops Foiled by Computer Mandate

Key Christopher Commission reform left to languish

Sick and Mired

For mentally ill, any jail is hard time

The Coke Machine

The Story behind the Contra-crack cocaine story

Justice Delayed

Two years after, authorities still mum on Riverside deputy beatings