Department of Justice

Dept. of Justice Established: June 22, 1870 Activated: July 1, 1870 Attorney General: John D. Ashcroft Deputy Atty. Gen.: Larry D. Thompson Budget: $22.2 billion (2003) Employees: 105,953 (2003)

The United States Department of Justice is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. It is administered by the United States Attorney General, one of the original members of the cabinet.

History

Initially the Attorney General was a one person, part-time job, established by the Judiciary Act of 1789 but this grew with the bureaucracy. At one time the Attorney General gave legal advice to Congress as well as the President, but this stopped by 1819 due to workload.

Eighty-one years after the establishment of the Office of the Attorney General, Congress reported a bill to establish a Department of Justice. Both the Senate and House passed the bill, and President Ulysses S. Grant signed it on June 22, 1870. Officially, the Department of Justice began operations on July 1, 1870.

The bill, called the "Act to Establish the Department of Justice," did little to change the Attorney General's responsibilities and his salary and tenure remained the same. The law did create a new office, that of Solicitor General, to supervise and conduct government litigation in the United States Supreme Court.

Operating Units

• Antitrust Division
• Asset Forfeiture Program
• Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)
• Civil Division
• Civil Rights Division
• Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
• Community Relations Service
• Criminal Division
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
  • Diversion Control Program
• Environment and Natural Resources Division
• Executive Office for Immigration Review
• Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys
• Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Federal Bureau of Prisons
  • National Institute of Corrections
• Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States
• INTERPOL -- U.S. National Central Bureau
• Justice Management Division
• National Drug Intelligence Center
• Office of the Associate Attorney General
• Office of the Attorney General
• Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management
• Office of the Deputy Attorney General
• Office of Dispute Resolution
• Office of Information and Privacy
• Office of the Inspector General
• Office of Intelligence Policy and Review
• Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
• Office of Justice Programs
  • American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk
  • Bureau of Justice Assistance
  • Community Dispute Resolution
  • Corrections Program Office
  • Drug Courts Program Office
  • Executive Office for Weed and Seed
  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service
  • National Institute of Justice
  • Office for Domestic Preparedness
  • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
  • Office for Victims of Crime
  • Violence Against Women Office
• Office of Legal Counsel
• Office of Legal Policy
• Office of Legislative Affairs
• Office of the Ombudsperson
• Office of the Pardon Attorney
• Office of Professional Responsibility
• Office of Public Affairs
• Office of the Solicitor General
• Office of Tribal Justice
• Tax Division
• U.S. Attorneys
• United States Marshals Service
• U.S. Parole Commission
• U.S. Trustee Program

In March 2003, much of the Immigration and Naturalization Service was transferred to the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Board of Immigration Appeals which review decisions made by government officials under Immigration and Nationality law remain under jursidiction of the Department of Justice.

External Links

• United States Department of Justice website

Referenced By