It's Up to Gonzales Now (Scott Turow former Illinois Assistant US Attorney)
Source: Washington Post
Generally speaking, Washington wants to supervise more than U.S. attorneys care to allow. For example, the Justice Department has long required that prosecutions under RICO, the federal racketeering statute, not be initiated without departmental approval from Washington. This is to ensure that the development of RICO law is uniform nationwide. But the authority is somewhat anomalous, because the underlying charges that form the basis of a RICO case can be brought by a prosecutor without Washington's say-so. During my time as an assistant U.S. attorney, we tended to resent Washington's role in RICO cases and often submitted them for approval only at the last minute.
Furthermore, both Justice and the U.S. attorney's offices adhere to an uneasy understanding about the kinds of objections Washington can raise. Justice is within its rights, for example, in saying, "We don't think the incidents alleged in the indictment amount to a pattern of racketeering under the law," but not, "We think the defendant's church activities should militate against prosecution."
This is not to say that Washington does not succeed in changing the way things are done in the U.S. attorney's offices. Under the first President Bush, a broad initiative was begun to crush gangs and drug lords through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which was supposed to operate in every U.S. attorney's office. The war on guns and drugs had always been seen as the responsibility of local prosecutors, and the news that the federal courts were now going to be the site of street-crime prosecutions was not greeted warmly by all federal prosecutors and federal judges.
In Chicago, the idea of dedicating a significant portion of the U.S. attorney's resources to this pursuit threatened more traditional missions such as public corruption cases, and I recall months of delicate negotiations between U.S. Attorney Dan K. Webb and the department to preserve national and local prerogatives. In the end, Webb worked out an agreement whereby a percentage of many assistants' work time, as opposed to a fixed number of assistants, would be dedicated to OCDETF matters.
LinkHere
Generally speaking, Washington wants to supervise more than U.S. attorneys care to allow. For example, the Justice Department has long required that prosecutions under RICO, the federal racketeering statute, not be initiated without departmental approval from Washington. This is to ensure that the development of RICO law is uniform nationwide. But the authority is somewhat anomalous, because the underlying charges that form the basis of a RICO case can be brought by a prosecutor without Washington's say-so. During my time as an assistant U.S. attorney, we tended to resent Washington's role in RICO cases and often submitted them for approval only at the last minute.
Furthermore, both Justice and the U.S. attorney's offices adhere to an uneasy understanding about the kinds of objections Washington can raise. Justice is within its rights, for example, in saying, "We don't think the incidents alleged in the indictment amount to a pattern of racketeering under the law," but not, "We think the defendant's church activities should militate against prosecution."
This is not to say that Washington does not succeed in changing the way things are done in the U.S. attorney's offices. Under the first President Bush, a broad initiative was begun to crush gangs and drug lords through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which was supposed to operate in every U.S. attorney's office. The war on guns and drugs had always been seen as the responsibility of local prosecutors, and the news that the federal courts were now going to be the site of street-crime prosecutions was not greeted warmly by all federal prosecutors and federal judges.
In Chicago, the idea of dedicating a significant portion of the U.S. attorney's resources to this pursuit threatened more traditional missions such as public corruption cases, and I recall months of delicate negotiations between U.S. Attorney Dan K. Webb and the department to preserve national and local prerogatives. In the end, Webb worked out an agreement whereby a percentage of many assistants' work time, as opposed to a fixed number of assistants, would be dedicated to OCDETF matters.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 3:37 AM
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