The combined political and legal roles and responsibilities of the US attorney general can create conflicts. Some attorneys general yielded to political pressure from the president – many did not.
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It’s not unusual for presidents to select attorneys general who share their views and policy preferences. But Trump has gone far beyond what is usually done.
The dismissals do not mean that these prosecutions are over.
Cheney thought that Congress went too far after Watergate in reining in the presidency. Now Trump and the Supreme Court are embracing Cheney’s views on executive power.
Recent rulings indicate that the high court is leaning toward expanding the type of presidential power that is more emblematic of dictatorship than democracy.
There’s been a flurry of hundreds of presidential pardons in the past few days, but what could happen next?
A former federal judge explains a key power the US attorney general has, and why it’s useful to the public for the Justice Department to operate in a trustworthy way.
Special counsels are not entirely independent, but they do still help administrations avoid the perception of bias.
Men give more money than women to candidates in high-level statewide elections. Money can equal political influence, so that may lead candidates to be less interested in women’s issues once elected.
Immigration judges must base their decisions to grant asylum to immigrant children on whether these children have realistic fears of persecution. But other factors influence those decisions.
History shows that attorneys general who are picked by – and serve at the pleasure of – the president are not as independent as they may be expected to be.
Do US attorneys general act in the public’s interest, or the interest of the president who appointed them?
More and more district attorney candidates are running on reversing the government’s traditional approach to crime and punishment. And they’re winning.
Media freedom is good, but absolute media freedom could lead to a nastier, more brutish public discourse.
The full report on the special counsel’s Trump investigation has now been made public. As people, Congress and prosecutors nationwide dig into Mueller’s findings, here are three key issues to watch.
As the special counsel’s investigation of Trump turns into a partisan battle in Congress, here are four key issues to follow.
President Trump has been criticized for the appointment of political allies as attorney general. But history is filled with examples of AGs who were friends and political supporters of the president.
The gender-equity rule in Kenya’s constitution offers an opportunity to remedy past wrongs. But the country’s parliament is dragging its feet in implementing it.
How will Mueller perform as special counsel? A historian compares his actions with another former FBI director to find out.
When serving as Alabama’s attorney general, Sessions supported a bill that would have expanded the state’s death penalty – even past the point where it was constitutional.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Westminster College
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Professor of Political Science, Concordia University
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William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College
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Lecturer, International Law, University of Nairobi
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Professor, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Texas A&M University-San Antonio
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Senior Lecturer in Law, The University of Western Australia
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Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar, Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University
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C. Wendell and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor of Law, Stanford University
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Associate professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University-San Antonio
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Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law, University of Southern California
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President, Dickinson College
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Associate Professor in American and International Politics, University of Birmingham
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Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life, Albany Law School
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Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University
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Research Associate at the Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University