FBI, Justice Department Urged to Re-Open 1985 Pipe Bombing of Arab American Group

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Civil rights supporters are calling for the FBI and Justice Department to reopen the investigation into the 1985 killing of a prominent Palestinian American leader, Democracy Now reports. Alex Odeh was killed by a powerful pipe bomb placed at the offices of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination in Santa Ana, Calif., where he served…

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Charleston NAACP Asks Justice Department to Probe Excessive Force Against Black Men

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Charleston civil rights supporters are calling for an investigation into a “troubling and outrageous trend” lethal police force against black men, the Post and Courier reports. Don Scott, president of the city’s NAACP, said Saturday’s shooting of a black man is one of four police-involved shootings since March 2012. Scott said officers…

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Justice Department Gives Agent Permission to Publish Book Critical of Agency

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Justice Department has switched its position and said an ATF agent may publish a book about the agency’s bungled gun smuggling sting operation “Fast and Furious,”  the Associated Press reports. The department said it was notifying the ACLU, which is representing ATF agent John Dodson, that the book could be published….

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Justice Department Memo Suggests Leakers Face Firing Squad?

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Leak information and you face a firing squad from the Justice Department. So suggests a page of the ATF’s online manual, some employees complained, reports the Washington Times. With the recent mass shootings and leaks, some ATF employees were offended, saying the agency already fosters a hostile environment for whistleblowers. ATF authorities…

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Justice Department Urges Court to Toss Lawsuit Filed by Florida Socialite Jill Kelley

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Justice Department is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Florida socialite whose complaint to the FBI led to the resignation of Gen. David Petraeus, Lawyers.com reports. Jill Kelley claims in a lawsuit that her reputation was tarnished when the government allegedly leaked her private e-mails to the…

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Feds Take Amber Alert Site Offline as Part of Gov’t Shutdown

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com  The Justice Department shut down its Amber Alert website (www.amberalert.gov) because of the government shutdown. Instead of featuring photos and other urgent information about missing children, the site tells visitors, “Due to the lapse in federal funding, this Office of Justice Programs (OJP) website is unavailable.” The site was set up to…

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Justice Department Accused of Keeping Public Records from Being Released

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com  President Obama pledged to run a transparent administration that respects public access to records. But an internal audit of the Justice Department recently found excessive secrecy, according to Slate. The audit found “persistent misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of certain classification processes.” For example, a review of documents found that information was…

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