The Department of Justice is set to block South Carolina’s new voter identification law — which some called discriminatory — because of a strong potential non-white residents will be more greatly affected at the polls, according to a report by Talking Points Memo.
The state signed the law, which requires voters to show photo ID at the polls, into effect in May. A few months later, the department launched an investigation into the impact the new law might have on non-white South Carolinians. According to TPM, the department’s civil rights division found “a significant racial disparity in the data provided by South Carolina.” In addition, the data provided to the department by South Carolina showed that people of color were 20 percent more likely than white voters to not have the photo ID required by the new law, TMP reports.
The much-debated law requires voters to provide a driver’s license, passport, military ID card or a yet-to-be-developed voter ID card.
Many states imposed new voter laws this year, prompting praise from some Republicans and calls for investigations from Democrats. Since October, the department has objected to changes to voter provisions in five states around the country, said Thomas E. Perez, chief of the civil rights division.
In a speech last week in Texas, Attorney General Eric Holder said the department would be aggressive in its review of the new voter laws around the country, according to the New York Times.
“Although I cannot go into detail about the ongoing review of these and other state-law changes, I can assure you that it will be thorough — and it will be fair,” he said, according to the report.
Main Justice will be updating periodically over the next week and will resume the normal publishing schedule Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012.
The FBI’s case management system update has overcome some initial hurdles but a December audit shows the project will likely be over budget and past deadline, according to an Office of the Inspector General report released Friday.
The case management system, known as Sentinel, was originally planned to be phased in by December 2009 at an estimated cost of $425 million, according to the report.
Starting in 2006, the bureau worked with private firm Lockheed Martin to implement the new system, but in doing so it ratcheted the cost up to $451 million and extended the completion date twice, the report said. The OIG’s last report on Sentinel stated the project “was at a crossroads.” The FBI stopped work on the project in July and August 2011 and continued with progress that September, the report states. With a new approach, the FBI assumed direct management of the project and greatly diminished the help from contractor Lockheed Martin. The FBI cut down on the number of contract workers from 135 to about 10 and subsequently spent fewer dollars per month, the report states.
Since then, the FBI has moved the roll out date twice, with its current projection at May 2012. The delays are partially attributed to a test run of the new system in October 2011. About 750 agents and analysts participated in the exercise, during which the program experienced two outages, according to the report. The bureau decided its current hardware was insufficient to power the new system and determined an upgrade was required to move forward. As of August 12, 2011, almost half of Sentinel’s project requirements still needed to be completed, the report states.
With the uncertainties surrounding the finish date and hardware purchases, the OIG writes that it “remain[s] concerned” about the FBI meeting its deadline and staying with its $451 million budget.
The Department of Justice has decided to ease restrictions on gun purchases for legal non-residents, according to an open letter posted on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives website.
The letter, written by ATF’s Firearms and Explosives Industry Division Chief Chad J. Yoder, states that the department recently concluded that “applying a more stringent State residency requirement for aliens legally present in the U.S. than for U.S. citizens is incompatible with the language of the [Gun Control Act.]”
The Gun Control Act prohibits licensed merchants from selling firearms to any unlicensed person who they know, or have reason to believe, does not reside in the seller’s state, according to the letter. Writing to federal firearm licensees, Yoder says that licensed merchants must have documentation verifying that a legal non-resident has lived in the state continuously for at least 90 days before selling any firearms according to the current law.
With the department’s recent decision, ATF will revise the regulations and remove the separate 90-day residency requirement for legal non-residents, the letter states. Once these changes have been made, U.S. citizens and legal non-residents will face the same requirements for proof of residency.
Until ATF can make these amendments, the current regulations remains in place, Yoder writes. He did not provide a timeline for completion in the letter.
Update 5:45 p.m.: A Justice Department spokesperson said this does not expand any rules under the Gun Control Act, it merely removes a previous stipulation for legal aliens. Those who fall under the category of legal alien will still have to go through the same process as an American citizen does to purchase a firearm, showing proof of residency, among other things, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson could not specify when this decision was made, but said that the department regularly conducts legal reviews of these rules and such reviews occur on an ongoing basis.
Charles E. Samuels, Jr., has been appointed the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons by Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Samuels is currently the bureau’s assistant director of the correctional programs division. In the position, he has overseen inmate management and program functions, inmate transportation, case management, mental health and religious services and community corrections, according to the release.
“I am pleased that Charles will continue to build upon 23 years of distinguished service at the department,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in the news release. “I am confident that Charles will provide the kind of effective and innovative leadership that will increase efficiency, further expand prisoner development and reentry programs, and allow for transparency and accountability at the Federal Bureau of Prisons – while remaining true to the BOP’s core mission of protecting public safety.”
His career in the bureau began in 1988 as a correctional officer. From there he has been promoted to several other positions within the bureau, including correctional programs administrator, associate warden, ombudsman, warden and senior deputy assistant director of the correctional programs division. He has worked in correctional facilities in Kentucky, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia, according to the release. He was selected in 2001 as Associate Warden of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic Region.
“I am very honored to be appointed by Attorney General Holder to serve as the director for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and will continue to work with the great staff at every level of the BOP to meet our mission to protect society and provide meaningful life skills and reentry programs for our inmate population,” Samuels said in the release.
Samuels is hails from Birmingham, Ala., and received his bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is also a graduate of the Harvard University executive education program, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Countrywide Financial Corporation Settlement Announcement
Washington, D.C. ~ Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Good afternoon. Today, I’m proud to join with these critical partners – Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, Tom Perez; the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, Andre Birotte; Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan; the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan; and Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin of the Federal Reserve – in announcing the largest residential fair lending settlement ever reached in the history of our nation’s Department of Justice.
In today’s settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation, we resolved the government’s allegations that Countrywide and its subsidiaries – which are now owned by Bank of America – engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending practices against more than 200,000 qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2008. The settlement provides $335 million in compensation to victims of Countrywide’s discrimination during a period whenCountrywide served as one of the nation’s largest single-family mortgage lenders and originated more than 4 million residential mortgage loans.
In this thorough investigation, the Department uncovered a pattern or practice of discrimination involving victims in more than 180 geographic markets across 41 states and the District of Columbia. These discriminatory acts allegedly included widespread violations of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and resulted in African-American and Hispanic borrowers being charged higher rates for mortgage loans – solely because of their race or national origin.
These allegations represent alarming conduct – by one of the largest mortgage lenders in this country, during the height of the housing market boom. For example, in 2007, a qualified African American customer in Los Angeles borrowing $200,000 paid an average of roughly $1200 more in fees than a similarly qualified white borrower.
This settlement will compensate the more than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers who were victims of discriminatory conduct, including more than 10,000 African-American or Hispanic borrowers who – despite the fact that they qualified for prime loans – were steered into subprime loans.
Subprime borrowers are often subjected to penalties and higher interest rates, and have a greater likelihood of default and foreclosure than those who have prime loans. Often, the impact of discriminatory lending practices can reach even farther – potentially harming borrowers’ credit; inhibiting their ability to find quality housing, employment, or access to higher education; and depriving entire communities of economic opportunities.
Today’s settlement makes clear that today’s Justice Department – and our law enforcement and government partners – will not hesitate to move aggressively in holding lenders – including the nation’s largest – accountable for discrimination and financial misconduct. We are committed to protecting the sacred rights, and best interests, of the American people – and to ensuring equal opportunity through the vigorous enforcement of our civil rights laws.
Nowhere is this commitment more evident than in the work of the Civil Rights Division’s Fair Lending Unit, which has filed or resolved 10 fair lending matters since its formation last February. An additional seven lawsuits, and more than 10 open investigations, are currently pending – and the Department stands ready to hold financial institutions accountable to remedy and prevent discriminatory conduct.
Through critical interagency partnerships like the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force – and particularly its Non-Discrimination Working Group; through the diverse network of relationships we have forged with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Reserve Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, state and local officials, and our law enforcement and regulatory partners – the Justice Department will continue to vigorously pursue those who would take advantage of certain Americans because of their race, national origin, gender, or disability.
Such conduct undercuts the notion of a level playing field for all consumers. It betrays the promise of equal opportunity that is enshrined in our Constitution and our legal framework. And, under this Administration, these harmful and discriminatory practices will not be tolerated. As we have done through this settlement, the Department will pursue remedies and reforms that preserve and protect equal opportunity for all.
I’d like to thank the many professionals, attorneys, and support staff whose hard work has made today’s announcement possible – and whose dedicated efforts help to advance the core missions of this Department every single day. And, now, I’d like to turn things over to another key leader in this work – Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez.
The Department of Justice filed its largest ever residential fair lending settlement Wednesday to resolve a discrimination lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corporation, according to a news release.
The $335 million settlement will compensate more than 200,000 African American and Hispanic borrowers who were allegedly charged higher fees and interest rates in mortgage lending than white borrowers from 2004 to 2008, the department said. The settlement is still subject to court approval, but it was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The department says Countrywide pushed thousands of qualified African American and Hispanic borrowers into subprime mortgages while white borrowers with similar credit were given prime loans. Countrywide now operates as a subsidiary of Bank of America, which bought the now-defunct company in 2008.
“The department’s action against Countrywide makes clear that we will not hesitate to hold financial institutions accountable, including one of the nation’s largest, for lending discrimination,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in the news release. “These institutions should make judgments based on applicants’ creditworthiness, not on the color of their skin. With today’s settlement, the federal government will ensure that the more than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers who were discriminated against by Countrywide will be entitled to compensation.”
The department alleges the company allowed its loan officers to vary an interest rate from the set price based on the borrower’s objective credit-related factors, the news release said. The complaint also alleges that the company was aware of the discriminatory pricing but it did not take any steps to stop the practice.
According to a New York Times report, a Bank of America spokesman said it’s important to note that these allegations are based on conduct before the company took Countrywide over.
“We are committed to fair and equal treatment of all our customers, and will continue to focus on doing what’s right for our customers, clients and communities,” Dan Frahm, a Bank of America spokesman, told the Times. “We discontinued Countrywide products and practices that were not in keeping with our commitment and will continue to resolve and put behind us the remaining Countrywide issues.”
This settlement comes after past Countrywide run-ins with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department over potential fraud.
“Countrywide’s actions contributed to the housing crisis, hurt entire communities, and denied families access to the American dream,” Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said in the news release. “We are using every tool in our law enforcement arsenal, including some that were dormant for years, to go after institutions of all sizes that discriminated against families solely because of their race or national origin.”
Julian Zapata Espinoza, charged in the shooting death of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, was extradited from Mexico to the United States to face trial, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata was killed on Feb. 15 in Mexico while driving an armored Suburban with U.S. Embassy plates along a highway in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Fellow agent Victor Avila, Jr., was wounded in the incident.
Jaime Zapata
Zapata Espinoza is charged with murder of an officer of the United States, attempted murder of an officer of the United States, attempted murder of an internationally protected person and using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence causing death, according to the Justice Department news release.
Zapata Espinoza was indicted by a District of Columbia federal grand jury in April, and he appeared before U.S. District Chief Judge Royce Lamberth Wednesday, according to the release. The judge ordered Zapata Espinoza be detained without bail and his next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2012.
“This prosecution exemplifies our unwavering effort to prosecute those who committed this heinous offense against U.S. law enforcement agents,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald C. Machen, Jr., said in the news release. “We will not rest until those responsible for the murder of Agent Zapata and the wounding of Agent Avila are brought to justice.”
In February, Mexican authorities arrested six members of the Zetas gang in connection with the shooting. Those arrested included Zapata Espinoza, the leader, along with Armando Alvarez, Mario Dominguez, Jesus Ivan Quezada, Martin Barcenas and Ruben Dario Venegas. According to earlier reports, the gang allegedly shot the ICE agents because they believed they were members of a rival gang.
Zapata Espinoza’s death prompted a massive sweep in February of suspected drug gang members operating in the United States. More than 100 people were arrested and law enforcement officials confiscated $4.5 million in cash, 20 guns, 300 pounds of marijuana, 23 pounds of methamphetamine, 5 pounds of heroin and 107 kilos of cocaine in more than 150 locations across the country.
