Politics. On Point.

From  DOJ press release . Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced today that the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the city of Ferguson, Missouri, alleging a pattern or practice of law enforcement conduct that violates the First, Fourth and 14 th  Amendments of the Constitution and federal civil rights laws. “Today, the Department of Justice is filing a lawsuit against the city of Ferguson, Missouri, alleging a pattern or practice of law enforcement conduct that violates the Constitution and federal civil rights laws,” said Attorney General Lynch.   “The residents of Ferguson have waited nearly a year for their city to adopt an agreement that would protect their rights and keep them safe.  They have waited nearly a year for their police department to accept rules that would ensure their constitutional rights and that thousands of other police departments follow every day.  They have waited nearly a year for thei...

In what could be considered an out-of-touch-with-regular-folk moment, Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters Friday he was shocked that law enforcement uses citizens to generate revenue. "The notion that you would use a law enforcement agency or law enforcement generally to generate revenue, and then the callous way in which that was done and the impact that it had on the lives of the ordinary citizens of that municipality, was just appalling." Example of fees and costs generated by courts and law enforcement. ( Source ). Holder was referring to the findings of the Department of Justice investigation of the Ferguson, MO police department.  The investigation found that the department "engaged in or practiced a pattern of conduct that violates the Fourth, Fifth, and 14 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. See also:  The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness “Our investigation showed that  Ferguson  police officers routinely vi...

The Department of Justice and the FBI released its findings in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hacking; says North Korea is to blame.  Ex-hacker, Hector Monsegu r, doubts these findings. " It could be. In my personal opinion, it's not," Monsegur said. "Look at the bandwidth going into North Korea. I mean, the pipelines, the pipes going in, handling data, they only have one major ISP across their entire nation. That kind of information flowing at one time would have shut down North Korean Internet completely." **Update from the DOJ...** Today, the FBI would like to provide an update on the status of our investigation into the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).  In late November, SPE confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber attack that destroyed systems and stole large quantities of personal and commercial data.  A group calling itself the “Guardians of Peace” claimed responsibility for the attack and subsequently issued thr...

**Update** President Obama spoke at Del Sol High School to announce actions he plans to take to reform the country's immigration policy.  Click here to view. President Obama is set to address the nation Thursday, November 20, to lay out the executive actions he's taking on America's immigration system. Many are expecting that the president will allow illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. and will assist those wanting a path to citizenship with obtaining citizenship status, "the right way." For many undocumented immigrants, immigration reform is a very real issue; one they hope will be resolved quickly. Protest have occurred across the country from Latino Americans, the demographic immigration reform heavily emphasizes, urging the president to cease the deportation of illegal immigrants. Said Jose Cabellos at a campaign event in 2013, (see at 1:11 video mark here ), "We want comprehensive immigration reform.  Right now families are being ...

Today the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) released  Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned .  The report analyzes some of the costs and benefits of law enforcement using body-worn video technology. “Law enforcement agencies across the nation are contemplating how best to use body-worn cameras and these guidelines will help them weight the costs and benefits,” said COPS Office Director Ronald L. Davis.  “There are many considerations when implementing a body-worn camera and this report   will help chiefs and sheriffs make the best decision for their jurisdiction.” The publication was developed jointly by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and COPS through a cooperative agreement under the FY 2013 Community Policing Development Program.  PERF conducted research on the use of body-worn cameras, identified promising practices and lessons learned from the fi...

Eleven days after another police officer murders another unarmed African American male, tensions continue to run high amid calls for peace and a halt to the unrest by Ferguson officials, residents, and even President Obama. The family and Ferguson residents want justice for eighteen year-old, Michael Brown , who was shot, execution style, by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson . Brown's body lay in street for several moments, with no attempts to revive him, and no ambulance dispatched to the crime scene. A posting and picture of Darren Wilson from his father's Facebook page. Witnesses took to their camera phones to record their account of the incident.  See also [ Reporter talks to Ferguson residents to get on-the-ground response .  Multiple videos]. Many say Brown and a friend were approached by Wilson who pulled Brown into the police car and as Brown struggled to get away, Wilson shot him.   It was still unclear why the two men were approached b...