Carrie Johnson

National Security Correspondent for the Washington Post

Carrie Johnson appears in the following:

What Washington Can, And Can't, Do In Ferguson

Monday, August 18, 2014

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited the White House to brief President Obama on the latest federal response to unrest in Ferguson, Mo. FBI agents are set to finish canvassing fo...

Comment

Attorney General Holder: Ferguson Scenes Cannot Continue

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Attorney General Eric Holder says federal investigators have already conducted interviews with eyewitnesses to the shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager in Ferguson, Mo., even as he pledged new assistance from the Justice Department to quell "extreme displays of force" and militarization by heavily armed local police there.

"It is ...

Comment

Government Watchdogs Complain Of Closed Doors Set Up By White House

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Inspectors general complain that they're being stiffed on the access they need to serve effectively. Four lawmakers are now demanding that the Obama administration comply with transparency requests.

Comment

Long Process Begins To Win Non-Violent Drug Offenders Pardons

Thursday, August 07, 2014

It's all part of an effort to clear overcrowded prisons of non-violent drug offenders who would have received shorter sentences if they had been convicted today.

Comment

After Discrimination Finding, Jury's Out On Memphis Juvenile Courts

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

The U.S. Justice Department bashed the juvenile justice system in Shelby County, Tenn., in 2012. Now, Memphis courts are trying to find a way forward.

Comment

Coaches Help Released Inmates Step From The Cell Into A Job

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Labor Secretary Tom Perez are traveling to Montgomery County, Md., to highlight workforce training for inmates about to leave prisons and jails. ...

Comment

By Putting Interrogations On Tape, FBI Opens Window Into Questioning

Monday, July 21, 2014

The FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies will soon begin recording the interrogations they conduct. It's a reversal of decades of policy and, the Obama administration says, ...

Comment

Unanimous Vote Could Mean Reduced Penalties For 46,000 Defendants

Friday, July 18, 2014

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted Friday on a recommendation that Congress lower certain mandatory drug sentences retroactively. The move could cut almost two years off of thousands of prisoners' sentences.

Comment

Commission To Decide If Some Federal Inmates Will Be Let Out Early

Thursday, July 17, 2014

The Sentencing Commission meets Friday to vote on a plan that could send home tens of thousands of federal inmates convicted of drug trafficking.

Comment

With A Rules Change For A Lever, Senate Ends Judge's 17-Year Wait

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The Senate has voted 53 to 44 to confirm Ronnie White for a federal court judgeship in Missouri, 17 years after he was first nominated by President Bill Clinton.

Comment

Justice Dept. Declines To Step Into Dispute Between CIA And Senators

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Justice Department has declined to bring criminal charges against anyone at the CIA or the Senate Intelligence Committee, in a dispute over access to sensitive materials on enhanc...

Comment

No Criminal Charges In Senate-CIA Spat, Justice Department Says

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Justice Department has declined to bring criminal charges against anyone at the CIA or the Senate Intelligence Committee in a dispute over access to documents about the enhanced interrogation program the U.S. deployed against detainees after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Prosecutors notified the Senate panel Thursday of ...

Comment

In Oslo, Attorney General Warns Syria May Be A Cradle Of Terrorism

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

In a speech in Oslo, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged European partners to do more to find and disrupt plans of would-be terrorists who head to Syria — and, once trained, might return to the West.

Comment

Case Against Benghazi Suspect Is Complex, Justice Department Says

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

The Justice Department says its case against a man accused in the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, is unusually complex and involves "novel questions of fact and law."

In a Washington, D.C., federal courtroom Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiLorenzo said the government had already ...

Comment

Benghazi Suspect Spends A Day In Court

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Ahmed Abu Khattalah, a suspect charged in connection with the 2012 Benghazi attacks, had a hearing Wednesday in Washington, D.C. After a public defender outlined her arguments in Khat...

Comment

Supreme Court Deals A Blow To Unions, But It's Not Quite Mortal

Monday, June 30, 2014

By a 5-4 majority along ideological lines, the Supreme Court has ruled that Illinois can't compel home health aides to pay union dues because it violates the First Amendment. The ruli...

Comment

Small But Steady Downward Trend In U.S. Executions

Monday, June 30, 2014

The death penalty is in trouble — drug shortages, botched executions and lawsuits are calling the idea of a "humane" execution into question. Some states are returning to previously abandoned methods.

Comment

Report Questions U.S. Policy On Overseas Drone Strikes

Thursday, June 26, 2014

U.S. strategy that relies on armed drones to kill terrorism suspects overseas "rests on questionable assumptions and risks increasing instability and escalating costs," according to a year-long study by a group of prominent military, intelligence and foreign policy experts.

The report, released early Thursday by the Stimson Center, concludes ...

Comment

Murdered Voting Advocate's Brother Wants Protections Back

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

David Goodman says last year the Supreme Court gutted the civil rights law that Andrew Goodman and other Freedom Summer activists gave their lives for.

Comment

In 'Drone Memo,' A Step Toward Transparency On Targeting Americans

Monday, June 23, 2014

On Monday, a federal court made public a long-secret memo that lays out the Obama administration's legal justification for killing an American citizen in a drone strike. The memo, whi...

Comment