Carrie Johnson

National Security Correspondent for the Washington Post

Carrie Johnson appears in the following:

Top Justice Dept. Official Quietly Stepped Down In December

Monday, February 24, 2014

The leader of an influential Justice Department office that offers legal advice on surveillance, drones and other issues at the center of security and executive power quietly left government before Christmas.

Virginia Seitz, who won Senate confirmation after an earlier candidate under president Obama foundered, resigned ...

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U.S. Authorities Want Mexico To Extradite 'El Chapo'

Monday, February 24, 2014

Joaquin Guzman remains the focus of intense law enforcement interest. The man who occupied a prominent place for years on the DEA's most-wanted list is still wanted to face trial in a U.S. courtroom.

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Justice Dept. Asks For Help Finding Prisoners Who Deserve Clemency

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The second-in-command at the Justice Department met Tuesday with defense lawyers and interest groups to identify the cases of worthy prisoners who could qualify for clemency.

The initiative by Deputy Attorney General James Cole follows a speech he gave last month suggesting the White House intends to make more ...

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Holder Calls For Restoring Felons' Voting Rights

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Attorney General Eric Holder called on 11 states to repeal "counterproductive" laws that bar convicted felons from "the single most basic right of American citizenship-the right to vote."

In a speech Tuesday at Georgetown University law school, Holder used his bully pulpit to note that 5.8 million people are prohibited ...

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Holder Orders Equal Treatment For Married Same-Sex Couples

Saturday, February 08, 2014

Attorney General Eric Holder has for the first time directed Justice Department employees to give same-sex married couples "full and equal recognition, to the greatest extent under the law," a move with far-ranging consequences for how such couples are treated in federal courtrooms and proceedings.

The directive specifies that such ...

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Post-9/11 Panel Criticizes NSA Phone Data Collection

Thursday, January 23, 2014

An independent panel created after the 9/11 attacks says bulk collection of billions of American phone records violates the letter and the spirit of the law.

The new report from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board undercuts the foundation of the National Security Agency's long-running phone ...

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Lawmakers Roll Out Voting Rights Act Fix

Thursday, January 16, 2014

A bipartisan group of lawmakers took the first step Thursday to patch a gaping hole in the 1965 Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court eviscerated a key part of the law that allowed for federal oversight of states with a history of ballot box discrimination.

The bill, known as ...

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Justice Department Prepares Broader Ban On Racial Profiling

Thursday, January 16, 2014

The Justice Department is preparing to unveil new guidelines that ban racial, ethnic and religious profiling in federal investigations, a law enforcement source tells NPR.

The long-considered move by Attorney General Eric Holder could be announced by the end of January. Holder discussed the guidelines in general terms Wednesday in ...

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Lawyers Seek Justice Department Records On Would-Be Bomber

Monday, January 13, 2014

Lawyers for a young Portland man convicted of trying to blow up a Christmas tree ceremony are asking a judge to order the Justice Department to open its files and share "facts and circumstances" of electronic surveillance that prosecutors disclosed only months after his conviction.

Federal public defenders Stephen ...

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FBI Director 'Confused' By Reports Calling Snowden A Hero

Thursday, January 09, 2014

FBI Director Jim Comey says he's "confused" by reports that characterize NSA contractor Edward Snowden as a "whistleblower" or a "hero" because, he says, all three branches of America's government have approved the bulk collection of U.S. phone records, one of the most important revelations in Snowden's cascade of leaks.

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FBI Agents Support Bipartisan Spending Deal

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

FBI agents across the country have been among the most vocal opponents of the spending cuts triggered by sequestration, warning about everything from having to abandon surveillance work to a lack of gas money.

But the FBI Agents Association, hoping to avert further cutbacks next year, is throwing ...

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Wash. Judge Rules Towns Failed Poor Defendents

Thursday, December 05, 2013

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Report: Threat Of Mandatory Minimums Used To Coerce Guilty Pleas

Thursday, December 05, 2013

A new report says the Justice Department regularly coerces defendants in federal drug cases to plead guilty by threatening them with steep prison sentences or stacking charges to increase their time behind bars.

And for the first time, the study by Human Rights Watch finds that defendants who ...

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Why FISA Court Judges Rule The Way They Do

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

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Judge Suspends Sentencing Of Would-Be Bomber After NSA Revelations

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The sentencing of a Somali-American man convicted of trying to bomb a holiday tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore., in 2010 has been put on hold indefinitely. That move comes just days after the Justice Department notified his lawyers that part of the case against him had been "derived from" secret ...

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When It Comes To Public Opinion, More News Is Not Good News For NSA

Thursday, November 07, 2013

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Families Of Drone Strike Victims Tell Their Stories

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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Justice Department Pushes New Thinking On Kids And Crime

Thursday, September 26, 2013

"We believe firmly that children should be kept in school and out of courts," says Justice Department official Robert Listenbee. In his new role leading the Office of Juvenile Justice...

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New FBI Chief Says Budget Cuts Threaten Agency's Mission

Thursday, September 12, 2013

In his first full week on the job, new FBI Director Jim Comey is already expressing "intense concern" about budget cuts hitting the bureau as part of sequestration.

Comey used his first visits to FBI field offices in Virginia and New York, where he once served as a federal prosecutor, ...

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What Should Be On New FBI Director's To-Do List?

Thursday, September 05, 2013

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