Justice Department - Department Leadership, Department Structure, History Of The Department, Further Readings

united legal doj involve

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is the EXECUTIVE BRANCH department responsible for handling the legal work of the federal government. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the DOJ is the largest legal organization in the United States, with more than 100,000 employees nationwide and a budget of approximately $30 billion.

The DOJ comprises many administrative units whose responsibilities involve either representing the United States' interests in court or enforcing federal laws. Many of the department's activities involve traditional legal and investigative functions, such as filing suits on behalf of the United States or apprehending criminals. Other department functions are administrative. For example, the Office of Policy Development is devoted to long-term policy planning.

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Justice Department - Department Leadership

At the top of the department is the attorney general, who is appointed by the president and must be confirmed by the Senate. A key member of the president's cabinet, the attorney general supervises the many divisions, bureaus, and offices of the DOJ. Unlike other cabinet members, however, the attorney general also functions as a practicing attorney, serving as the president's legal a…

Justice Department - Department Structure

Nationwide, the government is represented by ninety-five U.S. attorneys, who conduct all federal court cases and some federal investigations in their districts. Each state has at least one U.S. attorney, and some of the larger states are divided into districts that each have a U.S. attorney. The U.S. attorneys handle the majority of cases in which the federal government is a party. Although t…

Justice Department - History Of The Department

When English settlers established colonies in America, they included the office of attorney general in the colonial governments they created. Virginia was the first colony to appoint an attorney general, in 1643, followed by Rhode Island in 1650, and Maryland in 1660. By the end of the seventeenth century, most of the colonies had their own attorneys general. By 1776, a fairly consistent system of…

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