NCJ Number
163994
Date Published
1996
Length
399 pages
Annotation
This book reviews and critiques the work of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., which is known as "Main Justice."
Abstract
This book shows how the Criminal Division of the Justice Department uses its awesome powers to investigate and punish wrongdoing. The authors show how the Justice Department has marshaled its legal firepower against Colombia's Cali cocaine cartel, violent gangs in Shreveport and Chicago, CIA-agent- turned-traitor Aldrich Ames, and international terrorists. They also expose cases in which U.S. attorneys, whether to further a political agenda or because of excessive zeal, have abused their powers, often with devastating consequences for Americans. This story of Main Justice is told from several perspectives, from the streets of America, where FBI and DEA agents use sophisticated investigative tools to make arrests; from the executive suites in Washington, where career lawyers decide which cases will be prosecuted; and from the Federal courtrooms, where U.S. attorneys spar with defense lawyers and judges to obtain guilty verdicts. This book also shows how the Clinton administration has altered the focus of Federal law enforcement by targeting the violent street gangs and establishing new procedures to safeguard the public against prosecutorial misconduct. The authors also explore the intersection of Federal law enforcement and the Nation's intelligence operations, a netherworld in which the constitutional limits on domestic law enforcement are increasingly challenged. A subject index and an appended discussion of the authors' sources and methods