Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department will not pursue any more Defense of Marriage Act-related lawsuits. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The United States Department of Justice has announced that it will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. DOMA, passed during the Clinton administration, established that the federal government didn’t have to recognize a same sex marriage. The Attorney General and the president have both concluded that the law is unconstitutional.

White House and Justice Department declare DOMA unconstitutional

The Attorney General has informed Congress that the Department of Justice will no longer pursue any lawsuits related to the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, according to the ABC. DOMA, passed in 1996, mandates that states and territories of the United States do not have to recognize a same-sex marriage, regardless of whether the same-sex marriage was legally executed. The objection is not to the act itself, but rather Section 3 of DOMA, which legally defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman as far as the government is concerned. Attorney General Holder, consulting with President Obama, concluded that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional.

Question of scrutiny

The government had to decide whether to uphold DOMA because of two pending lawsuits, Pedersen v. OPM and Windsor v. United States. Both challenge Section 3 on constitutional grounds in court districts that lack previous cases regarding homosexual marriage, according to the New York Times. The Justice Department reviewed those cases using the legal tests of “rational basis” and “heightened scrutiny.” A “rational basis” test is to determine whether a constitutionally legal law serves no rational purpose. A “heightened scrutiny” test is to determine whether an unconstitutional law serves a legitimate governmental purpose. The Justice Department and the White House concluded that no legitimate governmental purpose for banning same sex marriage exists and doing so was discriminatory, thus unconstitutional.

DOMA still stands

The Justice Department has declined to pursue any further lawsuits regarding DOMA, though that does not mean that the law has been repealed. The Defense of Marriage Act, including Section 3, remains in effect for the time being. President Obama has gone on record as saying that he believes it is “flawed,” but he is constitutionally mandated to uphold the law, to a certain extent. However, the president can order reviews by the Justice Department to see whether defending laws in court is worth the effort.

Sources

ABC

New York Times

Letter from Attorney General Holder to Speaker John Boehner

More than 100 mobsters were arrested in an FBI sweep similar to the operation that brought down John Gotti, pictured here. Image from Wikimedia Commons.. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies have concluded a sweep of arrests of mobsters on the East Coast. More than 100 members of the mob were arrested in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Charges range from racketeering to murder.

More than 100 mobsters arrested in FBI sweep

A coordinated operation involving the New York state police, the New York Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation culminated in the arrests of more than 100 mobsters on the East Coast recently, according to the New York Times. Police arrested more than 100 people connected to the mob in the states of New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. The charges that organized crime members were arrested for included racketeering, gambling, extortion, loan sharking and murder. Some of the arrests were for labor racketeering, as mafia members in that area still have a heavy hand in construction and dock loading trade unions. Arrest warrants were issued from four different districts, with more than 12 different indictments.

Attorney General to make statement

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is due to make a statement about the arrests and the charges. It may be the largest raid of its kind ever carried out, according to ABC, as arrests were made throughout New England and at least one in Florida. The mob has been thought to be in a rebuilding phase, as more attention has been focused on terrorists rather than organized crime, but whatever influence might have been gained in the post-9/11 era was likely wiped out by this massive sweep.

Mafia influence waning

The Italian mafia, or La Cosa Nostra (“this thing of ours”) as they call it, has been dealt an increasing number of crippling blows over the past few years. More people have been willing to break the oath of silence until death, called Omerta, and become informants. John Gotti, the “Teflon Don,” was convicted partly thanks to the testimony of Salvatore Gravano, also known as “Sammy the Bull.” Recently, Salvatore Vitale turned state’s evidence and was sentenced only to time served, after committing at least 10 murders.

Sources

New York Times

ABC

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Operation Broken Trust has collared more than 500 people engaged in investment fraud schemes. Image: Department of Justice/Wikimedia Commons

Operation Broken Trust is a federal investigation into widespread fraud perpetrated by criminals taking advantage of the financial crisis. The Justice Department announced Monday that Operation Broken Trust has brought criminal and civil charges against more than 500 people. The schemes exposed by the investigation defrauded thousands of investors out of $10.5 billion.

Operation Broken Trust: nationwide fraud sweep

Operation Broken Trust was organized by the Obama administration’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. At a news conference Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder said the three-and-a-half-month investigation is the first nationwide operation to combat investment fraud schemes that prey on the general public. Holder said 343 people face criminal charges and another 189 are getting slapped with civil suits. Eighty-seven people have already received prison sentences. Several defendants were sentenced to more than 20 years. One was sentenced to 85 years in prison.

Fraudsters prey on vulnerable citizens

Operation Broken Trust investigated more than 120,000 cases of fraud including Ponzi schemes, foreign currency fraud, investment scams and market-manipulation. Holder said the fraudsters targeted communities, churches, immigrants, the elderly and the disabled. According to the Justice Department, many victims were set up by neighbors or fellow church members. A man in Texas ripped off others in his church by telling them his lucrative foreign exchange trades were a “blessing from God.” Another case involved a police officer stealing from fellow cops in a Ponzi scheme. Other victims included a blind man and a bereaved family.

Lessons from Operation Broken Trust

Operation Broken Trust was a joint effort among the Justice Department, the U.S. Postal Service, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Robert Khuzami of the SEC said that while Wall Street banks have gotten the biggest fraud headlines, hundreds of other scams devastate working families and retirees. The lesson to be learned from Operation Broken Trust, Holder said, was that “Cheating investors out of their earnings and savings is no longer a safe business plan.” He also warned the public to be alert for scams, take measures to protect themselves and report to authorities when they think something fishy is going on.

Sources

Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles Times

Washington Post

The oil spill is now the subject of a criminal investigation. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

It isn’t the first time that BP will have been called criminals, but the Attorney General has launched a BP criminal investigation.  As if the government and Eric Holder making life even more miserable for the energy giant was not enough, it was also announced that on the heels of that news, the stock price for BP plummeted.  The “top kill” method for dealing with the BP oil leak has apparently not worked, and the company has a public relations nightmare unlike any since Rob Reiner made “North.”

BP criminal probe

Eric Holder, the Attorney General, has announced that his office is conducting a BP criminal investigation, to determine to what extent BP should be held liable.  The oil rig explosion in and of itself cost 11 workers their lives, and the full extent of the environmental damage won’t be known for some time. Needless to say, it will cost BP a pretty penny, and they may need installment loans before it is all over.  The actual investigation began several weeks ago, but it wasn’t announced until now, according to CNN.

BP stock sinks

To make matters worse for the company, BP stock has begun to slide down in a hurry, according to Forbes.  Since the oil rig explosion and the subsequent Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP stock has lost almost 37 percent of its value, costing the company $75 billion in market value. It is also reported that the BP oil spill has cost the company $930 million.  The loss for Tuesday, June 1, alone was a 15 percent loss, as stocks lost more than $6 per share in value.  This is piggy-backed on top of the failure of the top kill operation.

British Petroleum in trouble

Though British Petroleum is trying hard to remedy the situation, there is a hostile feeling among many against the British energy conglomerate.  A BP criminal investigation may amount to little more than fines, and it isn’t known whether executives will be extradited to stand trialt.  The stock losses do not bode well, though, and one wonders if they will perhaps go bankrupt before they can afford to clean up their mess.