Petitions get one million signatures for Zimmerman charges
(CNN) – One million people have so far signed online petitions by the NAACP and MoveOn.org calling for federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Three days after Zimmerman was found not guilty of second degree murder or manslaughter after a February 2012 confrontation with Martin, thousands have taken to the streets and the digital highways to call for federal action.
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GOP congressman on verdict: 'Get over it'
(CNN) - Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, has some blunt advice for those protesting or focusing on last week's verdict in the George Zimmerman trial.
"We're hung up on this one case, where this one fellow was, in fact, found not guilty by a jury. That's the way the American law system works," Harris said Tuesday morning in a radio interview. "Get over it."
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Holder faces political pressure over possible Zimmerman charges
Washington (CNN) - Attorney General Eric Holder, a longtime target of Republicans who have tried to force him out of office, now faces the prospect of angering liberal supporters when his Department of Justice decides whether to file federal charges in the Trayvon Martin killing.
Civil rights groups are planning nationwide protests, and hundreds of thousands of people support an online petition drive calling for admitted shooter George Zimmerman to face federal charges in the February 2012 killing.
FULL STORYNAACP talking to Justice Department about Zimmerman case
Updated 12:22 p.m. ET on Sunday 7/14
(CNN) – Leaders at the nation's oldest civil rights organization have spoken with senior members of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's team at the Justice Department about pursuing federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman, NAACP president Ben Jealous said Sunday, though Holder himself has noted the high bar for establishing a hate crime.
Speaking to chief political correspondent Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union," Jealous said he hadn't yet spoken with Holder himself, but that in conversations with Justice Department officials, he had pressed the federal government to continue investigating the death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.
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DOJ tightens rules on subpoenas, warrants involving journalists
Washington (CNN) - Federal prosecutors can no longer obtain search warrants for information obtained by journalists unless reporters are the subject of a criminal investigation, a Justice Department official said Friday.
It is one key change in guidelines stemming from controversial federal investigations that resulted in efforts by prosecutors to obtain journalist records about reporting on national security issues.
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Leak probe has chilled sources, AP exec says
Washington (CNN) - The Justice Department's sweeping collection of Associated Press phone records as part of a national security leak investigation has had a chilling effect on sources, the news agency's top executive said on Wednesday.
"Some of our long-trusted sources have become nervous and anxious about talking to us - even on stories that aren't about national security," AP Chief Executive and President Gary Pruitt said at the National Press Club.
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Republicans say Holder will submit answers to leak questions next week
Washington (CNN) - Attorney General Eric Holder will send the House Judiciary Committee additional information next week to clarify his earlier testimony about reporters and leak investigations, according to Republican leaders of the panel.
Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, said Friday in a statement that Holder has agreed to respond to specific questions the Republicans submitted to him at the end of May. A committee aide told CNN that Holder is supposed to submit his answers in writing by Wednesday, June 19.
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DOJ won't appeal order allowing minors to get 'morning-after pill'
(CNN) - The Obama administration will allow minors to obtain one form of the emergency contraception known as the "morning-after pill," dropping its appeal of a judge's order requiring it to be sold over the counter.
U.S. District Judge Edward Korman had ruled in April that the government must allow over-the-counter sales, and a federal appeals court rejected the administration's challenge to that ruling last week. The administration had been criticized by some women's rights groups for trying to stop contraception sales to underage females.
FULL STORY DOJ defends Holder's statement on leak investigation
Washington (CNN) - The Justice Department said Monday that Attorney General Eric Holder's recent testimony about leak cases involving reporters was "accurate and consistent," the latest response in an effort to refute charges the attorney general perjured himself in Congressional testimony.
Holder authorized a search warrant to get e-mails from a reporter's personal account but the Justice Department said at no time "have prosecutors sought approval to bring criminal charges against the reporter."
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Not so secret meetings with Holder
Washington (CNN) - Attorney General Eric Holder's off-the-record meetings with the news media on guidelines for handling investigations of leaks to journalists suddenly are not so buttoned-up.
The Justice Department's initial ground rules for the discussions proved so controversial many organizations declined to participate, including the Associated Press, the New York Times and CNN.
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