Reforming the Department of Justice:
Democracy, Civil Rights and National Security
In partnership with the Ford Foundation, this project sets out to identify, examine and address inequities and lapses within the Department of Justice with the goal of strengthening its independence, its transparency and its accountability to the American public.
Partners
Sheila Foster is the Professor of Public Policy at the McCourt School of Public Policy and Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Urban Law and Policy at the Law Center at Georgetown University.
David Rohde is the National Security Editor at NBC News and former Executive Editor of the New Yorker.
Fact Sheets and Databases
Evolution of Best Practices and Transparency in OLC Memoranda (in progress)
DOJ Management of Civil Rights Advisors Across the Executive Branch (in progress)
Recent Changes in Internal and External Oversight Mechanisms in the Department of Justice (in progress)
Vacancies in Civil Rights Division Appointments Over Time (in progress)
Chronological Study of Funding and Personnel Changes in the Department of Justice (in progress)
Related Events and Reports
Past Events
Assessing the Justice Department's Present & Future: Justice, Politics, Law, & National Security in America
Vital Interests Podcast
Annie Owens on Reforming the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel
Joshua Dratel on Reforming America’s Criminal Justice System
Jonathan Hafetz and the Politicization of Justice, American-style
Vital Interests Online Forum
Federal Courts and Foreign Affairs with Martin Flaherty, Leitner Family Professor of Law and Founding Co-Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School; Visiting Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton; professor at Barnard College, Columbia University
Criminal Justice Reform Reports
American Incarceration Reports