General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Schiff 'vehemently' disagrees with Attorney General Garland's reluctance to pursue Trump [View all]ancianita
(36,354 posts)Last edited Thu Oct 21, 2021, 10:58 AM - Edit history (1)
Its timeline does not. Truth matters. Human life matters. The Constitution matters.
On January 21 there was no Attorney General in the US Dept of Justice.
Garland wasn't sworn in until March 11. That's one month and 19 days after Biden was sworn into office under highest national security in US history.
Almost two months past the seditious insurrection and four years past a slowly corrupted William Barr led DOJ, there was only so much "hit the ground running" that an accomplished jurist as the new AG could do.
There were masses of paper waiting for him about all the following:
There were deputy AG's and associate AG's to assemble, 8 Justice Division heads for him to get approved, and he only got 4 approved by the Senate MONTHS later.
Even Biden's Cabinet posts were stalled in the Senate. Remember that?
-- Once sworn in after March 11, Garland had to review these agencies that his DOJ administers:
United States Marshals Service (USMS)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
National Institute of Corrections (NIC)
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
-- And then these Offices run by the DOJ:
Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)
Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA)
Executive Office of the United States Trustee (EOUST)
Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management (OARM)
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Office of Dispute Resolution
Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT)
Office of Immigration Litigation
Office of Information Policy
Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR)
Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison (merged with Office of Legislative Affairs on April 12, 2012)
Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking Office (SMART)
Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education
Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)
Office of Legal Policy (OLP)
Office of Legislative Affairs
Office of the Pardon Attorney
Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties (OPCL)
Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
Office of Public Affairs
Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children
Office of Tribal Justice
Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
Professional Responsibility Advisory Office (PRAO)
United States Attorneys Offices
United States Trustees Offices
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Community Relations Service
Other offices and programs
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States
INTERPOL, U.S. National Central Bureau
National Drug Intelligence Center (former)
Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (former)
United States Parole Commission
Garland had a Trump DOJ full of people to deal with. He fired every Trump appointee across states.
He had reviews and prioritizing of pending cases, with hundreds to come.
Biden is doing his job getting legislation through, and Garland is sorting out the DOJ and enforcement issues, prioritized as Biden trusts that Garland knows how to do.
"Okay but" all you want, there are still fair and unfair demands made of humans and justice. You can argue the timeline of justice and our demands, but at least be aware of the monumental work ahead.
In the third largest nation on the planet, and in the longest standing democracy in history, you/we can have our justice fast and sloppy, as with Barr, or slow and thorough.
You/we can't have it both fast and thorough.
Only more money and manpower might help. Add in the bare bones budget the DOJ already runs on, and you/we can't even get more humans to handle the monumental justice demands.
180 days in on the AG job, there is still absolutely too much to do and everyone here knows it.
Merrick Garland doesn't have trustworthiness issues; it's people here who have trust issues.
And don't even get me started on "blind faith" talk when the Biden Attorney General needs all the adult, clear-eyed faith he can get.