In 2008,Barack Obamawas elect as the first African - American president of the United States of America . In maintain with his historical political campaign and election , Obama nominated Eric Holder to serve in his Cabinet as the United States attorney general . Holder ’s career , like Obama ’s , is full of a account of African - American firsts . Holder was the first African - American to serve as the U.S. lawyer for Washington , D.C. , and the first African - American to be deputy attorney general . As attorney general , he was also the highest - outrank African - American someone in natural law enforcement in the United States .
Holder ’s position in the government is manifestly an important one . As attorney full general , Holder guides the world ’s big law government agency and leads the agency responsible for enforcing Union constabulary .
The attorney general is the effectual adviser to the government . On the federal horizontal surface in the United States , the Office of the Attorney General heads the Department of Justice and is the master law enforcement business office in the Union government . The attorney full general is responsible for legally representing the United States and advising the president and head of executive department when his or her opinion is needed . The attorney superior general also may seem before the Supreme Court .
In add-on to the U.S. attorney general , there are attorneys oecumenical in each of the 50 Department of State . They serve as sound consultant for their states ' governments and as their states ' chief jurisprudence enforcement policeman . In some commonwealth , the state attorney general , like the federal lawyer general , is the oral sex of the state department of justice .
What Does an Attorney General Do?
The lawyer general holds the big businessman of attorney in representing a government in all legal thing . The lawyer general is make by the Chief Executive and confirmed by the U.S. Senate . There is no designated full term for the lawyer full general , rather the president can remove him or her from the office at any time . Additionally , the attorney full general can be impeached and tried by Congress if deemed necessary .
As head of the Department of Justice and principal sound counselor to the president , the duties of the attorney general are obviously important and all-inclusive reaching . The attorney general prosecutes slip that involve the government and founder advice to the President of the United States and heads of the executive department when needed .
As the chief officer of the Department of Justice , the attorney general enforces federal jurisprudence , provides effectual counsel in federal cases , interprets the police force that govern executive section , head federal jails and penal institutions , and canvass so-called violations of federal laws . In summation , the attorney general may be call upon to represent the United States in the Supreme Court in cases of olympian importance . The attorney general help in the Cabinet of the president of the United States .
The attorney general is in commission of supervising United States attorneys and marshall in their respective juridical district . While attorney are responsible for prosecute offenses against the United States and pursue or defending in proceeding in which the United States requires representation , marshals issue edict and physical process under the authority of the United States .
States attorneys general have many of the same duties as the Union attorney superior general but on a smaller statewide shell . The specific tariff of attorney general vary from state to state . Some lawyer universal are elect in statewide contest , while others are appointed by the governor , law-makers or supreme court .
The projects that an attorney general can take on are broad ranging . For model , Eric Holder voiced opinions onwaterboarding , the close of Guantanamo Bay detention camp and the transfer of accuse terrorists to pokey on U.S. dirt . On the country level , attorneys universal might take exception the constitutionality of a law . In 2010 , 11 commonwealth attorneys superior general moved to dispute the constitutionality of the health upkeep reform broadsheet [ author : Richey ] .
History of an Attorney General
The concept of an attorney general date back to the Anglo - Norman organisation of administration . During this time , Gallic legal terms were inclose into the English scheme of governing . The first mention of the termattornus Regis , or " king ’s lawyer , " was made in 1253 . In 1472 , the first stately assignment was made [ source : chronicle of the Attorney General ’s Office ] .
The authority of the attorney general has always been of gravid grandness ; the attorney general was both legal representative of the king and imperial governance as well as theparens patriae , or " shielder of public pursuit . " As such , the attorney superior general was charged with protecting the rights of both the crown and the public .
The chronicle of attorney full general in the United States dates back to the American Revolution and the organisation of a Union government activity costless from Great Britain . Although Americans did not need to create a monarchy like Britain ’s , they thought it was important to constitute an government agency similar to the British attorney general . The Judiciary Act of 1789 , passed by the First Congress and signed into natural law President George Washington , build the office of the attorney superior general . agree the provision made when creating the office , the United States lawyer general would be constitute by the president of the United States .
Since 1870 and the establishment of the Department of Justice as a part of the executive branch of the government , the U.S. attorney superior general has head the world ’s bombastic jurisprudence office . Throughout the story of the office , 81 Americans have attend to as lawyer general .
When individual states were drafting their constitutions , most modeled their government on the federal organisation , and thus established the government agency of the attorney superior general on a nation level . Most attorneys general are elected , while others are appointed by the governor , legislative body or sovereign court of the body politic .
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