ABA: More DOJ Misconduct Info Should Be Public
The ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates on Monday urged the U.S. Department of Justice to more fully report on its investigations into misconduct by DOJ attorneys. The measure passed by an overwhelming voice vote; no one spoke in opposition.
Resolution 100A (PDF) calls on the Justice Department to “release as much information regarding completed individual investigations as possible, consistent with privacy interests and law enforcement confidentiality concerns.”
About a decade ago, the DOJ stopped publishing reports involving trial lawyers’ misconduct, though it continues to issue reports about managerial attorneys’ misconduct in personnel matters and provides yearly statistical reports aggregating information about all its misconduct investigations.
“The nonpublic nature of DOJ’s disciplinary determinations deprives the public of information about prosecutors and civil government lawyers who are alleged to have engaged in acts that warrant discipline and about how DOJ responds in such cases,” according to the report that accompanied the resolution.
