Scott Eichorn, age 15, of Birmingham, Ala., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CREATED?
The Department of Justice, an important division of the executive branch of the United States federal government, was created by Congress in 1870. Prior to that time, the organization's functions were performed by the Office of the Attorney General.
The department is now headed by the attorney general, who is appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate.
The functions of the Department of Justice include providing means for the enforcement of federal laws and investigating violations thereof; supervising the federal penal institutions; furnishing legal counsel in case involving the federal government and conducting suits brought before the United States Supreme Court in which the federal government is concerned; interpreting laws relating to the activities of the other federal departments; and rendering legal advice, upon request, to the President and members of the Cabinet.
The attorney general is assisted by the deputy attorney general and the associate attorney general. Another high ranking official of the department is the solicitor general, who directs all U.S. government litigation in the Supreme Court and who is concerned generally with the conduct of the appellate litigation of the government.
Assistant attorneys general head most of the divisions of the Justice Department. The functions of the department are carried out regionally by U. S. attorneys and U. S. marshals. A U. S. attorney is appointed to each of the 95 federal judicial districts by the President, with the consent of the Senate.
The department includes the anti trust, civil, civil rights, criminal, land and natural resources and tax divisions, as well as administrative offices.
Other agencies in the department include the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Prisons; the U.S. Parole Commission; and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Still other agencies in the Justice Department include the Office of Justice Assistance, Research and Statistics, which coordinates the federal approach to state and local law enforcement; supports research into justice issues and accumulates and disseminates criminal justice statistics; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.
Special sections are the Community Relations Service, which mediates racial disputes in U.S. communities; the pardon attorney, who receives and investigates applications to the President for pardon or clemency; and the Office of Information Law and Policy, which provides legal advice to federal agencies in connection with the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.
The Civil Rights Division is responsible for enforcing the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1965 and 1968; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1976; and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980.