Tag Archives: Department of Justice

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev allegedly left a note implicating his involvement in the attack, according to CBS News. The discovery of the note could prove critical to the case against Tsarnaev, as questions remain about whether a court will ever see statements he wrote from his hospital bed before he was read his Miranda rights. The note was scrawled on the interior wall of the boat Tsarnaev was hiding in when he was captured, and it said the …

The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 27 heard oral arguments over the constitutionality of the part of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) that requires certain states to get permission from the federal government to pass laws that affect the voting rights of minorities. The case is Shelby County v. Holder.   Alabama: Poster Child for Progress? In its suit against the federal government, Shelby County, Ala., alleges that Section 5 of the VRA, which was extended in 2006 for another …

The Department of Justice on Feb. 19 announced that Texas Champion Bank has agreed to pay $700,000 to settle allegations that it discriminated against Hispanics who applied for loans with the bank.    Unsecured Loans, Higher Than Normal Rates According to allegations filed in 2010 by the DOJ, Texas Champion branches charged Hispanic borrowers higher prices on their unsecured loans, in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The bank, based in Alice, Texas, offers a range of small business …

A forensic engineering expert testified today that oil giant BP failed to heed safety recommendations and maintained an “imbalance of protection and production” in the years leading up to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 people and released millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Testifying on behalf of a group of Gulf Coast residents and business owners, retired University of California – Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea said it was an “egregious” …

Federal Judge Carl Barbier heard opening statements today in the trial of BP, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. for their roles in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and dumped millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. While prosecutors characterized the companies as preoccupied with savings and profits rather than safety and people, attorneys for BP, Transocean and Halliburton pointed fingers at one another. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Underhill placed much of …