The Justice Department deleted language about press freedom and racial gerrymandering from its internal manual

The Justice Department deleted language about press freedom and racial gerrymandering from its internal manual

First, the background: Since the fall of last year, the DOJ has been making changes to its manual for prosecutors.

What is it? It’s called the US Attorneys’ Manual, which is a bit of a misnomer — federal prosecutors in US attorney offices across the country use it, but so do other Justice Department lawyers.

Sounds important. Yep. It communicates high-level statements about department policies and priorities. It also includes practical guidance to prosecutors on how to do their jobs.

So what happened? A section called “Need for Free Press and Public Trial” is out. The language about limits on prosecutorial power has been toned down. References to the DOJ’s work on racial gerrymandering are gone.

Did anything else change? Alongside the big changes, some tiny alterations, too: long paragraphs were split up, citations to repealed laws have been removed.

What does the DOJ say about the changes made? A spokesperson said they don’t comment on specific changes, but told us the manual is meant to be a “quick and ready reference,” not a list of every constitutional right and every law in the country.

Is this normal? The last major update to the manual was in 1997. The DOJ says it’s been a while since it’s been reviewed and updated.

What happens next? Notice will go out when the review is done

Source BuzzFeed