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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder gestures as he speaks to members of the community during an interfaith service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, in Atlanta. AP / David Goldman

Last Updated Dec 8, 2014 1:45 PM EST

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Justice Department's release of its long-awaited revised racial profiling guidance for federal law enforcement on Monday.

In 2003, the Justice Department issued its first racial profiling guidance under former Attorney General John Ashcroft. That guidance banned profiling based on race and ethnicity, but granted exceptions for national security and border protection. Civil rights groups considered the exceptions a kind of permission to discriminate especially against Muslims in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The newly revised guidance will expand the characteristics it protects -- beyond race and ethnicity -- to include bans on profiling on the basis of gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and general identity.

"We can't afford to profile, to do law enforcement on the basis of stereotypes," Holder said Monday at an event in Northern Virginia.

The guidance applies to federal law enforcement officers and also to state and local officers involved in federal law enforcement tasks. But the new guidance does continue to allow certain exceptions for the Department of Homeland Security.

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Holder says he will step down as soon as his replacement is confirmed. He became attorney general in 2009 and was the first African American ever...

The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that there will be exceptions for its work in screening at the borders and in transportation settings. Other exceptions have been carved out for U.S. Border Patrol interdiction activities in the vicinity of the border and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) interdiction activities at ports of entry. Secret Service "protective activities" are also excluded from the new guidelines.

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Eric Holder to release racial profiling guidance - CBS News

MEMPHIS, TN (localmemphis.com)U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said there is now an opportunity for great changes in relationships between the police and the people.

The key is not to blow that chance.

The Attorney General was in Memphis Tuesday meeting with community leaders and speaking at an event in Midtown.

He said it is time to change police policies and procedures. It is time for the police and the folks on the street to give a little mutual respect.

"Make no mistake out of the tragedies of the past months and weeks comes an opportunity for this great nation that we must not, as we have too often done in the past, squander," Holder said.

Holder was talking about events in New York, Cleveland, and especially Ferguson.

Police acted, people died, and other folks are now reacting.

It is time for change, Holder said.

He has just instituted tougher restrictions on racial profiling that all federal law enforcement agencies must follow.

"It's imperative we take every possible action to ensure strong and sound policing practices. We must instill the absolute highest standards of professionalism as well as integrity," Holder said.

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Holder Says Now Is The Time For Change Between Police & Citizens

MEMPHIS, TN (localmemphis.com)--U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says it's time for all communities to ensure they have proper police standards.

Holder spent most of the day in Memphis meeting privately with law enforcement at the Hattiloo Theatre in Midtown.

His talk of tougher restrictions on racial profiling made news just yesterday, but today he made it clear the events and protests of the last few weeks have affected him.

Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong says he's noticed.

"They have their hands up saying 'don't shoot.' We are a city, and will remain a city and police department, that says while your hands are up, when you are begging us not to shoot, our arms are extended out to you and will stay extended until you embrace us," said Armstrong.

Nobody said anything like that in Ferguson. And the power of those words come from a man who was born and raised in Memphis.

"I am a product of this city," said Armstrong.

For U.S. Attorney Eric Holder, Toney Armstrong was a tough act to follow. But the police director's message was one Holder agreed with.

"Trust in the system and compliance with the law must begin not with the fear of arrest or even incarceration, but with respect for the institutions that guide our democracy," said Holder.

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton wants to see a law that requires the governor to immediately appoint a special prosecutor whenever there is a shooting involving a police officer to avoid any potential conflicts.

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Attorney General Holder Meets With Memphis Law Enforcement

MVI 4331 The Democrat #39;s ,Threw Mary Landrieu Under The Bus!
What happened to Mary Landrieu should be a real eye opener for all of the Democrats that survived the 2014 midterm election. Any one of them would be treated...

By: Gabor Zolna

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MVI 4331 The Democrat's ,Threw Mary Landrieu Under The Bus! - Video

Washington Solar rays didnt break through storm clouds to cast a magical light over the Capital dome Tuesday, but something more mundanely positive did happen in Congress: Two leaders who have been at odds engaged in a show of mutual praise and respect.

Elijah Cummings, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, paused during a hearing on Obamacare to tell Committee Chairman Darrell Issa that you have made me a better person in so many, many ways, adding accolades for the Republicans expertise and dedication.

Later in the hearing, Representative Issa waxed lyrical about Representative Cummings hard work and referred to him as my friend.

The words didnt pass between just any Republican and any Democrat. These were the leading members of a House committee tasked with a watchdog role that can make it a hotbed of maneuvering for partisan advantage. And these were two men who at times have been sharply at odds encapsulated back in March when Issa abruptly shut down a hearing on the IRS after getting in a shouting match with Cummings over whether the Maryland Democrat was raising a valid question.

The peacemaking on display Tuesday is a reminder that even in time of high partisanship and rivalry, lawmakers in Congress are also human beings with capacities for forgiveness, bridge-building, and even affection toward members in the other political camp.

Dont expect a renewed era of bipartisan comity to emerge all of a sudden come 2015. What happened at this one hearing isnt a sign that Issa and Cummings no longer have disagreements, let alone that the two parties are ready to join in a chorus of Kumbaya.

To get a real sense of whether bipartisanship stands a chance what matters most are the roll call votes, the back room interaction, and what they say in front of the media on stations like Fox or MSNBC, Princeton University political historian Julian Zelizer says in an e-mail interview.

Measured in those ways, he says, right now the broad climate in Congress shows not much evidence of any change.

Its worth noting, for example, that partisan differences were on pretty full display during the Tuesdays hearing. As Democrats defended President Obamas Affordable Care Act, Republicans sought to raise doubts about how the law has performed for Americans and especially whether public comments by one of the laws so-called architects suggest that Democrats were willfully secretive in passing the controversial law.

Jonathan Gruber, an MIT scholar who advised Democrats as the law was being hatched, faced harsh questioning at the hearing about his prior statements implying that a lack of transparency played a crucial role in getting the law passed.

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Issa and Cummings praise each other: Return of comity or moment of calm?