Mediaboss Marketing

Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates

Sally Yates, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, will be this years speaker for the Class Day ceremonies at Harvard Law School. Class Day will take place on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. Yates was selected by representatives of this years graduating class.

Yates spent nearly three decades working in the U.S. Justice Department. She began her career as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. She rose to national prominence when she was the lead prosecutor in the case of Eric Rudolph, who placed a bomb in Atlantas Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Games. The explosion killed two and injured more than 100 people.

In 2010, President Barack Obama 91 named her U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Yates was the first woman to hold that position. While there, then-Attorney General Eric Holder asked her to serve as Vice Chair of the Attorney Generals Advisory Committee.

In 2015, President Obama named her Deputy Attorney General. She served in the position the second-highest-ranking job in the Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder and Attorney General Loretta Lynch 81.

After Donald Trump was elected U.S. President, Yates agreed to serve as Acting Attorney General. She was dismissed from the Trump administration in January after she instructed DOJ staff not to enforce Trumps first executive order on travel and immigration, writing in a letter that she was not convinced it was lawful.

A native of Georgia, Yates is a graduate of the University of Georgia, with a degree in journalism, and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where she was executive editor of the Georgia Law Review.

Yates visited Harvard Law School in January and spoke to students about recent strides in criminal justice reform. She told students that both Holder and Lynch had achieved significant reforms in federal sentencing, and that she was hopeful that momentum would continue into the Trump administration. Support for criminal justice reform isnt limited to Democrats or liberals or any single interest group, she said. Rather, there is a strong, bipartisan consensus, from both ends of the spectrum and every point in between, that we need to adjust our approach. And thats because fiscal realities, public safety, and basic fairness demand it.

At Harvard Law School, Yates encouraged students to be active in criminal justice reform: As current and future leaders in a profession dedicated to the integrity of the law, I hope that you will let your voices be heard and that you will demand meaningful change, and most importantly that you will act at every opportunity to effect the changes that are required to make our communities safer and our system more faithful to its core principle of justice.

See more here:
Sally Yates is Harvard Law School's 2017 Class Day Speaker - Harvard Law School News

Eric Holder, who served as U.S. attorney general under President Barack Obama and who is taking a lead role in a national Democratic redistricting effort, will headline the state Democratic partys Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in June.

Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, will keynote the event on June 17 at the Richmond Marriott, days after Democrats and Republicans pick their candidates for statewide office in a June 13 primary.

Holder has called the Virginia governors race an important early focus for the group. The governor who is elected in November will preside as state lawmakers redraw legislative and congressional boundaries after the 2020 census.

This Novembers elections in Virginia are a top priority for Democrats and give us the opportunity to undo Republican gerrymandering and have a legislature and Congress that truly represent the views of the people, Holder said in a statement provided by the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe is helping to spearhead fundraising for the Democrats national effort to make gains through redrawn boundaries after the census.

David DOnofrio, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia, said in a statement: Democrats are simply trying to accomplish in courts what they cant do at the ballot box.

They simply cant fathom why they cant win legislative elections in Virginia. It cant be voters rejecting their far-left policies, so they have to find another excuse. We hope someone will tell former Attorney General Holder that Democrats drew their own lines in the Virginia Senate, then-Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on the lines, as did Rep. Robert C. Bobby Scott, D-3rd and the Legislative Black Caucus, and they still wound up out of power.

Virginias congressional and legislative boundaries have been the subject of court action in recent months.

Democrats picked up a congressional seat in the 4th District after a three-judge panel redrew the states U.S. House boundaries after finding that legislators packed too many African-Americans into Scotts 3rd District.

In a second federal case over Virginia redistricting, the U.S. Supreme Court has instructed a lower court to re-examine whether the Virginia General Assembly unconstitutionally stuffed African-American voters into certain House of Delegates districts, opening the door to a new political map.

In a third case, a Richmond Circuit Court judge will soon rule in a challenge to 11 Virginia legislative districts. The redistricting group OneVirginia2021 charges that those districts violate requirements in the Virginia Constitution that districts be compact.

Go here to read the rest:
Former US AG Eric Holder to headline Virginia Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson dinner in June - Richmond.com

Miami Herald

Democrats plan to strike back in redistricting wars Miami Herald Former Attorney Eric Holder joined the NDRC as chair after serving as one of Obama's most trusted lieutenants. The Democrats took our eye off the ball; we didn't realize the importance of redistricting, he said. Now, grassroots activists are ... Fixing Gerrymandering Doesn't Just Make Elections More FairSlate Magazine Will next congressional elections bring a Redder Michigan?Detroit Free Press all 5 news articles »

Continued here:
Democrats plan to strike back in redistricting wars - Miami Herald

WASHINGTON - The premise of the upcoming Fox series "Shots Fired" is certainly ripped from the headlines: It's about two racially charged murders in a Southern town, including the killing of a white student by a black police officer.

But we learned at the D.C. screening of the show at the Newseum on Tuesday night that there is even more real-life inspiration at work: the character played by actor Stephan James - an idealistic young prosecutor at the Justice Department - is based in part on former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr., who offered guidance to the show's creators and to James.

Much of the TV show has been shot in Kannapolis and other areas around Cabarrus and Rowan counties.

The show's co-creators, husband-and-wife team Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood, consulted with the top lawyer in the Obama administration, as well as conducting interviews with Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant - whose shooting was dramatized in the film "Fruitvale Station" - as well as former New York City Police Department commissioner Raymond Kelly. "Some of the things (Holder) gave us ended up being a template for Stephan's character," Reggie Bythewood said.

"Probably a lot of Eric Holder," James said when asked about the inspiration for his character. "He was so helpful to me in the beginning stages of creating this character. He's had so much success in his career, and Preston Terry (James' character) is on that same trajectory."

James described his on-screen persona in a way that might sound familiar to those who know the former AG: "He's this young, confident lawyer who comes in and thinks he's going to change this community, and maybe even change the world." It seems James is developing a pattern of playing Washington types - he portrayed Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., in the 2014 film "Selma."

Stars Mack Wilds and Sanaa Lathan also strutted the crimson gantlet at the Newseum, chatting about the show and posing for the cameras - but it was veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss who broke the red-carpet routine.

The "American Graffiti" actor appeared disheveled compared with his polished and well-coiffed co-stars (his necktie was completely outside his V-neck sweater, and he wore a heavy overcoat). Dreyfuss appeared buoyant, first attempting to lead the reporters lining the red carpet in an inexplicable chant of "Nazi b---es!"

"If this show does what it should, it will be the most current show you've imagined in your life," he boasted. In "Shots Fired," Dreyfuss plays the owner of a private prison, and Dreyfuss reminded us that he's quite comfortable playing newsworthy men.

"I've played Dick Cheney; I've played Alexander Haig," he said. "This is like rolling off a log."

The rest is here:
Eric Holder inspired a character in Fox's police-shooting drama 'Shots Fired' - Independent Tribune

The premise of the upcoming Fox series Shots Fired is certainly ripped from the headlines: Its about two racially charged murders in a Southern town, including the killing of a white student by a black police officer.

But we learned at the Washington screening of the show at the Newseum on Tuesday night that thereis even more real-life inspiration at work: the character played by actor Stephan James an idealistic young prosecutor at the Justice Department is based in part on former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr., who offered guidance to the shows creators and to James.

The shows co-creators, husband-and-wife team Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood, consulted with the top lawyer in the Obama administration, as well as conducting interviews withWanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant whose shooting was dramatized in the film Fruitvale Station as well asformer New York City Police Department commissioner Raymond Kelly. Some of the things [Holder]gave us ended up being a template for Stephans character, Reggie Bythewood said.

Probably a lot of Eric Holder, James said when asked about the inspiration for his character. He was so helpful to me in the beginning stages of creating this character. Hes had so much success in his career, and Preston Terry [Jamess character] is on that same trajectory.

James described his on-screen persona in a way that might sound familiar to those who know the former AG: Hes this young, confident lawyer who comes in and thinks hes going to change this community, and maybe even change the world.It seems James is developing a pattern of playing Washington types he portrayed Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) in the 2014 film Selma.

Stars Mack Wilds and Sanaa Lathan also strutted the crimson gantlet at the Newseum, chatting about the show and posing for the cameras but it was veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss who broke the red-carpet routine.

The American Graffiti actorappeared disheveled compared with his polished and well-coiffed co-stars (his necktie was completely outside his V-neck sweater, and he wore a heavy overcoat). Dreyfuss appeared buoyant, first attempting to lead the reporters lining the red carpet in an inexplicable chant of Nazi b-rd!

If this show does what it should, it will be the most current show youve imagined in your life, he boasted.In Shots Fired, Dreyfuss plays the owner of a private prison, and Dreyfuss reminded us that hes quite comfortable playing newsworthy men.

Ive played Dick Cheney; Ive played Alexander Haig, he said. This is like rolling off a log.

Continued here:
How Eric Holder inspired a character in Fox's police-shooting drama 'Shots Fired' - Washington Post