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Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday said the unrest after a Missouri police officer fatally shot an unarmed black 18-year-old in August shows law enforcement must directly address tensions within communities.

Holder also called for an expanded review of police techniques and tactics in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting to provide national direction to law enforcement.

Holder and former President Bill Clinton spoke at the start of a two-day meeting of mayors and police chiefs gathered to talk about lessons from the shooting of Brown by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson and the protests that followed. Holder told the group what happened in the St. Louis suburb put a national spotlight on the rift between police and citizens in many cities.

The events in Ferguson reminded us that we cannot and we must not allow tensions, which are present in so many neighborhoods across America, to go unresolved, Holder said at the meeting held by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

He said the Justice Departments broad review of police techniques, tactics and training should be expanded to provide strong, national direction on a scale not seen since President Lyndon Johnsons Commission on Law Enforcement nearly half a century ago.

Holder, who announced his resignation last month, visited Ferguson after the shooting to help ease tensions. The Justice Department is investigating whether Browns civil rights were violated.

When I traveled to Ferguson in the days after that incident, my pledge to the people of that community was that our nations Department of Justice would remain focused on the challenges they faced, and the deep-seated issues and difficult conversations that the shooting brought to the surface, long after national headlines had faded, he said.

The meeting on lessons from Ferguson was held at the Clinton presidential library in Little Rock and marked the 20th anniversary of Clinton establishing the Community Oriented Policing Services program. Clinton and Holder heralded the program, saying it was key to restoring trust between police and citizens.

We know that if we have a situation where the law enforcement community and the government generally is inclusive and represents all elements of the community and (is) connected, were more likely to make good decent decisions and less likely to make big bad mistakes, Clinton said.

Clinton also warned about the impact of departments using surplus military equipment under a program that is now the subject of a White House review. The program began during Clintons administration, but the former president said he didnt know about it.

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Bill Clinton, Eric Holder talk missteps of Ferguson ...

(c) 2014, The Washington Post.

WASHINGTON The continuing protests in St. Louis over the shooting death of a young black man offer a stark reminder that whoever replaces Eric Holder as attorney general will arrive at the Justice Department at a unique moment for the agency's civil rights and criminal justice work. While the department over the past 13 years has been preoccupied with terrorism and Wall Street's infractions, the next attorney general's tenure could well be shaped by confronting the legacy of racism in America.

Holder often spoke loudly on these issues, saying what President Barack Obama decided he could not, but his successor will have to wrestle with a complex array of issues. Racial tension over the police shooting of an unarmed teen in Ferguson, Mo., awakened this summer national concern about the makeup of local police departments and the bias and behavior of officers.

States have recently passed an array of new voting laws, from mandates to obtain a voter ID to limits on early voting, that raise civil-rights red flags as well. In confronting these new regulations, the Justice Department now must respond without the power of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that was dismantled last year by the Supreme Court.

Seismic changes are also underway in how the Justice Department approaches sentencing guidelines and the war on drugs, which have long driven the unmatched rise of incarceration in America, and the parallel surge in costs particularly for minority communities. As a result of a shift in thinking about the goals of prison policy (and the effectiveness of the war on drugs), the federal prison population is now declining for the first time in three decades, a trend prison-reform groups are anxious to see continue.

For all of these reasons, criminal-justice and civil-rights advocates are counting on another vocal leader to replace Holder. They are looking for someone who will prioritize those roles of Justice Department's mission policing discrimination, protecting voting rights, redirecting prison policy which have been periodically neglected, deemed outdated, or unwise.

The intensity with which these issues remain in the news, however, will complicate the confirmation process for Obama's nominee. It's harder today than just a few years ago to dismiss the persistence of racial bias in the criminal justice system, a topic that may be easier to openly acknowledge post-Ferguson. But there remains far less (if any) political agreement on the racial impacts of new voting laws.

"If you say at your confirmation hearings 'we're going to spend a lot of time and effort on looking at these [state] statues that seem to restrict voting,' the Republicans are going to go crazy on that. Just crazy," says Richard Ugelow, a former longtime attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and now a member of the faculty at American University's Washington College of Law.

Part of the department's challenge in its civil-rights work is that broad public disagreement over whether discrimination still exists has widened as discrimination itself has taken on subtler forms. Government agencies no longer openly bar minority job applicants. But recruiting practices may still have the effect of excluding them. Landlords no longer advertise when blacks aren't welcome. But the housing options available to minorities are still constricted by the fewer possibilities shown to them by landlords and real estate agents.

Likewise, public schools are no longer segregated by policy. But housing patterns have the effect of making them so, exposing children to unequal education. And literal poll taxes no longer exist. But voter IDs have been likened to them even by federal judges.

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The many civil rights and criminal justice battles that await Eric Holder's successor

More than 1,000 protesters march overnight at St. Louis University to condemn the recent fatal shootings of two black teenagers by police. (Reuters)

The continuing protests in St. Louis over the shooting death of a young black man offer a stark reminder that whoever replaces Eric Holder as attorney general will arrive at the Justice Department at a unique momentfor the agency's civil rights and criminal justice work. While thedepartment over the past 13 yearshas been preoccupiedwith terrorismand Wall Street's infractions, the next attorney general's tenure could well be shaped by confronting the legacy of racism in America.

Holder often spoke loudly on these issues, saying what President Obama decided he could not, but his successor will have to wrestle with a complex array of issues.Racial tension over the police shooting of an unarmed teen in Ferguson, Mo., awakened this summer national concern about the makeup of local police departments and the bias and behavior of officers.

States have recently passed an array ofnew voting laws, from mandates to obtain a voter ID to limits on early voting, that raise civil-rights red flags as well. In confronting these new regulations, the DOJ now must respond without the power of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that was dismantled last year by the Supreme Court.

Seismic changes are also underway in how the DOJ approaches sentencing guidelines and the war on drugs, which have long driven the unmatched rise of incarceration in America, and the parallel surge in costs particularly for minority communities. As a result of a shift in thinking about the goals of prison policy (and the effectiveness of the war on drugs), the federal prison population is now declining for the first time in three decades, a trend prison-reform groups are anxious to see continue.

For all of these reasons, criminal-justice and civil-rights advocates are counting on another vocal leader to replace Holder. They are looking for someone who will prioritize those roles of DOJ's mission policing discrimination, protecting voting rights, redirecting prison policy which have been periodically neglected, deemed outdated, or unwise.

The intensity with which these issues remain in the news, however, will complicate the confirmation process for Obama's nominee. It's harder today than just a few years ago to dismiss the persistence of racial bias in the criminal justice system, a topic that may be easier to openly acknowledge post-Ferguson. But there remains far less (if any) political agreement on the racial impacts of new voting laws.

"If you say at your confirmation hearings 'were going to spend a lot of time and effort on looking at these [state] statues that seem to restrict voting,' the Republicans are going to go crazy on that. Just crazy," says Richard Ugelow, a former longtime attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ and now a member of the faculty at American University's Washington College of Law.

Part of the department's challenge in its civil-rights work is that broad public disagreement over whether discrimination still exists has widened as discrimination itself has taken on subtler forms. Government agencies no longer openlybar minority job applicants. But recruiting practices may still have the effect of excluding them. Landlords no longer advertise when blacks aren't welcome. But the housing options available to minorities are still constricted by the fewer possibilities shown to them by landlords and real estate agents.

Likewise, public schools are no longer segregated by policy. But housing patterns have the effect of making them so, exposing children to unequal education. And literal poll taxes no longer exist. But voter IDs have been likened to them even by federal judges.

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Wonkblog: St. Louis protests show the many civil rights and criminal justice battles awaiting Eric Holders successor

Democrat Betsy Markeys ad.

Democrat Betsy Markey claims in her first campaign ad that Republican state Treasurer Walker Stapleton is AWOL an awful lot a charge his campaign dismisses as silly.

At best, its inexcusable. At worst, its a scandal, the spot says. According to official key card records, Stapleton only bothers showing up at his office around 10 days a month.

Stapletons campaign spokesman, Michael Fortney, said when the treasurer forgets his key card, which is often, he goes through the public entrance where attendance records are not kept.

This is silly. Betsy knows there is more than one way to get into the Capitol. The fact is she has zero understanding of the treasurers office and public finance so she has to rely on this garbage, Fortney said.

The ad concludes by saying for a serious state treasurer, who built one of Americas 500 fastest-growing companies, businesswoman Betsy Markey.

Actually, most folks identify Markey as a former congresswoman who took out ultra conservative Marilyn Musgrave in 2008, despite Congressional District 4 being incredibly favorable to Republicans. Markey was defeated by state Rep. Cory Gardner in the 2010 GOP wave; he now is running for the U.S. Senate. Stapleton that same year defeated the incumbent state treasurer, Democrat Cary Kennedy. He now is running for re-election.

Heres the script for the ad:

At best, its inexcusable. At worst, its a scandal.

State Treasurer Walker Stapleton.

Continue reading here:
Treasurer's race: Betsy Markey hammers Walker Stapleton on attendance

President Obama speaking with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell about the new Ebola virus diagnosis in Dallas. (Associated Press) ** FILE ** more >

President Obama needs to sweep through his inner ranks and weed out those who arent doing him any political good those who are simply telling him what he wants to hear, rather than what he needs to hear, a key Democratic strategist said.

Only the strategist unnamed in The Hill article used more colorful language: Mr. Obama should take a flamethrower to his office, the Democrat said.

He needs dramatic change its not even a debatable point, the strategist went on, The Hill reported. The general consensus is that the president is surrounded by people who do him more harm than good because they are more focused on pleasing him than they are challenging him or proposing a different course.

The Hill reported other Democrats are saying similarly, due in large part to the presidents failure to pass much of his agenda since his re-election. Meanwhile, most Democrats seeking political re-election have seemed to distance themselves from Mr. Obama, preferring he stay far from their campaign trails.

When he lost [David] Plouffe, when [David] Axelrod left, there arent too many people who can walk into the Oval Office and shut the door, said Democratic strategist Peter Finn, The Hill reported. And those guys could they could speak really frankly to him. How does he put people in the White House with serious political chops?

Meanwhile, Jim Manley, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the White House was going to have to face a quick overhaul soon, and its probably something theyre going to have to consider for a lot of different reasons, The Hill reported.

More here:
Democrat strategist says Obama 'should take a flamethrower to his office'