NJ Topics Law Enforcement

Guantanamo detention facility at dawn

Obama’s 20 Steps to Counterterrorism

Matt Vasilogambros | May 23, 2013
Unpacking the president's hour-long (with heckling) speech on drones, Gitmo, and everything in between. 
US Mexico Border

The Border Hawks Have Already Won

Fawn Johnson | May 9, 2013
The Senate immigration bill already addresses hard-liner concerns, which means they’ll have less reason to oppose the final product. 
Benghazi

Benghazi: Incompetence, But No Cover-up

Michael Hirsh | May 8, 2013
The hearings deepen the tragedy, but not the scandal.
Islamic Center of Murfreesboro

Stopping Terrorism at the Source

Michael Hirsh | May 2, 2013
Two years ago, the Obama administration launched a plan to use American Muslims as an early-detection system to spot radicals. So why hasn’t it worked?
Oklahoma City Bombing

Should Prosecutors Insist on Death for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?

James Oliphant | May 2, 2013
Cutting a deal with the alleged Boston bomber might prevent future attacks and ensure a conviction. But it could enrage victims and disappoint the public. 
Oregon execution room

Will Prosecutors in the Boston Marathon Bombing Case Seek the Death Penalty?

Matt Vasilogambros | April 26, 2013
Former prosecutors weigh in on the legal strategy for taking on bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev

Was the Ball Dropped in the Tsarnaev Questioning?

Major Garrett | April 23, 2013
To paraphrase Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz: This is our @#$&%! Constitution.
Somalian immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen

How Immigration Opponents Are Trying to Use the Boston Bombings to Delay Reform

Rebecca Kaplan | April 22, 2013
Democrats, Gang of Eight members, are playing offense to prevent delays.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev

How Tamerlan Tsarnaev Might Have Been Stopped

Michael Hirsh | April 22, 2013
Did the Obama administration fail to follow up on Muslim community outreach programs?
Boston suspect search

Boston Suspects Demonstrate the Thin Line Between Amateurism and Terrorism

Michael Hirsh | April 19, 2013
U.S. Muslims fear a backlash. ‘It can’t get worse than this,’ says one community organizer.
cd-081202-ap-capitol-vistor-center-440

Capitol Visitors Center Reopened; Police on Lookout for Massachusetts Car

Billy House | April 19, 2013
Law enforcement authorities in Washington Friday morning confirmed there has been an alert put out for the area – including Capitol Hill -- for a 1999 Gray Honda CRV with Massachusetts license plates.
Person uses computer screen

How the Government Searches for the Boston Marathon Bomber

James Kitfield | April 17, 2013
The post-9/11 record strongly suggests that the U.S. authorities will indeed get their man.
Obama

Obama: Boston Marathon Bombings Are Acts of Terrorism

George E. Condon Jr. | April 16, 2013
President adds little is known about the perpetrators of the attack.
Immigration rally

Deportees Can Come Back Under Draft Immigration Bill

Fawn Johnson | April 16, 2013
Immigrants who were in the United States before Dec. 31, 2011 and were deported for noncriminal reasons could return to the country in a provisional legal status if they a legal spouse or child in the country or if they qualify for the Dream Act, according to a summary of the immigration bill slated to be unveiled this week in the Senate.
Martin Richard

Why Boston Bombings Might Be Scarier Than 9/11

Ron Fournier | April 16, 2013
Killing Americans at play resonates differently than attacks on economic and military targets.
Capitol Police

Boston Blasts Bring a Chill to Washington

Billy House | April 15, 2013
Tax day in Washington turned into a tension-filled reminder that there are far worse problems to deal with than the federal budget, immigration reform, or even gun control, as bombings at the Boston Marathon brought the horrors of terrorism front and center into the national consciousness.
Sen. John Cornyn

3 Strong Pro-Gun Arguments to Watch

Fawn Johnson | April 11, 2013
Republicans are raising complex questions about mental health, federal enforcement, and gun-purchase records that deserve the thorough and intense debate they are about to receive.
Obama Budget

7 Things to Know About Obama's Budget

Matthew Cooper | April 10, 2013
You’ll see a lot about the aggregate budget size of $3.8 trillion. But here are the things that are really worth knowing.
marijuana pot bar

How Baby Boomers Became Pro-Pot Legalization

Brian Fung | April 8, 2013
The debate over marijuana legalization tends to focus on seniors who use the drug for medicinal purposes. But what if the aging and the sick aren't really the cohort that will wind up deciding the issue?
Elizabeth Colbert

On Day One, Sanford Discovers Challenges of Taking On a Female Candidate

Sarah Mimms | April 4, 2013
On just his first day as the Republican nominee for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District seat, former Gov. Mark Sanford is discovering the challenges of running against a female candidate, adding to the difficulties faced by a man in the process of resurrecting his political career after admi...
New York Bribery

Behind the Bribery Indictment in New York City

Billy House | April 2, 2013
A leading New York lawmaker was arrested after being accused of trying to buy a spot on the mayoral ballot.
stealth combat drone demonstrator Neuron

When the Whole World Has Drones

Kristin Roberts | March 21, 2013
The precedents the U.S. has set for robotic warfare may have fearsome consequences as other countries catch up.
pot

The Pot Industry’s Most Politically Important Dispensary

Ben Terris | March 21, 2013
In the eyes of the federal government, there is no such thing as “medical marijuana.” But there’s a dispensary just blocks from the Capitol.
Dianne Feinstein

In Senate, Assault Weapons Are Complicated

Fawn Johnson | March 14, 2013
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote Thursday approving an assault-weapons ban was a sham—if you think the purpose was to ban assault weapons. If you think the committee’s vote offered an opportunity for lawmakers to parse and deliberate complicated and unresolved questions about the Constitution, guns, and violence, then it was a highly productive 90 minutes.
Ludy Green

The Violence Against Women Act Started With One Woman: Ludy Green

Christopher Snow Hopkins | March 11, 2013
A few years ago, Ludy Green placed a victim of domestic violence in the Washington office of an esteemed international organization, with a salary of $45,000, plus benefits.
Draganflyer X6

The Wonderful World of Drones

Sara Sorcher | March 7, 2013
Fighting fires, reducing crime, counting sea lions: the case for domestic UAVs.

Republicans Considering Senate Bids Split on VAWA Vote

Steven Shepard and Sarah Mimms and Alex Brown | February 28, 2013
The House voted Thursday to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act by a more-than-two-to-one margin, but a number of House Republicans mulling Senate contests in 2014 joined the majority of their caucus in opposing the bill. Most House Republicans in red states voted against the measure, includ...
Chris Chocola

Club for Growth President Chocola: ‘Sooner or Later, They Won’t Want You to be their Speaker’

Shane Goldmacher | February 28, 2013
The passage of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday marked the third time in two months that major legislation had cleared the House with the support of less than half of House Republicans.
Rand Paul

Rand Paul Pledges to Hold Up Brennan’s CIA Nomination Until He Gets Answers on Drones

Sara Sorcher | February 26, 2013
Sen. Rand Paul sees it as a very simple question, which could easily be answered with a “yes” or a “no”: Can the Obama administration authorize the use of lethal force—such as a drone strike—against a U.S. citizen on American soil?
Obama

Congress and Obama Assign Blame as Sequester Deadline Approaches

Billy House | February 24, 2013
Just four days remain until Friday’s start date for federal spending cuts that were supposed to be too painful to ever let happen, but lawmakers return to Washington on Monday with little hope for an eleventh-hour deal to avert or reshape them—or any let-up in the fighting over who is to blame.
Votes

Key Votes Used to Calculate the Ratings

February 19, 2013
The 116 Senate votes and 116 House votes on which National Journal’s 2012 vote ratings are based.
Neera Tanden

The Democrats' War to Win Women Voters

Beth Reinhard | February 15, 2013
Lilly Ledbetter, move over.  Democrats have a new tool to win over women voters.
Marco Rubio cameras

Can Marco Rubio Live Up to the Hype?

Beth Reinhard and Scott Bland contributed | February 14, 2013
He's the GOP's Barack Obama, a fresh-faced politician with an immigrant name, a playlist full of rap, and a collection of fawning press clips. The challenge: He's selling the same old party message.

President Obama's Immigration Reform Plan (Full Text)

National Journal Staff | January 29, 2013
The White House has released a synopsis of the president's immigration proposals.
Hostages in Algeria

Why Hostage-Taking in West Africa Is a Lucrative Business

Matt Vasilogambros | January 18, 2013
“We will not negotiate with terrorists.” It’s a line cemented in pop culture, ingraining the idea that Western nations will not succumb to the demands of militants that hold their citizens. But that’s not always the case in Western Africa.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden Announce Gun Control Proposals

Full Text: President Obama and Joe Biden's Statements on Gun Violence Proposals

January 16, 2013
The White House released the following transcript of the statements President Obama and Vice President Biden made on the gun control proposals announced Wednesday.
gun store

4 Problems Obama Will Face In Gun Control Push

Fawn Johnson | January 15, 2013
Washington is on edge over gun violence and possible new gun laws, which means there will be a lot of talk over the next few months about the business of selling and owning firearms, violent images in the media, the influence of the National Rifle Association, gun culture, hunting ducks--you name it.
Joe Biden

Joe Biden Is the Only Closer the White House Has

Major Garrett | January 9, 2013
After climbing the fiscal cliff, Vice President Joe Biden turns to gun control.
matsch

Does America's Highest-Security Prision Mistreat Mentally Ill Inmates?

Andrew Cohen - The Atlantic | January 4, 2013
He's tough. He's courageous. He tried Timothy McVeigh. Now Richard Matsch takes on another critical case: a civil rights lawsuit alleging prisoner abuse and neglect.
Lighthouse

The People, Not Washington, Will Solve America's Everyday Problems

James Oliphant and Stacy Kaper and Catherine Hollander and Adam Mazmanian and James Kitfield and Ben Terris and Fawn Johnson | December 6, 2012
Beyond the fiscal cliff, entitlement reform, and a tax overhaul, a host of other issues continue to vex Americans. They include burgeoning traffic, the shrinking pool of affordable housing, escalating gun violence, and the rising invasion of online privacy.
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