3

Background

Piggy backing off the question about two United State political bodies conducting an investigation, someone made a comment that the a U.S. attorney is always part of the DoJ. I understand that in the typical case, a lawyer (usually) represents someone who is the entity pressing charges. But I'm not sure if the same rules necessarily apply to U.S. attorneys of the Federal Government.

Question

When a U.S. Attorney files charges acting in his office, does this automatically mean that the DoJ itself is the party filing a charge?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

No. The U.S. Attorney brings charges on behalf of the United States, which is the filing party, at least in criminal cases. That's why every criminal case is styled "United States v. [Whomever]."

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    US attorneys may represent parties other than the United States in civil matters, in which US government departments or officers may be parties to the case. Regardless of whom the US attorney represents in a given case, however, the US attorney is always an officer of the Department of Justice.
    – phoog
    Apr 30, 2018 at 20:41
  • 1
    Agreed. I was wondering about including this qualifier. But based on the "pressing charges" language and the question linked to, I'm hoping it's just talking about criminal cases.
    – bdb484
    Apr 30, 2018 at 21:01
  • The original question at Politics is definitely about criminal law, which is why I posted that comment rather than adding an answer.
    – phoog
    Apr 30, 2018 at 21:06

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .