Justice Department breaks law in it's hiring practices

Applications that contained what were seen as “leftist commentary” or “buzz words” like environmental and social justice were often grounds for rejecting applicants, according to e-mails reviewed by the inspector general’s office.

Wow, all the way at the top, discriminatory practices at the US Justice Department come to light in a NY Times report that shows that, while under the authority of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, higher qualified candidates for jobs were rejected for "political and idealogical" reasons. Which of course is against the law.

Heres a small clip from the story entitled "Report Sees Illegal Hiring Practices at Justice Dept." by Eric Licthblau (3/25/08):

Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials over those with liberal-sounding resumes, a new report found Tuesday.

The blistering report, prepared by the Justice Department’s inspector general, is the first in what will be a series of investigations growing out of last year’s scandal over the firings of nine United States attorneys. It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration.

“Many qualified candidates” were rejected for the department’s honors program because of what was perceived as a liberal bias, the report found. Those practices, the report concluded, “constituted misconduct and also violated the department’s policies and civil service law that prohibit discrimination in hiring based on political or ideological affiliations.”

And you thought all those rulings that weaken the labor movement and are directly made with the intent of screwing the working people was a coincidence, think again.

heres some cool stuff I copied and pasted here, just to see how it would turnout

Multimedia

Back Story With Eric Lichtblau (mp3)

Related
Text of the Report (pdf)
Times Topics: U.S. Attorney

Got a great video from Xipe Totec at Democratic Underground, from 4/07:

Big thanks to Common Man News for the heads up to the story