Justice, Department of

THE U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is a cabinet department in the United States government that enforces the law and defends the interests of the United States according to the law, ensuring fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. The Department of Justice is administered by the U.S. attorney general, one of the original members of the president's cabinet.

The office of attorney general is older than the Department of Justice which the attorneys general have headed since 1870. The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the office of attorney general, providing for the appointment of “a meet person, learned in the law, to act as Attorney-General for the United States.” The act stipulated that the duties of the attorney general were to prosecute and ...