The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit yesterday to block North Carolina’s new voter suppression law that would disenfranchise more than 300,000 voters, mostly African American, young people and seniors. In a press conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said the law passed by the Republican-dominated legislature and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R) in August was a deliberate attempt to exclude voters of color. 

This week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued new directives to his U.S. attorneys in the field to use prosecutorial discretion and stop pursuing low-level drug possession cases that carry high minimum mandatory prison sentences. While state prison populations are finally slowly going down, the federal prison system continues to grow with non-violent drug convictions. Also this week, Judge Shira Scheindlin, a federal district judge in New York, ruled that New York City’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy was clearly biased in stopping black and Latino people out of proportion to the initial behaviors that made police instigate their searches. Thousands of innocent young black and Latino men were being prejudged by the police, losing their Constitutional rights and liberties based more on their race than on evidence.

Homeowners supported by the Home Defenders League (HDL) and Occupy Our Homes participated in a third day of protest Wednesday, this time at the law firm Covington & Burling, which represents several major U.S. banks and is the former workplace of Attorney General Eric Holder, a key target of the week's protests. Eight more protesters were arrested, bringing the total for the three days to 34. A message on the HDL Facebook page Thursday said that all of those arrested were released and will not face charges stemming from the protests.

Organizers from the Home Defenders League, Occupy Our Homes and allied organizations estimate that more than 500 people attended a rally at the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday, calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to begin arresting bankers accused of fraud and unscrupulous lending practices. As of Tuesday morning, at least 27 demonstrators had been arrested after an attempt to enter the Justice Department building was prevented by law enforcement.

Counterfeit products and stolen intellectual property are estimated to deprive U.S. workers of some 750,000 jobs every year, and more than $250 billion in lost revenue for the U.S. economy. As the holiday shopping season gets under way, the U.S. Department of Justice is sounding the alarm to consumers, with a new ad campaign urging shoppers to “Get Real.”