Summary: Loretta Lynch will be the first African American Attorney General. She will be working to strengthen relations between law enforcement and the public.
The five-month wait is over as the Senates 56-43 vote makes Loretta Lynch the first African American female to be an attorney general. The vote was delayed until Democrats and Republicans could agree on the abortion wordage of an unrelated bill.
President Barack Obama’s choice of Lynch to replace Attorney General Eric Holder in November has experienced long delays. Her nomination first cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in February but was forced to wait until another bill was finalized until being put to the vote. Democrats and ten Republicans joined to vote for her nomination.
Lynch’s credentials include being a two-time U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Now she takes on the difficult task of confronting the strained trust between the police the communities they serve as well as criminal justice reform and tackling the ongoing threat of terrorism. She has been praised for her good relationship with law enforcement. The kinds of cases Lynch will be addressing include voting rights, public corruption, and white-collar crime.
Lynch already has experience with terrorism cases with the Eastern District of New York office, trying more terrorism cases since 9/11 than any other office. She was involved with prosecuting the terrorists that plotted to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank and the New York City subway.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/politics/loretta-lynch-attorney-general-vote/
Photo: ibtimes.com