Justice Connection today encouraged Justice Department alumni to oppose a new rule that threatens to stop state bar associations from investigating department lawyers, and provided them with arguments they can use to do so.
On March 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed a new regulation formalizing a process in place since the late 1970s and boldly asserting unspecified federal authority over the timing of state bar investigations.
Advisory Board members Jennifer Ricketts and Rupa Bhattacharyya explain in a Substack post why the Justice Department’s new rule does nothing to ensure even-handed accountability for department attorneys. Instead, they argue, it risks undermining independent oversight at a moment when public trust in the department’s willingness to police its own lawyers has already been badly eroded.
The proposed rule creates far more problems than it claims to solve, and it puts DOJ career attorneys directly in the crosshairs. Department attorneys wield tremendous power over Americans’ lives and interests, and alumni best understand the reasons why proper accountability mechanisms must be maintained.
Justice Connection is encouraging all department alumni to submit a comment by April 6, 2026, urging the Department to reject this proposed new rule.
