United States

Coordinates: 40°N 100°W / 40°N 100°W / 40; -100

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million square miles (9.842 million km²) and with over 320 million people, the country is the world's third or fourth-largest by total area and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The geography and climate of the United States are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

Attorney general

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions they may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement, prosecutions or even responsibility for legal affairs generally. In practice, the extent to which the attorney-general personally provides legal advice to the government varies between jurisdictions, and even between individual office-holders within the same jurisdiction, often depending on the level and nature of the office-holder's prior legal experience.

The term was originally used to refer to any person who holds a general power of attorney to represent a principal in all matters. In the common law tradition, anyone who represents the state, especially in criminal prosecutions, is such an attorney. Although a government may designate some official as the permanent attorney general, anyone who comes to represent the state in the same way may, in the past, be referred to as such, even if only for a particular case. Today, however, in most jurisdictions the term is largely reserved as a title of the permanently appointed attorney general of the state, sovereign or other member of the royal family. The term is pluralized attorneys general or attorneys-general.

Jeff Sessions

Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected in 1997, Sessions is a member of the Republican Party.

From 1981 to 1993 he served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. President Ronald Reagan nominated him to a judgeship on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in 1986, but he was not confirmed. Sessions was elected to Attorney General of Alabama in 1994. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and easily re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014. He and his colleague Richard Shelby are the state's first two-term Republican Senators since Reconstruction.

Sessions was ranked by National Journal in 2007 as the fifth-most conservative U.S. Senator, siding strongly with the Republican Party on political issues. He supported the major legislative efforts of the George W. Bush administration, including the 2001 and 2003 tax cut packages, the Iraq War, and a proposed national amendment to ban same-sex marriage. However, he was one of 25 senators to oppose the establishment of TARP. He has opposed the Democratic leadership since 2007 on most major legislation, including the stimulus bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he opposed both of President Barack Obama's nominees for the Supreme Court.

Sally Yates

Sally Quillian Yates (born August 20, 1960) is the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, as of March 2015.

Early Life and Education

Yates was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended the University of Georgia, receiving her B.A. degree in 1982. Her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, is from the University of Georgia Law School, awarded in 1986.

Career

From 1985 to 1989, Yates practiced with King & Spalding, in Atlanta. From 1989 to 2015, she was with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, rising from Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1994 to Chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section, in 2002 to First Assistant U.S. Attorney, in 2004 to Acting U.S. Attorney, and in 2010 to U.S. Attorney. She was the lead prosecutor in the prosecution of Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph. During her time as a U.S. Attorney, Yates was appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder to serve as Vice Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.

Senate confirmation

On May 13, 2015, the United States Senate voted 84-12 to confirm Yates as Deputy Attorney General of the United States.

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys (also known as federal prosecutors and, historically, as United States District Attorneys) represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals.

The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual suspected of breaking the law, initiating and directing further criminal investigations, guiding and recommending the sentencing of offenders, and are the only attorneys allowed to participate in grand jury proceedings.

There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. One U.S. Attorney is assigned to each of the judicial districts, with the exception of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands where a single U.S. Attorney serves both districts. Each U.S. Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement officer within his or her particular jurisdiction, acting under the guidance of the United States Attorneys' Manual. They supervise district offices of as many as 350 Assistant U.S Attorneys (AUSAs), with as many as 350 more support personnel. The Assistant U.S. Attorney, or federal prosecutor, is the public official who represents the federal government on behalf of the U.S. Attorney.