Congress, the Justice Department decides not to defend certain laws: NPR

Lawyers in the House of Representatives oppose the Justice Department's decision to drop a law prohibiting female genital mutilation – and an unusual argument that lawmakers should not intervene to defend the interests of Congress in that case.

The battle continues around the first federal criminal prosecution for female genital mutilation.

Last year, a Michigan judge launched charges against several women whose girls had been circumcised. The Ministry of Justice informed Congress that it would not appeal this decision due to constitutional considerations.

Attorney General Noel Francisco wrote to Congress in April to say that female genital mutilation should be "universally condemned", but that the GM had "reluctantly determined" that he did not have a "defense" reasonable "of the law as a result of decisions made by the Supreme Court in other cases.

The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Law Center of Georgetown University has collaborated with the Congress for the Defense of the Statute. The lawyers argued that Congress had an interest in enforcing and defending the laws that it had enacted.

ICAP's lawyers, however, were surprised to face opposition from the Justice Department, which only once opposed the House and Senate proposals to resolve the problem. litigation.

"It is very worrying to see the Justice Department abandoning the defense of this important federal law," said Joshua Geltzer, executive director of ICAP.

"It is also disturbing to see the department even resist the efforts of the House of Representatives to defend itself the law it has helped enact.The court should reject the department's efforts and at least hear the arguments of the House to defend the status. "

ICAP says it wants to weigh in to support the law – which makes it an offense to knowingly "circumcise" young women under the age of 18 – not to force the Ministry of Justice to institute criminal proceedings. .

Four of the eight people initially charged in Michigan are the subject of other criminal allegations, including obstructing justice.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that half a million women and girls living in the United States have been or may be subjected to genital mutilation in the future.

The Congress declared it illegal, but the Legislative Affairs Bureau of the Justice Department earlier this year asked Congress to amend the existing law to make it clear that it applies to travel between States and when payments or offers are made in connection with circumcision.

The issue is now before the US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which covers a territory including Michigan.

DOJ distance from Congress

The Department of Justice's position in the FGM case closely followed the refusal to defend President Barack Obama's domestic policy legislation, the Financial Protection Act, the Affordable Care Act .

In practice, the Department of Justice systematically defends laws passed by Congress as long as there are reasonable and legitimate arguments.

Attorney General William Barr and White House lawyers opposed the decision not to defend the health care law, but President Trump annulled them.

Democrats in Congress and the election campaign criticized this decision. But Barr seemed indifferent to their concerns during his testimony earlier this year. If the law is good, they should not be disturbed, he said.

"You say that the position of the administration is hokey and then you say that the sky falls?" the Attorney General said. "If it was a position so hokey to take, what are you worried about?"