Eric Holder Jr.: A Leader in Criminal Justice Reform and Equality for African-Americans

In the field of criminal justice, there have been many contributions from leaders throughout the peak of history. Various forms of influential people have graced America in determination of creating a fairer nation. All through his career Eric H. Holder Jr. has worked, and still is working, diligently to improve the criminal justice system, especially the equality of African- Americans. Born on January 21, 1951, in The Bronx Borough of New York City, Holder is the son of Eric and Miriam Holder.

Attorney General Holder grew up in East Elmhurst, Queens and attended public school up until the age of ten where in the fourth grade, was chosen to be in the gifted and talented program. He went on to attend Stuyvesant School in Manhattan, Columbia University, and later Columbia Law School in which he attained his Juris Doctor in 1976. After law school, Eric Holder joined the U. S Justice Department latest Public Integrity Section, which lasted for 12 years. It was there that he helped in the prosecution of Congressman John Jenrette for bribery.

In 1993 Holder stepped down from his appointment by President Ronald Regan of being a judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in order to accept President Clinton’s appointment for U. S. Attorney of District of Columbia, in which he oversaw the conclusion of the corruption case involving Dan Rostenkowski , part of the Congressional Post Office Scandal. Mr. Holder’s career didn’t stop there, he was then moved up to Deputy Attorney General in 1997 under Janet Reno. He was the first African American to hold that position.

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During his confirmation hearing, Holder's opposition to the death penalty was questioned, but he pledged his intention to cooperate with the current laws and Attorney General Janet Reno, saying, "I am not a proponent of the death penalty, but I will enforce the law as this Congress gives it to us". During his time in the Clinton Administration, Eric was “under fire” for doing his job and admits that some of the choices he made was a mistake. Eric Holder gained even more attention when he was hired by Covington & Burling in 2001.

He represented the National Football League during the dog fighting investigation of Michael Vick and in 2004 represented Chiquita Brands International in a civil lawsuit after helping negotiate an agreement. In 2008, Holder joined the Reno-led amicus brief, which urged the Supreme Court to uphold Washington, D. C. 's handgun ban and said the position of the Department of Justice, from Franklin Roosevelt through Bill Clinton, was that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right to keep and bear arms for purposes unrelated to a State’s operation of a well-regulated militia.

Holder said that overturning the 1976 law "opens the door to more people having more access to guns and putting guns on the streets" . In 2007, Holder became a fervent member of Barack Obama’s Campaign as a senior legal adviser and served on the committee for selection of vice president. His platforms are similar to those of Barack Obama such as the closing of Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the opposition of the Bush administration to implement the Patriot Act, and have been decisive of U. S torturing policy and NSA warantless surveillance program.

In December 2008, Eric Holder was announced as Obama’a nominee of Attorney General. He was formally nominated on January 20, 2009 and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 28, 2009 . Following his confirmation by the full Senate on February 2, 2009, he became the first African American Attorney General of the United States of America . He is married to obstetrician, Sharon Malone, in which he has three children with.

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