WASHINGTON — Outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder says he wants Congress to make it easier for the feds to intervene in civil rights cases.
In exit interviews as he wraps up his six-year tenure, Holder floated the idea of lowering the standard of proof — just hours after the federal government declined to file charges in the case of the shooting death of unarmed black Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
“There is a better way in which we could have federal involvement in these kinds of matters to allow the federal government to be a better backstop in examining these cases,” Holder told NBC.
His proposal comes as the Justice Department is nearing an announcement following the investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man who was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo.
The feds also are investigating the choking death of Eric Garner while in police custody on Staten Island.
In the Martin case, a Florida jury acquitted shooter George Zimmerman of murder.
“I think some serious consideration needs to be given to the standard of proof that has to be met before federal involvement is appropriate, and that’s something that I am going to be talking about before I leave office,” Holder told Politico.
One of the chief difficulties facing the feds under current law is that they need to establish that it was a suspect’s intent to violate a victim’s civil rights. Any changes would require action in the Republican Congress — where the House voted in 2012 to hold Holder in contempt for withholding documents.
Holder has announced his retirement. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed the nomination of Brooklyn US Attorney Loretta Lynch to succeed him. Lynch still needs full Senate confirmation to fill the job.
Holder said he is writing a letter to Martin’s parents. “[O]ne of the things it’s certainly going to talk about is my admiration for the way in which they have conducted themselves,” he said.