Joyce White Vance

Vance is distinguished professor of the practice of law at the University of Alabama, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and an NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst.

Recent Articles

Merrick Garland Must Follow Through With His Commitment to Hold All January 6 Perpetrators Accountable

The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol has been tearing it up. They worked straight through the holidays, including on Christmas and New Year’s Day. They’ve interviewed 300-plus witnesses, pursuing those...

By Joyce White Vance

How Domestic Terrorism Can Be Prosecuted

Even though the FBI tracks domestic terrorism, there isn’t one law that makes it a crime

By Joyce White Vance

RBG Saw the Future on Voting Rights

Justice Ginsburg’s dissents were often even more powerful than her voice when she was in the majority. She described them as “appealing to the intelligence of a future day.” She never stopped believing in that...

By Joyce White Vance

What Exactly Is Trump Doing in Portland?

In questions following Wednesday’s coronavirus press briefing, President Trump conflated two very different roles for federal law enforcement, mentioning in one breath the deployment of federal agents against protestors in Portland and surging federal agents...

By Joyce White Vance

Prosecutors' Role in Criminal Justice Reform

As the nation’s attention is focused on the need to transform policing, prosecutors must acknowledge that they too have a role to play. We have already seen the beginnings of a movement for prosecutorial reform...

By Joyce White Vance

Congress Should Subpoena Both Berman and Barr

Although the office of the Attorney General and the U.S. Attorneys came into existence in the early days of the Republic, the Department of Justice was created by an act of Congress 150 years ago...

By Joyce White Vance

COVID-19 Is Hitting Prisons and Jails Hard

The news from the nation’s prisons and jails is increasingly grim. On Sunday, there were reports that 1,828 people incarcerated at Marion County Correctional Facility in Ohio, 73% of its total population, have tested positive...

By Joyce White Vance

Barr Should Resign if Trump Tweet Stands

“Nothing could be more destructive of our system of government, of the rule of law, or Department of Justice as an institution, than any toleration of political interference with the enforcement of the law.” Those...

By Joyce White Vance

If Trump Is Allowed to Turn the Justice Department Into a Political Weapon, No One Is Safe

There is outrage this morning over what happened to the Department of Justice yesterday. Roger Stone is the President’s longtime friend and former campaign advisor, and now a convicted felon. He was convicted at trial...

By Joyce White Vance

If the Senate Doesn't Hold Trump Accountable, the Damage Will Go Far Beyond This Presidency

On Sunday morning, the President of the United States tweeted: “Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done...

By Joyce White Vance

An Unfair Senate Impeachment Trial Won't Exonerate Trump

Imagine this scenario in a courtroom: The prosecutor and defense lawyer speak to the judge in advance of a trial for an attempted bank robbery. The indictment, voted on by the grand jury, recites that...

By Joyce White Vance

Why Trump's Impeachment Defenses Will Fail

We’ve reached the part of this tired charade where even those who’ve tried to escape the obvious conclusion now know that the emperor has no clothes. The mounting evidence from career diplomats, and Trump’s own...

By Joyce White Vance

Trump Is Leaving Congress No Choice But to Impeach

You don’t have to be a former prosecutor to understand what’s going on. Whistleblower laws are designed to protect against fraud and abuse in government. They make it possible for government employees to step forward...

By Joyce White Vance

William Barr Is the Wrong Person to Lead the Jeffrey Epstein Investigation

Jeffrey Epstein is dead. His victims will never have their day in court, at least not with this defendant. It is critical that the Justice Department conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of his...

By Joyce White Vance

This Might Be the Most Important Exchange in the Mueller Testimony

Yesterday, America saw hearings on the two volumes of the Mueller Report. First, House Judiciary took up the analysis of potential obstruction of justice charges in Volume II. In the afternoon, the Permanent Standing Committee...

By Joyce White Vance

Mueller Report: Breaking Down the Biggest Myths

When we joined other legal experts earlier this month to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding lessons from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, it became apparent from the questioning that a number of misconceptions...

By Barbara McQuade and Joyce White Vance

Why the Mueller Report Shouldn't Be the Final Word on Trump, Russia and Obstruction of Justice

There is much that future investigations could still uncover

By Joyce White Vance
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