[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] formally nominated Loretta Lynch on Saturday to serve as the next attorney general. Obama urged the US Senate [official website] to confirm her nomination quickly, though it is unclear whether Congress would confirm her nomination during its current session or wait until January when the new session begins. If confirmed, Lynch will be the first African-American woman to hold the position of attorney general. In his announcement, Obama praised Lynch’s accomplishment as an attorney, as well as her “commitment to equal justice under the law.” Current Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation in September. Holder was the first African-American to hold the position of Attorney General in the US and has had one of the longest terms as Attorney General. Holder announced that he would continue to hold office until the selection of the next attorney general. Lynch served as chairwoman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, upon Holder’s appointment.

Holder has been a controversial figure in American politics, and an accomplished head of the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website]. In September Holder argued before the Thirty-Ninth Annual Convention of the Hispanic National Bar Association [official website] that migrant children who come across the border unaccompanied should have legal representation [JURIST report]. Also in September Holder announced the opening of an investigation by the DOJ [JURIST report] to determine whether Ferguson, Missouri police officials have systematically violated the US Constitution or federal law, especially in the weeks leading up to and following the death of Michael Brown. Under Holder’s leadership the DOJ in August secured a $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America [JURIST report] to settle claims that it sold precarious mortgage-backed securities to investors. In June the DOJ and Holder announced support [JURIST report] for a legislative measure that would reduce the sentences of nonviolent drug offenders in federal prisons.