[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] announced his resignation [press release] from the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Thursday. Holder, appointed in February 2009, 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. In his remarks [text] on Holder’s resignation, US President Barack Obama [official website] said:

I chose [Holder] to serve as Attorney General because he believes, as I do, that justice is not just an abstract theory. It’s a living and breathing principle. It’s about how our laws interact with our daily lives. It’s about whether we can make an honest living, whether we can provide for our families; whether we feel safe in our own communities and welcomed in our own country; whether the words that the Founders set to paper 238 years ago apply to every single one of us and not just some.

Holder intends to remain in office [CNN report] until the next Attorney General is determined.

Holder has been a controversial figure in American politics, and an accomplished head of the DOJ. Earlier this month 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 this month 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 for a legislative measure that would reduce the sentences of nonviolent drug offenders [JURIST report] in federal prisons.