Department of Justice official Brad Schlozman -- who currently serves as Associate Counsel to the Director, in the Executive Office for United States Attorneys -- is about to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His testimony is part of a panel entitled "Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?"

Maybe we'll tune in, at least for a few minutes; but we don't expect to watch the entire proceedings. Brad Schlozman is no Monica Goodling. And we can barely pronounce his last name.

On Friday night, in preparation for today's session, the DOJ's Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) sent the Republican members of the committee a list of proposed "softball" or friendly questions for Schlozman. This question caught our eye:

Clevenger, you may recall, has raised allegations about the politicization of hiring at Main Justice. But he may be best known to ATL readers as a source for stories about that delicious DOJ diva, Shanetta Cutlar (about whom we've heard nothing new, sadly).

By the way, in case you're wondering, question #5 wasn't well-received by GOP staffers on Capitol Hill. We hear that the Republican staffers "are offended that DOJ expects them to do its political dirty work."

We are favorably disposed towards former Justice Department lawyer Ty Clevenger. We owe him a debt of gratitude, since he's the person who first told us about Shanetta Cutlar -- the crazy-ass colorful chief of the DOJ's Special Litigation Section, and one of our favorite people to write about here at ATL.

Now Ty Clevenger is making waves once again -- and some of you aren't sure if it's all that favorable. Several of you emailed us about his latest exploits. This message is representative:

Ty Clevenger is in the news again, this time making accusations about the politicization of the hiring process at the DOJ. See here and here.

Between his law school activities, Shanetta Cutlar, and this, he's beginning to look like a little tattletale to me....

Tattletale? Or, more charitably, a person of great honesty and integrity (perhaps too much for his own good)? Or, more cynically, a shameless seeker of attention?

We don't know Clevenger personally, so we won't opine. But the truth probably lies somewhere in between. Many great whisteblowers throughout history have had mixed motivations -- such as a desire for the truth to come to light, and a desire for personal fame and/or fortune.

But we can say this. If we ever hang out with Ty Clevenger, we sure as hell won't jaywalk with him by our side. Or try to sneak through the express lane at the supermarket with more than 15 items.

Congress probes allegations of politicized hiring [CNN]
Congress considers broadening Justice Department inquiry [McClatchy]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Ty Clevenger (scroll down)

Ty Clevenger, a former attorney in the Special Litigation Section ("SPL") of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, is the one who got the ball rolling with respect to colorful anecdotes about Shanetta Cutlar, the charismatic and strong-willed chief of the Section.

Clevenger sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty raising concerns about Cutlar's leadership of SPL. Shortly thereafter, Clevenger was effectively fired by Cutlar the next day.

As for Clevenger's letter, the DAG assigned it to Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, for a response. Earlier this month, Clevenger received the following from Wan Kim:

Letters to McDonald's, complaining about insufficient mintiness in Shamrock Shakes,* receive responses evincing greater concern.

Now we understand why Shanetta Cutlar was comfortable enough in her position to wear a tiara to a recent meeting of DOJ section chiefs. We predict she will remain in power at SPL long after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has left the building (which may not be saying much -- but you get our point).

* Yes, Shamrock Shakes are back! We enjoyed one in Miami earlier this week.

We feel like we're running an online group therapy session. Pretty much every week, another ex-employee of the Justice Department's Special Litigation Section (SPL) writes in to us, so he or she can vent their justifiable frustrations whine about the horrific challenging experience of working under super-diva Shanetta Y. Cutlar. Writing in to ATL seems to be a therapeutic experience for these people.

As we mentioned yesterday, one former SPL employee sent us a copy of their completed exit survey. We reprint it after the jump. But first, here's an introduction to what you're about to read:

I quit SPL largely because of Shanetta's mismanagement of the section. I'm attaching a copy I kept of my exit survey -- though some of the fields did not print in full, and I redacted some fields to remove info related to my personal identity.

Feel free to post any portions you'd like.... You might want to consider submitting a FOIA request for a full copy of this and any other exit surveys or other information related to evaluations / criticisms of Shanetta if you haven't already done so.

In addition to the written exit survey, I had an exit interview with the front office when I left (which was over two years ago), and I stressed the issues people were having with Shanetta during that interview. So the front office has been aware of the issues with her at least since then, if not earlier.

Interesting. According to this tipster, the folks in the "front office" -- i.e., the DOJ powers-that-be -- have been aware of Shanetta Cutlar's distinctive management style for quite some time.

Fortunately, they have had the wisdom to leave well enough alone -- despite complaints from folks who just aren't up to the task of enforcing our nation's civil rights laws. May Shanetta Cutlar reign forever over the Special Litigation Section!!!

Excerpts from this disgruntled lawyer's exit questionnaire, after the jump.

We're so excited. Our girlfriend SYC has made the big leagues!

Shanetta Y. Cutlar, the successful and high-powered lawyer who oversees the Justice Department's Special Litigation Section, is the subject of an article in today's Legal Times. We're praised her profusely in these pages; but we're glad that she's finally getting her due in the mainstream media.

Some excerpts:

Ty Clevenger, 37, a former Washington Times reporter and line attorney in the section who was fired in October, has accused veteran Section Chief Shanetta Cutlar of being "abusive toward attorneys and support staff," specifically those hired by Schlozman.

Among Clevenger's allegations: Secretaries were ordered not to assist him with an eight-hour typing project, another attorney was publicly berated for using a paper clip rather than a binder clip on a document, and an intern was reprimanded for not greeting Cutlar while passing her in the hallway.

In his whistleblower complaint, Clevenger included a copy of a statement by the intern, Deborah Meiners, 24, to a DOJ ombudsman about the hallway incident.

"I did get the sense that this was a common occurrence," says Meiners, now a third-year law student, of her treatment.

For those of you who have been wondering if Shanetta Cutlar is aware of her newfound celebrity, the answer is probably yes -- now that the Legal Times has contacted her office for comment:

Cutlar's office referred questions to a DOJ spokeswoman, who issued a statement saying the department is looking into the allegations.

Interesting. Does anyone know what "looking into the allegations" entails?

Is the DOJ conducting a full-blown internal investigation of SPL? Or is it just AAG Wan Kim getting on the phone to Shanetta and saying, "This is all silliness that I don't need to pay attention to, right?"

We hope the latter. As we've previously pointed out, Shanetta Cutlar is just doing her job -- and exceptionally well, at that. We hope that a bunch of whiners and crybabies don't interfere with SYC's longstanding efforts to vindicate federal civil rights laws on behalf of the disabled, prisoners, and other groups who can't stand up for themselves.

To Shanetta Cutlar: Congratulations on your shout-out in the Legal Times!

Whistleblower Complaint Filed Against DOJ Civil Rights Division [Legal Times]

We like to keep things light around here. As far as we're concerned, pretty much everything is entertainment. And if it's not, then we're not interested in covering it.

This is the spirit in which we've been writing about Shanetta Cutlar, the amusingly idiosyncratic chief of the Justice Department's Special Litigation Section (SPL). But we're getting concerned that the story might take a more serious turn.

Here are two things we've heard lately:

1. The mainstream media, in the form of the Legal Times, is sniffing around the story. They may be interested in covering it.

2. Staffers from the House Judiciary Committee have contacted Ty Clevenger, the former DOJ lawyer who initially blew the whistle on La Shanetta. They may be conducting further investigation into goings-on over at SPL.

Covering the shenanigans of Shanetta has been great fun. We sincerely hope that the MSM and the House Judiciary Committee don't hijack this story and turn it into some sober expose about DOJ abuses of power. Yawn.

We steer the discussion back in the direction of frivolity and fun, after the jump.

Amidst all of the hoopla over associate pay raises and Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell, some of you have requested updates about Shanetta Y. Cutlar. We're happy to report that we have some new material for you.

(For those of you who are new to ATL, Shanetta Cutlar is the deliciously imperious, ruler-wielding diva who heads the Special Litigation Section, in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. To get a sense of Shanetta Cutlar, in case you haven't read our prior coverage of her, see here, here, or here.)

We hope that Shanetta Cutlar has been pleased by our coverage of her -- 'cause if she's not, she might put a curse on us. Here's the latest tip about her:

Those who worship together, work together. Principal Deputy Tammie Gregg, who was promoted by Shanetta, as well as the Supervisor of the Investigators, whom Shanetta refers to as her "spiritual advisor," all attend the same Church. Both were promoted over others more experienced than they, and obviously for their personal connection to Shanetta.

Shanetta is very superstitious. She had her office "excised" of evil spirits and ill will toward her, as evidenced by the cross etched faintly, in some sort of oil, on the upper right hand corner of her door. Most recently, an escapee [from the Section] said she told them that she was "gathering her protections."

"Gathering her protections"? Boy are we f***ed.

(But not as much as Ty Clevenger, the whistleblower who first brought Shanetta Cutlar to the public eye. We hear that Shanetta has a voodoo doll of him in her desk drawer, which she abuses regularly with a staple gun.)

Earlier: Prior coverage of the Special Litigation Section under Shanetta Cutlar (scroll down)

In light of our non-stop coverage of (1) Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell and (2) the Special Litigation Section under Shanetta Cutlar, we found the timing of this New York Times article -- "Help, I'm Surrounded By Jerks" -- to be rather uncanny. Not surprisingly, it's currently the "Most E-mailed Article" on the NYT website.

Law schools figure prominently in the growing field of "jerk research":

Next month the Career and Professional Development Center at Duke Law School will for the first time offer a workshop called Dealing With Conflict and Difficult People. In September the negotiation program in Harvard Law School’s executive education series will present a seminar called Dealing With Difficult People and Difficult Situations.

Who says law schools don't prepare their students for the "real world"?

Of course, most law schools don't need to offer "workshops" for dealing with pricks. Students learn these lessons through practice -- by dealing with professors.

Disclaimer: Please do not interpret this post as our taking sides in either Charney v. S&C or Shanettagate. Consider this provocative quote from the article (emphases added): "[S]ome scholars say, the problem is not the difficult people themselves. IT IS YOU."

Furthermore, reasonable minds can differ over who is the "jerk" in a particular situation. The article mentions "[t]he explosive boss" as one example of a jerk, but it also cites "the Complainer, the Whiner and the Sniper" as jerkly archetypes. So the S&C partners might argue that Aaron Charney is a "jerk," or Shanetta Cutlar might label Ty Clevenger as a "jerk."

Help, I’m Surrounded by Jerks [New York Times]

Or MySpace. Or Facebook. So we can only speculate as to what her "Hobbies and Interests" are -- in addition to terrorizing summer interns, rifling through employees' desks, and vigorously enforcing the use of binder clips over paper clips (allegedly).

But Shanetta Cutlar's erstwhile nemesis in the DOJ's Special Litigation Section, Ty Clevenger, does have a bare-bones Friendster profile. It's not terribly exciting -- we learn that he's 37, and from Texas -- but here it is, for what it's worth:

One of you wondered what Ty is up to these days, since Cutlar forced him out of the Section. Clevenger informs us:

"I'm moving back to Texas and opening my own practice. Mostly civil, including civil rights, and maybe a little appellate and criminal. I figured if I was going to work for a jerk, it might as well be me."

It takes guts to hang up your own shingle and start a solo practice. We admire the young lawyers who are brave enough to do it. So even though our heart will always belong to Shanetta Y. Cutlar, we wish Ty Clevenger the best of luck with his new venture.

P.S. We have invited Shanetta Cutlar to join Friendster:

If she sets up a profile, you'll be the first to know about it.

Ty Clevenger [Friendster]

Earlier: Prior coverage of the Special Litigation Section under Shanetta Cutlar (scroll down)

* Over at the Justice Department, the bad-ass Shanetta Cutlar, Chief of the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division, takes no prisoners.

* Not even summer interns can escape her wrath.

* But hey, at least they get to go back to school. Full-time attorneys can escape only by leaving the Section -- provided that Shanetta doesn't get to them first.

* Speaking of job changes, meet your new White House counsel: Fred Fielding, of Wiley Rein & Fielding (who served as White House counsel under President Reagan).

* Next time you go out for pizza, leave the corporate lawyers at home.

* Pentagon official Charles Stimson doesn't like how Guantanamo Bay detainees are getting pro bono representation from some of the country's top law firms. Don't they have better things to be doing with their pro bono time?

* Michael Nifong manages a Houdini-like escape from the debacle known as the Duke lacrosse team rape case.

* Celebrity law professors Noah Feldman and Jeannie Suk, whom you have just dubbed Feldsuk, have a really nice house.

* But not as nice as the $7 million mansion of patent lawyer Donald Stout (aerial view at right).

* Federal judicial nominees: Out with the old, in with the new.

* Chief Judge Michael Boudin (1st Cir.): You like him, you really like him.

* Maybe it's because he's such a big feeder judge. Interestingly enough, though, he has only placed one clerk so far at the Supreme Court for October Term 2007.*

(But Chief Judge Boudin feeds mostly to Justice Breyer and Justice Souter. The former isn't finished hiring yet, and the latter hasn't even started.)

Earlier this week, we shared with you what we've heard about Ty Clevenger and Shanetta Cutlar.

To recap, Clevenger was a lawyer in the Special Litigation Section of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. He worked under Cutlar, the Chief of the Section. We wrote:

[Clevenger] had some issues with Cutlar and how she ran the Section. Last fall, Clevenger sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty. Clevenger alleged that Cutlar -- whom he described as "extremely intelligent" and "very charming," but also "a Jekyll and Hyde personality" -- created an "atmosphere of fear and paranoia" within the Section.

On October 4, 2006, Ty Clevenger sent his letter to McNulty. Clevenger's office was searched overnight, and he was fired the next day. He is in the process of filing a whistleblower complaint.

This is what we had heard, from reliable sources; but it struck us as rather odd, almost fishy. It's just not consistent with what we know about federal government service. As a federal government lawyer, you can do all sorts of things -- e.g., write a saucy, pseudonymous judicial gossip blog -- and still part ways with your office voluntarily (and on good terms). In the rare cases when government lawyers are fired or asked to resign, events usually unfold at a glacial rather than breakneck pace (unless there is, say, compelling evidence of criminal conduct).

So we reached out to Ty Clevenger himself, by email. He happily responded to our questions. He verified the sequence of events: his sending of the letter to McNulty, followed almost immediately by his being asked to leave.

We asked Clevenger this question:

"Exactly how did the search of your office and the firing go down? It seems rather shocking for a government lawyer to be fired so quickly, especially after sending a letter of complaint to the DAG. It seems like basically a recipe for trouble for the people behind the firing."

Ty Clevenger's response to our query, after the jump.

Shanetta Y. Cutlar, Chief of the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, is a world-class diva. We have described Shanetta's shenangians here and here.

We worship imperious women like Shanetta Cutlar. But some of you are less warmly disposed towards her. Since we've started posting about her, we've received some interesting emails and comments from readers -- including current and former colleagues of Cutlar. See, e.g., these comments.

The list of people who have had some workplace exposure to Shanetta Cutlar grows longer and longer by the week. This is because the lawyers who work under her keep on leaving. The Special Litigation Section has more turnovers than a pastry shop.

Here are some things we've heard from tipsters (unconfirmed; if you see errors or have additions, please email us):

1. Morale is perilously low within the Special Litigation Section, and many attorneys desperately want out.

2. Last month, four attorneys left the Section -- including one who was there for less than three months. Two of the others had been there for a little over a year.

3. "Another attorney currently in SPL told the DOJ that she will leave [the Department] if she is not transferred out. She has been there for less than six months."

Goodness gracious. We agree with commenter Who Are These Babies: All of you Shanetta-haters need to just "[s]uck it up." If you ever leave the DOJ for a law firm, you will have to put up with Biglaw partners who are ten times worse than Shanetta.

SPL minions, heed the words of Nietzsche: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." The next time you pass her in the hallway, say a warm "hello" to Shanetta Cutlar -- and thank her for toughening you up.

Earlier: Prior coverage of the Special Litigation Section under Shanetta Cutlar (scroll down)

Well knock us down with a feather redweld! The Justice Department's Shanetta Cutlar, yesterday's DOJ Diva of the Day, takes the prize for a second day in a row. Diva-licious!

In order to be a true DOJ Diva, you need to pick on "the little people." If you pick on people your own size, that's nothing -- just standard office politics. But if people far below you on the "org chart" wet themselves when you enter the room, then you know you're doing something right.

By this standard, Shanetta Cutlar excels. She instills fear in the most humble of God's creatures: summer interns.

In the summer of 2006, Deborah Meiners, a student at the University of Wisconsin Law School, interned in Cutlar's fiefdom -- the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division. And Little Debbie had some frightening run-ins with La Shanetta:

It gets better. Check out the rest of this poor intern's tale, after the jump.

Shanetta Cutlar heads the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. After we named her our DOJ Diva of the Day, a number of you asked for more information about her.

Who is Shanetta Cutlar? How long has she been at the Civil Rights Division? Where did she go to law school? And what's the origin of her distinctive first name?

We did a little research. Accessing PDF files can be a pain -- they take forever to launch, they slow down your machine, etc. -- but we'll do anything for our readers. So we opened up this PDF bio:

Shanetta Y. Cutlar is the Chief of the Special Litigation Section, U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Cutlar has worked in the Civil Rights Division since 1993. She served for over 2 years as a Special Counsel prior to becoming Chief. As Special Counsel, Mr. Cutlar led the team of attorneys and professionals handling the investigations of the Cincinnati, Detroit and Prince George's police departments.

In March 2003, Ms. Cutlar was appointed to the Chief position where she is responsible for supervising and overseeing the work of Section, involving health care facilities, prisons and jails, juvenile detention facilities and police misconduct. She is the first African-American woman to serve as a chief in 25 years, and the second in the history of the Civil Rights Division.

Ms. Cutlar is a graduate of California State University, Hayward and University of California at Los Angeles, Law School. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Ah, Shanetta's a sorority girl. No wonder she's so good at (allegedly) cultivating "an atmosphere of fear and paranoia." Those sorority girls are VICIOUS.

(A Google image search for Shanetta Cutlar comes up empty. But if you have pictures of Ms. Cutlar, or know where on the internet we can find some, please contact us.)

Shanetta Y. Cutlar bio (PDF) [U.S. Department of Justice]

Earlier: DOJ Diva of the Day: Shanetta Y. Cutlar

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department -- one of the DOJ's most important arms, charged with enforcing our nation's anti-discrimination laws -- has been experiencing some upheaval over the past few years. Several articles in the Washington Post have examined some of the conflicts within the division. See, e.g., here, here, and here.

We've learned that Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee may be taking a closer look at what's going on over at the Civil Rights Division. And when they do, some of their attention may focus on the Special Litigation Section, headed by Shanetta Y. Cutlar.

Here's an explanation of the Section's mission, from its website:

[The Section is] charged with enforcing federal civil rights statutes in four major areas: Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons, Conduct of Law Enforcement Agencies, Access to Reproductive Health Clinics and places of Religious Worship, and Religious Exercise of Institutionalized Persons. The Section undertakes investigations and litigation through the United States and its territories.

The Section Chief is Shanetta Cutlar, an award-winning litigatrix. And even though some attorneys and staff members have alleged that she's "abusive" -- what a subjective word! -- Cutlar is a woman after our own heart. There's nothing we love more than a high-powered female who takes charge of a situation and demands respect from her subordinates. We adore women in leadership roles who follow the teaching of Machiavelli: "[I]t is far safer to be feared than loved."

A former attorney in the Special Litigation Section, Ty Clevenger -- a Stanford Law grad and former law clerk to the highly esteemed Judge Morris Arnold (8th Cir.) -- had some issues with Cutlar and how she ran the Section. Last fall, Clevenger sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty. Clevenger alleged that Cutlar -- whom he described as "extremely intelligent" and "very charming," but also "a Jekyll and Hyde personality" -- created an "atmosphere of fear and paranoia" within the Section.

On October 4, 2006, Ty Clevenger sent his letter to McNulty. Clevenger's office was searched overnight, and he was fired the next day. He is in the process of filing a whistleblower complaint.

Here's the first page of Clevenger's letter to the DAG:

There's more. Juicy details about La Shanetta's alleged behavior are described in the rest of Ty Clevenger's letter. The letter has been distributed to all the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee (with supporting documentation).

We reprint the entire Clevenger letter, which a source helpfully leaked provided to us, after the jump.