The Associated Press wrote a roundup of what policies at each federal department might face changes under President-elect Barack Obama. AP says the Justice Department will re-examine surveillance, interrogation, and detainee policies to see if any should be overturned or changed. Obama advisers say he may review new guidelines that could let the FBI investigate Americans in national security cases without evidence of a crime, based in part on their ethnicity or religion. He wants to create a senior position to coordinate all domestic intelligence gathering.
He has called for federal aid in hiring 50,000 new police officers nationwide. The administration is likely to urge Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard Act, which expands federal hate crime laws to include protections for people targeted because of their gender, sexual orientation or disabilities. Obama wants to eliminate disparity between sentencing guidelines for people convicted of crack cocaine crimes and those for powder cocaine. Penalties for crack cocaine offenses are much harsher, and the vast majority of those convicted are black.
Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation/elections/presidential/20081105