# O107 - 1879 6c Bluish Purple, Department of Justice, Lincoln, Soft Paper
1879 6¢ Lincoln
Official Stamp – Justice
Department Of Justice Established
The position of Attorney General was created through the Judiciary Act of 1789 as a part-time job to advise the President and Congress on legal matters. Officially, it was the Attorney General’s job “to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments.”
As early as 1830 there were calls to make the Attorney General’s office a full-time position. Then, in 1867, Congressman William Lawrence of the House Committee on the Judiciary suggested a law department run by the Attorney General that included department solicitors and U.S. attorneys. The following year, on February 19, 1868, Lawrence brought a bill before Congress to create the Department of Justice. However, he was preoccupied with the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and was unable to devote his time to the bill.
The Department of Justice seal includes the Latin motto Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur. Historians don’t know where the phrase came from or when it first appeared on the seal. Its translation has been a matter of discussion for Latin scholars. Most agree it refers to the district attorney and means, “who prosecutes on behalf of justice (or the Lady Justice).”
1879 6¢ Lincoln
Official Stamp – Justice
Department Of Justice Established
The position of Attorney General was created through the Judiciary Act of 1789 as a part-time job to advise the President and Congress on legal matters. Officially, it was the Attorney General’s job “to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments.”
As early as 1830 there were calls to make the Attorney General’s office a full-time position. Then, in 1867, Congressman William Lawrence of the House Committee on the Judiciary suggested a law department run by the Attorney General that included department solicitors and U.S. attorneys. The following year, on February 19, 1868, Lawrence brought a bill before Congress to create the Department of Justice. However, he was preoccupied with the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and was unable to devote his time to the bill.
The Department of Justice seal includes the Latin motto Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur. Historians don’t know where the phrase came from or when it first appeared on the seal. Its translation has been a matter of discussion for Latin scholars. Most agree it refers to the district attorney and means, “who prosecutes on behalf of justice (or the Lady Justice).”