The Obama administration has asked for a fresh review of an Alabama federal inmate's commutation request and directed the Justice Department to conduct its first ever in-depth analysis of recommendations for presidential pardons, according to several officials and individuals involved.

Lauren Berns was browsing Talking Points Memo when he saw an ad with President Obama's face. "Stop the Reckless Spending," the ad read, and in smaller print, Paid for by Crossroads GPS.

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Paulette Beale shakes her head at the suggestion, then flashes a contagious smile. "It's still history," she says, to rebut the notion there could be less intensity for President Barack Obama in the African-American community the second time around.

OAKLAND – Marianna, who looks older than her 42 years and talks in the rapid-fire, high-pitched staccato of someone who has spent years on crack -- along with heroin and alcohol, those were her drugs of choice -- vividly recalled her then 5-year-old daughter witnessing one of her many arrests.

(CNN) -- The use of military Special Operations Forces has been a proven success in Iraq, Afghanistan and -- with last year's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound -- in Pakistan, but that success has some people concerned. Will the forces become the tool of choice for a president?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional Republicans told a top Justice official Thursday his department is wrong to fight state voter ID laws and that the government needs to do more to ensure people serving abroad in the military are able to vote.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNN) -- A large majority of black and Hispanic Americans identify as both "pro-life" and "pro-choice" when it comes to abortion, according to a survey released Thursday.

PHOENIX (AP) -- When Joe Arpaio, the tough-talking Arizona law enforcement official, found himself in the awkward position of having his own words used against him in a discrimination lawsuit, the usually brash sheriff was unusually quiet.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Eight employees of the management division of the Justice Department violated laws and regulations by seeking to have their relatives hired for high-level jobs in the department, or ignored evidence of such violations, according to an inspector general's report released Thursday.

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced an initiative he said will give African-American students greater access "to a complete and competitive education from the time they're born all through the time they get a career."