By Ian Kea

After six years as Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder has called it quits, and will leave office once a successor is chosen, according to CNN. His legacy will be marked as an activist, a reformer who encountered all spectrums of his job from political confrontations on criminal, legal and policy subjects.

Holder has been praised and criticized time and time again, considered a progressive champion on some issues while disregarding others, such as fourth amendment protection.

He leaves behind one of the most progressive LGBTQ rights reforms by any Attorney General to date. His actions led to the June 2013 Supreme Court ruling that struck down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act requiring the federal government to deny recognition of legal same-sex marriages. His actions off the ruling against DOMA have led to a state-by-state campaign of same-sex marriage bans being lifted.

His main reasoning against DOMA is the equal protection clause, found in the 14th amendment of the constitution according to CBS News. It protects everyone with equal rights and protection under the law regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. His accomplishments on the federal level have also led to organizations such as the Freedom to Marry Campaign challenging marriage rulings in states that ban same-sex marriage. In Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin the courts have ruled in favor of Freedom to Marry, according to CNN.

Holder has also been on the forefront in the fight against restrictive state voting laws in states such as Texas and North Carolina, where more identification is required to vote, and have earlier and shorter voter registration timelines which discourage citizens, especially minorities, from voting. The Justice Department under Holder sued Texas over its new voter ID laws, and is also involved in a federal hearing against North Carolina’s restrictive voter registration timeline, according to CNN. This proves that the government will protect minorities, which is the principal of our constitution.

With harder drugs hitting the streets in America, Holder also acknowledged that marijuana is the least of the department of Justice, as well as the DEA’s, problems. As we saw with Washington and Colorado who have legalized recreational use of marijuana, crime rates have dropped. The economy has received a great boost in the private and public sectors, according to entrepreneur.com, and not having to deal with as many inmates in an already crowded prison system. Although not as progressive as Colorado and Washington, Holder set a precedent when he called for less harsh sentences for marijuana and non-violent related offenses. This led to more states considering the possibility of legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. Holder’s marijuana stance will stand as the first step in the decline of the war on weed.

Although Holder has done a lot to improve our legal system in the civil rights and social justice area’s he still leaves behind a clout of mist.

Holder was unsuccessful in shutting down Guantanamo Bay prison, which has had many violations of human rights. He also has been inconsistent with his handling of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives along with the Department of Justice, as seen with the Fast and Furious scandal.

In 2005 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched Operation Fast and Furious out of Arizona to tag and track weapon purchases by drug cartels. Over time the agency lost approximately 1,000 weapons due to straw purchasing and the weapons got across the border, and two of those lost weapons turned up at the scene of the 2010 killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, which put Holder accountable for a lack of organization and control over his own agency.

His major flaws do not end with Fast and Furious, but also include his lack of protection for the fourth amendment. The Obama administration promised to take down many parts of the Patriot Act, which allowed for government wiretapping. Yet the administration was proven hypocritical when American hero Edward Snowden, an NSA contractor, released data that made the public aware of the colossal scale of the U.S. government’s wiretapping practices.

Holder’s legacy is one of accomplishments and demoralizing attempts. Overall, he accomplished much more than Attorneys General before him. His social justice and civil rights precedents will lead the way for a more progressive, inclusive and prosperous America, but constitutional protections for the individual will be left for battle by the next Democratic administration in 2016.