One clear task for the next president will be to repair the integrity of the Justice Department. Among other things, the department has taken pains to justify torture. In perhaps its most nagging scandal, some U.S. attorneys were apparently used to punish political foes of the Bush administration. Now, hiring practices have come under the lens. Investigators recently found that political backgrounds were illegally taken into account to staff the special honors and summer-internship programs. The highly sought positions typically attract candidates with stellar credentials. But, according to the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General and its Office of Professional Responsibility, numerous highly qualified applicants were rejected simply because they did not appear conservative enough.

While some jobs in the department (attorney general, for instance) do go to political appointees, hiring career lawyers on the basis of their views violates civil-service laws, as well as Justice Department rules. In the past, career lawyers chose people for the honors and internship programs. But in 2002, then-Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft gave political appointees a role in screening new hires. One, Esther Slater McDonald, came to the job straight from law school. She voted against candidates who used “buzzwords” such as “environmental justice” and “social justice.”

Among those sent packing were a man who graduated first in his class at Georgetown Law Center and clerked for an appellate judge; a Harvard Law graduate who had done work for Planned Parenthood; another Ivy-League law school graduate who belonged to the Civil Liberties-minded Council on American-Islamic Relations. Sean Gerlich, who applied to the Justice Department with glowing recommendations but was turned down, is suing, and hopes others will join him.

The investigators’ report, released late last month, is just one in a series of expected internal reviews. Others will focus on the questionable firings of several U.S. attorneys and on doings in the Civil Rights Division.

The department’s improper hiring practices appeared to spike in 2006, after Alberto Gonzales became attorney general. He has since resigned, as has Monica Goodling, an aide who testified last year that she may have crossed the line in sifting through applicants for career positions. We are well rid of both.

Michael B. Mukasey, President Bush’s third and current attorney general, says hiring practices have been revamped to preclude political interference. But Mr. Mukasey’s tendency thus far has been to shield the president and the Justice Department from unwelcome questions. His promises are not exactly reassuring. We look forward to a full accounting of the department’s activities under the next president, and to a much-needed return to professionalism.