The Accomplishments of the Department of Justice 2001-2009
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U.S. Department of Jusice Office of the Attorney General The Accomplishments of the U.s. Department of Justice 2001-2009 The Accomplishments of the U.s. De pa rtment of Justic e 2001-2009 I. Executive Summary he mission of the Department of Justice is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide Tfederal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. From 2001 to 2009, the Department has fulfilled that mission and advanced the interests of justice and the rights of the American people. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Department made combating terrorism its top priority. This shift required a significant revision to the Department’s structures, polices and procedures and a sub stantial investment of resources. Most significant were the creation of a separate National Security Division and the FBI’s efforts to transform itself from primarily a law enforcement agency into a law enforcement and domestic intelligence agency. In 2006 the Department set up the National Security Division, a new com ponent tasked with leading the Department’s efforts to combat terrorism. As part of that reorganization, the Department launched an extensive effort to prosecute threats to national security as soon as the law, evidence and circumstances permitted. In addition, between Fiscal Year 2001 and FY 2008, the FBI’s budget roughly doubled, allowing for large increases in the number of intelligence analysts and language analysts, and increasing the use of special initiatives such as Joint Terrorism Task Forces. As a result of these efforts, numer ous domestic and international terrorist plots were disrupted and many of the people involved were prose cuted and sent to prison, including Richard Reid (the “shoe bomber”), Zacarias Moussaoui and Jose Padilla. Another top priority of the Department over the past eight years was combating violent crime. This priori ty included targeting gun crimes, dismantling gangs, disrupting drug trafficking and protecting children from sexual exploitation. The Department made strides in each of these areas. For example, since the inception of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative approximately eight years ago, the Department has more than doubled the number of gun crime prosecutions when compared to the previous eight years. Recognizing that our nation faced an epidemic of technology-assisted exploitation crimes targeting children, the Department launched Project Safe Childhood in 2006. As a result, federal child sexual exploitation charges increased by 33 percent between FY 2006 and FY 2008. The Department also maintained its overall drug prosecution rate, successfully targeting and prosecuting the manufacturing and distribution of drugs such as metham phetamine. These measures and others, all of which have emphasized cooperation with the Department's state and local law enforcement partners, contributed to violent crime rates near a 30-year low. The Department has made a significant effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. Working with other agencies in the executive branch, the Department has obtained approximately 1,300 convictions, including more than 200 corporate chief executives or presidents, more than 120 vice presidents and more ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE i 2001-2009 I. Executive Summary than 50 chief financial officers, at corporations including WorldCom, Adelphia and Enron. The Department also focused on investigating and prosecuting fraud associated with the dispersion of federal money. In par ticular, the Department established a National Procurement Fraud task force and focused its efforts on areas such as Medicare spending, defense procurement connected to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and gov ernment aid following hurricanes and other natural disasters. Since 2001, the Department’s suits against vio lators of the nation's antitrust, tax and environmental laws have resulted in record fines. The Department launched new enforcement initiatives to enforce civil rights laws, including investigations into housing discrimination and human trafficking, and a concerted effort to combat a backlash against Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South-Asian Americans following 9/11. Substantial efforts were made to protect religious liberties and the rights of America's service members, the disabled, women and other protected groups. With respect to elections and the voting process, the Civil Rights Division brought record numbers of cases under the language minority provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and expanded the use of federal moni tors and observers to ensure ballot access and integrity. Over the past eight years, the Department has amassed a strong record of accomplishment. The work of law enforcement touches all aspects of American life, and the dedicated men and women of the Department work hard on behalf of the American people. The appendices that follow lay out in greater detail those accom plishments and the results, and extent, of that hard work. Taken together, the Department’s record is one of which all Americans can and should be proud. ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ii 2001-2009 II. Table of Contents I. Executive summary......................................................................................................................................i II. Table of contents ....................................................................................................................................iii III. Litigating Division Accomplishments ....................................................................................................1 Antitrust Division................................................................................................................................1 Civil Division ....................................................................................................................................11 Civil Rights Division ........................................................................................................................21 Criminal Division..............................................................................................................................28 Environment and Natural Resources Division ..................................................................................43 National Security Division ................................................................................................................53 Office of the Solicitor General ..........................................................................................................63 Tax Division ......................................................................................................................................65 IV. Law Enforcement Component Accomplishments..................................................................................71 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - ATF ............................................................71 Drug Enforcement Administration - DEA ........................................................................................77 Federal Bureau of Investigation - FBI ................................................................................................88 Federal Bureau of Prisons - BOP ....................................................................................................101 U.S. Marshals Service -USMS ........................................................................................................107 ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE iii 2001-2009 II. Table of Contents V. Special Initiatives ..................................................................................................................................119 Intellectual Property Task Force ......................................................................................................119 President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force ..........................................................................................123 Project Safe Childhood....................................................................................................................128 Project Safe Neighborhoods ............................................................................................................131 Rule of Law (Operation Iraqi Freedom) ..........................................................................................134 VI. Administrative, Policy and Other Accomplishments ..........................................................................143 Community Oriented Policing Services - COPS ............................................................................143 Community Relations Service ........................................................................................................149 Executive Office for Immigration Review........................................................................................150 Justice Management Division ..........................................................................................................150 National Drug Intelligence Center ..................................................................................................152 Office of Federal