Today, the Justice Department announces initiatives to commemorate National Disability Awareness month.

The Civil Rights Division will join the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in holding town hall meetings in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans, to share information about the proposed ADA Amendments Act regulations and to gather comments on them. These town hall’s will consist of two sessions – one for disability advocates and one for the employer community. These sessions will be completed by November 20th.

Additionally, the Civil Rights Division will release a video produced by its Disability Rights Section that will identify and respond to a number of common myths held by employers about workers with disabilities.

This announcement comes on the occasion of Thomas E. Perez’s return to the Justice Department as Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. Here is AAG Perez’s statement on the occasion:

“The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that the millions of Americans with disabilities are able to live full, productive lives through access to employment and all aspects of civic life. Unfortunately, myths and falsehoods about disabilities make it far too difficult for many individuals with disabilities to secure a job. The Justice Department today renews its vigilance to fairly and judiciously enforcing federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of a disability. By protecting the rights of all individuals so that they can contribute to our society, we strengthen our communities and our nation as a whole. I am honored to join President Obama to commemorate National Disability Employment Awareness Month on the occasion of my return to the Justice Department.”

For more information, visit the Department of Labor’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month Web site.

AAG Breuer testifies before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee regarding human rights violators. Photograph by Eli Rosenbaum for The Department of Justice

Today, Lanny A. Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law about how the Department works to hold human rights violators accountable for their crimes.  He also outlined plans to enhance these efforts by merging two sections of the Criminal Division.

At the onset, AAG Breuer outlined ways in which the Department brings human rights violators to justice.  The first starts at our borders, where we work with the Department of Homeland Security to prevent these perpetrators from entering our country.  If a suspect has entered the country, and we can’t prosecute them in our own courts, we seek to capture and extradite them so they can stand trial abroad.  Finally, when evidence implicates someone in genocide, war crimes, torture or other human rights violations, the federal government moves swiftly to investigate and take the appropriate legal action.

For example, AAG Breuer highlighted the prosecution of Roy M. Belfast aka “Chuckie Taylor,” the first person charged with violating the U.S. stature prohibiting torture.  Federal prosecutors proved that Belfast, who was born in the United States and is the son of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, commanded a Liberian paramilitary organization that routinely and brutally tortured their enemies.  In January 2009, Belfast was sentenced to 97 years in prison. 

Immigration litigation is another powerful tool to bring human rights violators to justice. In May 2009, former Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk was removed to Germany. Upon arrival in Germany, Demjanjuk was arrested and charged with having been an accessory to the murder of more than 29,000 Jews at a concentration camp.

Breuer noted that while the Department is proud of its efforts to prosecute human rights violators and build global capacity to address these atrocities, he said the Department can and will do more to pursue justice and achieve deterrence in these cases. 

Specifically, he announced he has recommended to the Attorney General that the Department’s already outstanding efforts in the area of human rights would be enhanced by a merger of the Criminal Division’s Domestic Security Section and the Office of Special Investigation into a new section with responsibility for human rights enforcement, MEJA/SMTJ cases, and alien-smuggling and related matters.  That new section would be called the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. 

AAG Breuer testified that the Attorney General has indicated his support for this change and the Department’s strong commitment to enforcing human rights, and he expects to move forward with it, after necessary approvals from the Office of Management and Budget and notifications to Congress.     

Holding human rights violators accountable is integral to the Department’s mission, and requires close coordination and cooperation throughout the federal government and with our law enforcement partners abroad.  AAG Breuer and the entire Criminal Division are committed to strengthening the rule of law and foster respect for human rights both here in the United States and around the world.

Read AAG Breuer’s full testimony. (PDF)

Today, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services re-launched StopMedicareFraud.gov.

StopMedicareFraud.gov provides information about Medicare Fraud and information on how you can protect yourself from fraud or abuse. It provides ways for victims to report fraud and abuse. It also allows individuals with first-hand knowledge of wasteful spending or criminal activity to report it to the proper authorities. 

Widespread health care fraud has caused health care costs for Americans to skyrocket. That’s why HEAT - Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team - is hard at work to root out fraud and save us money.  Officials at the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services use state-of-the-art technology to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and to crack down on fraudulent schemes that cost tax payers billions of dollars. 

Stopmedicarefraud.gov is an extension of HEAT. HEAT is currently hard at work in South Florida, Houston, Detroit and Los Angeles.  In 2008, the multi-agency enforcement groups known as Medicare Fraud Strike Forces secured 588 criminal convictions; obtained 337 civil administrative actions against individuals and organizations who were committing Medicare fraud, and recovered more than a $1 billion in health care fraud monies under the False Claims Act.  To date, in fiscal year 2009, The Department of Justice has already recovered nearly a billion dollars in health care fraud monies and recorded 300 convictions. 

 We expect more success to come.  President Obama’s 2010 budget for Health and Human Services contains funding for anti-fraud efforts over five years. It invests $311 million to strengthen program integrity in Medicare and Medicaid, with particular emphasis on greater oversight of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug programs. We estimate $2.7 billion could be saved by improving oversight, and stopping fraud and abuse within the Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug programs.

 For more information visit about health care fraud and how you can help, visit StopMedicareFraud.gov

Today, the Attorney General spoke at the Annual Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, an organization made up of over 20,000 police executives from international, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Paying tribute to the work of these brave men and women, the Attorney General said:

As Attorney General, I have traveled our country and watched many of you in action, and I have personally witnessed the dramatic results of your daunting tasks. I have seen your efforts manifested in children who are learning in safer schools; in teenagers who now have a park or a project or a basketball court to help them stay on course; in senior citizens who are unafraid to sit on their porch or to walk to the grocery store; and in neighborhoods that have been reclaimed from drugs, violence, and despair.

All of these experiences have only confirmed what I have known to be true throughout my career as a prosecutor, as a judge, and as a Department of Justice official: you, our police chiefs and the officers who serve under your command, are guardians of the democracy we cherish. Your courage and unwavering dedication help ensure that Americans are free to safely enjoy the blessings of liberty that our Constitution promises to all.

To be sure, your dedication has been sorely tested. Faced with a battered economy that has provided twin challenges – joblessness on the streets, and budget cuts in the precincts – the work of law enforcement officers has never been harder. And so, during this era of challenges, it is our profound duty to band together, to work together, to struggle together, and to support one another in every way possible.

Accordingly, I have come to Denver today with one simple message from Washington: “We got your back.”

The Attorney General also highlighted several recent efforts to support law enforcement including:

• $4 billion in the American Recovery Act to support criminal justice efforts, including $120 million to rural areas, funds for officer training and safety measures, homicide clearance, and the implementation of evidence-based approaches as well as money to support multi-jurisdictional drug task forces, technology programs, and basic bread-and-butter needs like police cruisers and office equipment
• An April law enforcement summit held in Washington to identify key priorities and examine lessons learned from ongoing initiavtives
• A conference with our partners in the Department of Homeland Security and elsewhere that focused on how we can better work together at the local level by supporting such efforts as fusion centers that help break down the barriers to information-sharing that have been allowed to hinder our efforts for far too long
• The White House Conference on Gang Violence Prevention and Crime Control that brought together mayors, police chiefs, and other criminal justice leaders from around the country to share examples of ground-breaking innovations to address age-old problems like youth violence, guns, drugs, and gangs.

These are just some of the steps taken in recent months to support and enhance law enforcement efforts to keep Americans safe.

Noting the recent multi-agency, coordinated investigation in New York and Colorado that disrupted an alleged terrorist plot to detonate explosives inside the United States, the Attorney General renewed his commitment to provide law enforcement officers with the tools and expertise necessary to keep America safe as they do their part in the fight against terrorism.

For in the end, the safety of our nation’s citizens lies in your hands — and in the hands of your officers.

You, the servants of the public good, are sometimes called the thin blue line. This label conveys a sense that only a fragile barrier separates chaos from order; violence from tranquility. And yet, I know that nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, you may be too few in number, but you make up for that deficiency in grit, resolve, and determination. The thin blue line that keeps our nation lawful, that keeps our nation hopeful, that keeps our nation peaceful, isn’t fragile — it’s made from the finest, toughest material I know of – the men and women of local law enforcement. That knowledge makes me proud to serve with you as Attorney General, and I can assure you that it provides great inspiration and comfort to each and every American.

And so, chiefs, thank you for everything you do. And most especially, thank you for answering the call of duty, and thank you for so courageously serving the public good.

You can read the full speech, here.

Welcome to the new Justice.gov. If you’re a regular visitor to our site, you’ll notice some changes today. If you are joining us for the first time, welcome.

The Department of Justice launches Justice.gov today in an effort to increase openness and transparency in government. Utilizing a variety of online tools, we will be able to share news and information, not just on our own web site, but through popular social networks Twitter, YouTube and MySpace and Facebook. The Justice presence on these social networks will allow Americans to interact with the Department in entirely new ways.

The new Justice.gov has incorporated more multimedia than ever before. You’ll find a photo gallery and video library that will be regularly updated with new content from across the Department of Justice. And of course, The Justice Blog will be a hub of information for the Department.

We are all excited by these new opportunities. Today’s launch is just the first step towards creating the most open, accessible and transparent Justice Department possible. We welcome your feedback about the new site and your ideas for the future.

The following post appears courtesy of the Office of Justice Programs.

In recent years, girls have become increasingly involved in the juvenile justice system. Delinquency caseloads over the past decade have increased more for girls than for boys, and the rate of detention for girls nationally has risen dramatically.

By 2004, girls accounted for 30 percent of juvenile arrests. In an effort to understand these trends and to determine appropriate interventions, OJP’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention convened the Girls Study Group, a team of multidisciplinary practitioners and researchers.

The Girls Study Group was created to provide a comprehensive research foundation for understanding, preventing, and responding to girls’ involvement in delinquency.

The Girls Study Group has compiled a searchable database of literature related to girls’ delinquency and developed a web site of resources. It is also publishing a series of bulletins on various topics.

To find out more about the Girls Study Group and related efforts, please visit The Girls Study Group web site.