Month: April 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

A Tennessee man was found guilty yesterday of obstructing an investigation into allegations that he sexually abused an inmate in his custody.

James Stewart Justice, 32, of Columbia, a corrections officer with the Maury County Jail, was convicted of one count of falsification of records. According to evidence introduced at trial, the defendant, formerly known as James Stewart Thomas, wrote an official report for the jail in response to allegations that he had violated the Prison Rape Elimination Act. In his report, the defendant 1) falsely claimed that he had reported to two Maury County Jail supervisors that an inmate had made sexual advances toward him while the inmate was in his custody at a hospital; 2) falsely claimed that those two Maury County Jail supervisors both advised him not to write a report about those alleged sexual advances by the inmate; and 3) omitted that he had a sexual relationship with the inmate after the inmate’s release from the custody of the Maury County Jail.

“The defendant pledged to protect and serve but instead he abused his authority as a corrections officer to try to cover up sexual misconduct at the county jail,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This verdict sends a clear message that the Justice Department will hold accountable any official who obstructs a federal civil rights investigation.”

“Today’s verdict ensures that James Justice will be held accountable for his actions. As importantly, it ensures that he will no longer be entrusted to serve as a law enforcement officer,” said U.S Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee. “I commend our trial team and partners at the FBI for an excellent job of investigating and presenting this case to the jury.”

“When a correctional officer abuses his authority, it undermines the respect and reputation of all law enforcement officers,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas DePodesta of the FBI Memphis Field Office. “The FBI will vigorously investigate and bring to justice any official who violates the constitution and the trust of the people.”

Justice faces maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 18.

The FBI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Klopf for the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Kyle Boynton of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

On April 27, Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer and members of her team visited United States Penitentiary (USP) Lewisburg, a medium-security Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility, and its adjacent minimum-security satellite camp. The Pardon Attorney and her team provided an overview of the federal clemency process and answered questions from inmates and staff. The Pardon Attorney and her team met with over 300 inmates and staff in three different housing units, including the Reintegration Unit, the Camp and the Residential Drug and Alcohol Program.

The visit to USP Lewisburg was the second in a series of quarterly educational events that the Pardon Attorney is providing to inmates and staff in the BOP. The first took place at FCI Ft. Dix, a low-security institution, in January 2023. During that visit, the Pardon Attorney and her team met with over 700 inmates and staff in a day-long series of trainings throughout the facility.

The Pardon Attorney’s visit to USP Lewisburg is one of a series of outreach and education events conducted by the Office of the Pardon Attorney in recognition of Second Chance Month. Other events have included:

• An educational webinar on the pardon application process, presented in connection with the ACLU on April 26.
• An informational session on the pardon application process for D.C. residents, hosted by the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizens Affairs.
• A Celebration of Second Chances, highlighting clemency recipients and their advocates within and outside the Department of Justice, on April 21.

These April outreach events are part of a year-round initiative by the Office of the Pardon Attorney to increase the accessibility and transparency of the clemency process through education and community engagement.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced that on April 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld the 211-month sentence of Fred Somers, age 46. That sentence was imposed by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Hinkle in January of 2013 after Somers plead guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of an unregistered firearm.

“The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) mandates harsher sentences for armed felons who have at least three prior convictions for either ‘violent felonies’ or ‘serious drug offenses’,” said U.S. Attorney Coody. “With a 20-year-history full of drug and violent felony offenses, Somers is the exact type of dangerous, career criminal the ACCA was designed to keep off the streets.”

Somers’ criminal history includes felony convictions for burglary of a structure, conspiracy to distribute heroin, false imprisonment and battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and resisting an officer with violence. Based on those prior convictions, the government sought, and the district court imposed, an enhanced sentence under the ACCA.

In January of 2016, Somers filed a collateral motion challenging his ACCA sentence. The district court denied his motion, but Somers appealed, arguing that he was incorrectly sentenced under ACCA because his aggravated assault conviction did not meet ACCA’s definition of “violent felony.” After the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 817 (2021), which held that ACCA’s violent felony definition excludes reckless crimes, the Eleventh Circuit sent the case to the Florida Supreme Court for clarification of whether Florida’s assault statue covers reckless threats.

After briefing and oral argument, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Somers’ argument that Florida assault can be committed recklessly. See Somers v. United States, 355 So.3d 887 (Fla. 2022). The Florida Supreme Court reasoned that the ordinary meaning of Florida’s assault definition “prohibits an intentional expression of an intent to use physical force to harm another’s person” and that such expression “cannot be accomplished via a reckless act.” With the benefit of the Florida Supreme Court’s clarification of Florida law, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Somers’ motion in a published opinion, holding that Florida convictions for aggravated assault qualify as violent felonies under ACCA.

Assistant United States Attorney Jordane Learn represented the government before the Eleventh Circuit and the Florida Supreme Court.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Source: United States Department of Justice

As part of an all-of-government strategy set forth in the May 2022 Executive Order on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety, the Justice Department’s newly released report, Rehabilitation, Reentry, and Reaffirming Trust: The Department of Justice Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan), represents its ongoing commitment to strengthening the safety of our communities, while advancing thoughtful, evidence-informed initiatives and reforms throughout the criminal justice system.

The Executive Order established the Federal Interagency Alternatives and Reentry Committee (ARC or Committee), chaired by the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and comprised of the Attorney General and the secretaries of more than a dozen executive agencies. The Committee has been focused on three goals: safely reducing unnecessary criminal justice interactions, supporting rehabilitation during incarceration, and facilitating reentry into society of people with criminal records. As required by the Executive Order, the Strategic Plan outlines a department-wide vision for promoting the Committee’s goals at the federal level, as well as ways the department can support those goals in state and local justice systems through grantmaking, guidance, and technical assistance.

Safely Reducing Unnecessary Criminal Justice System Interactions: The Strategic Plan highlights a number of department initiatives aimed at safely reducing unnecessary criminal justice system interactions, including supporting community-based alternatives for addressing less serious offenses, promoting safe and effective interactions with state and local law enforcement for individuals with mental health and/or substance use conditions, supporting diversion and alternatives to incarceration where appropriate, and addressing the crack-to-powder sentencing disparity in the federal system.

Supporting Rehabilitation During Incarceration: The Strategic Plan emphasizes the myriad ways the department is supporting rehabilitation during incarceration, including by expanding access to correctional education and employment opportunities, providing treatment and other rehabilitative services in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities, launching a national training and technical assistance hub to guide jail administrators in establishing and maintaining safe and humane facilities, and encouraging access to the ballot box for eligible persons. 

Facilitating Reentry Into Society of People With Criminal Records: Given the importance of preparing individuals for release after incarceration, the Strategic Plan outlines a number of department initiatives and programs designed to facilitate successful reentry, including reducing barriers to obtaining critical government-issued identification, promoting continuity of healthcare for individuals returning from incarceration to the community, identifying resources for record clearing and expungement, improving community supervision outcomes, and issuing a Dear Colleague Letter for state and local courts and juvenile justice agencies that addresses common practices around court-imposed fines and fees. 

“This Strategic Plan represents the Justice Department’s comprehensive approach to strengthening public safety, advancing public trust, and promoting fairness, transparency, and accountability in our criminal justice system,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We will continue to support our state and local partners as they undertake the critical work of safeguarding communities and strengthening the bonds of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”

“Second Chance Month recognizes the promise presented by a new opportunity and a fresh start for individuals as they rejoin their communities,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “The Strategic Plan released today builds on the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring a criminal justice system that is fair for all—and our obligation as federal law enforcement to lead by example—by promoting rehabilitation, reentry, and public trust.”

“Every day, the criminal justice system touches lives across the country in countless ways—from individuals who are arrested and incarcerated to police officers, victims, families, and communities,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “This Strategic Plan sets forth the Justice Department’s priorities and vision for a better, fairer system for all stakeholders. It is a comprehensive outline of our work to advance public safety through more thoughtful approaches to criminal justice system interactions, rehabilitation and humane treatment during incarceration and detention, and ensuring the necessary supports for individuals to live healthy, productive lives despite a criminal record or past incarceration.”

The department will continue to support both the work of the Committee and the initiatives outlined in the Strategic Plan. In the months and years to come, the department will operationalize and build upon this Strategic Plan to ensure that justice systems nationwide embody the principles of equality, dignity, and justice for all.

The department’s full strategic plan is available here.

The department’s strategic plan fact sheet is available here.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department today announced the designation and appointment of a National Human Trafficking Coordinator and a National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction.

The Attorney General has designated Hilary Axam, Director of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit (HTPU), to serve as the Department’s National Human Trafficking Coordinator, and has designated Steven J. Grocki, Chief of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), as the Department’s National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. 

“Human trafficking and child exploitation are devastating crimes that prey on some of the most vulnerable members of society, and the Department of Justice is committed to preventing and prosecuting these cases and to vindicating the rights of victims and survivors,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Hilary Axam and Steven Grocki bring critical experience to their roles as National Coordinators, and I am grateful for their continued dedication to the Department’s fight against these crimes and to strengthening our capacity to protect victims and hold perpetrators accountable.”

The Attorney General’s designation of the National Human Trafficking Coordinator is made pursuant to the Abolish Human Trafficking Act, while his designation of the National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction is made pursuant to the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008. Both Coordinators are responsible for developing and implementing Department-wide and interagency national strategies, coordinating efforts throughout the Department, and representing the Department in significant interagency and external stakeholder engagements. As widely recognized subject matter experts in their respective fields, each will play a central role in guiding Departmental-level policies, strategies, and priorities.

“Human trafficking inflicts unspeakable harm on some of the most vulnerable members of society. We must do everything in our power to combat these grave violations of victims’ civil rights and bring human traffickers to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Under Hilary Axam’s leadership, the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit has been widely recognized, both nationally and globally, as leading experts in victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches to seeking justice for human trafficking survivors. Her extensive experience and specialized expertise will be critical as we continue advancing our whole-of-Department fight against human trafficking.”

“Child exploitation is one of the most reprehensible and destructive offenses confronting our nation today” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division’s Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Steven J. Grocki, has extensive experience in investigating and prosecuting child exploitation cases and leads our campaign to combat the sexual exploitation of children.  As National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, he will guide Department-level policies, strategies, and priorities in this area. The National Coordinator will also draw directly upon the specialized expertise within the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and work to ensure proper coordination with subject matter experts within and outside of the Department.”

Hilary Axam has served as the Director of the HTPU in the Justice Department’s  Civil Rights Division since 2009. She previously served as the Unit’s Senior Litigation Counsel.  Since joining the Department as a federal prosecutor in 2001, she has prosecuted and supervised human trafficking cases of national significance involving sex trafficking, compelled farm and factory labor, domestic servitude, and forced labor in restaurants, bars, and cantinas. As HTPU’s Director, Axam serves as one of the Department’s preeminent anti-trafficking subject matter experts. 

Steven Grocki was selected to serve as Chief of the Criminal Division’s CEOS in October 2015. Grocki first joined CEOS in 2004 and has since served as a Trial Attorney, Assistant Deputy Chief, Deputy Chief, and now Chief. CEOS and its High Technology Investigative Unit are the nation´s experts in prosecuting federal child exploitation cases, including online child exploitation crimes, extraterritorial offenders, and child sex trafficking. CEOS also develops national and global policy seeking to eradicate the sexual exploitation of children and builds national and global response capacity through training and outreach.