Attorney General Holder and Chief Justice Medhat al Mahmood

Yesterday afternoon, Attorney General Eric Holder met with Iraq’s Chief Justice Medhat al Mahmood at the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Chief Justice and Attorney General reaffirmed their commitment to a continuing and strong relationship between their countries under the Strategic Framework Agreement.  The Chief Justice and the Attorney General also spoke about the strength and independence of the Iraqi judiciary and also the continuing challenges it faces.  The two also discussed the lengthy and productive relationship between the Department of Justice and the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council to foster the rule of law in Iraq. 

Attorney General Holder and Chief Justice Medhat al Mahmood

Chief Justice Medhat is in Washington, D.C. as part of a senior judicial delegation sent by the Government of Iraq.

For more information about the Department of Justice and Iraq, visit justice.gov/iraq

Today, the Justice Department issued a letter to Alabama school districts reminding them of their obligation under federal law that a state may  not deny a child equal access to public education based on his or her immigration status.  The department also requested information regarding enrollment practices to determine whether each school district is in compliance with federal law and whether further action is warranted. The text of the letter is below.

Dear Superintendent,

             This office is charged with enforcing laws that prohibit discrimination against public school students on the basis of, among other things, race, color, and national origin, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000c-6 (Title IV), and that require school districts to take appropriate action to overcome the language barriers of English Language Learner (ELL) students.  See 20 U.S.C § 1703 (Equal Educational Opportunities Act).  It has come to our attention that the requirements of Alabama’s H.B. 56 may chill or discourage student participation in, or lead to the exclusion of school-age children from, public education programs based on their or their parents’ race, national origin, or actual or perceived immigration status, or based on their homeless or foster care status and consequent lack of documentation. 

 As you know, in Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982), the Supreme Court held that a State may not deny a child equal access to public education based on his or her immigration status.  Noting the “pivotal role of education” in our society, id. at 221, the Court concluded that denying innocent children the benefit of schooling provided to other students within the district was unconstitutional.  Id. at 230.  On May 6, 2011, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education issued guidance on the Federal obligation to provide equal educational opportunities to all children residing within your district .

             Because this matter may implicate the civil rights laws that we enforce, we request that the District provide information to assist us in determining what further action, if any, is warranted.  We stress that this inquiry is preliminary in nature, and request the following information:

1.  A list of all enrolled students by school as of September 27, 2011, identifying their race, national origin, and ELL status.[1]
2. A list of all students, by school, who have withdrawn from school, from the first day of the 2011-2012 school year to date.  For each student, include the date of withdrawal, the reason for withdrawal, and the student’s race, national origin, and ELL status.
3. A list of all students, by school, who have had at least one unexplained absence from school, from September 27, 2011 to date. For each student, include the date(s) of the unexplained absence(s) and the student’s race, national origin, and ELL status.
4. The number and percentage of students who withdrew from school each week from the start of the 2010-2011 school year until October 31, 2010, by school and by the students’ race, national origin, and ELL status.
5. The number and percentage of students who have withdrawn from school each week during the 2011-2012 school year to date, by school and the students’ race, national origin, and ELL status.
6. The percentage of students who were absent from school each week, on average, during (a) the 2010-2011 school year to October 31, 2010, and (b) the 2011-12 school year to date, by school and by the students’ race, national origin, and ELL status.
7. A list of all ELL students, including whether they are participating in an ELL program (e.g., enrolled in ESL classes), by school and the student’s race and national origin, as of (1) the first day of the 2011-2012 school year; (2) September 27, 2011; (3) October 3, 2011; and (4) October 4, 2010.
8. The number of students enrolled, by school, race, and national origin, as of: (1) the first day of the 2011-2012 school year; (2) October 3, 2011; (3) October 14, 2011; (4) October 4, 2010; and (5) October 24, 2011.
9. The number of students absent, by school, race, and national origin, on (1) October 3, 2011 and (2) October 4, 2010. 

 Please send us the requested information in electronic format no later than November 14, 2011.  Additionally, we ask that you supplement the information provided in response to requests 2 and 3 on a monthly basis, by the 15th day of each month. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Educational Opportunities Section.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance.                                                                                 

 Sincerely,

Thomas E. Perez

Assistant Attorney General

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is partnering with national, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials, as well as community coalition groups to hold a third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. This one-day event will make it convenient for the public to rid their homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs.

On Saturday, October 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time, Americans will be able to drop off their expired, unused, and unwanted pills at sites across the country free of charge, no questions asked. By doing so, they will be helping prevent drug abuse and theft.

Find a collection site near you.

Americans participating in DEA’s two previous National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day events turned in more than 309 tons of pills at more than 5,300 sites manned by over 3,800 federal, state and local law enforcement partners.

Prescription drugs that languish in home medicine cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse, creating a public health crisis. The rate of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. today is at an alarmingly high level—two-and-a-half times more people currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants combined, according to the recently released 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The same study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart:

“We all have another unique opportunity to contribute to the fight against prescription drug abuse by participating in the third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event. Americans overwhelmingly responded to the first two national Take-Back Day events, and we hope the October 29th event is no different.  With everyone’s support, we can reduce the risk of prescription drug diversion and abuse, while increasing the awareness of this important public health issue.”

Find a collection site near you.

For more information on the National Take-Back Day events, visit dea.gov.

The following post appears courtesy of Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Keeping our nation safe from evolving terrorist threats requires strong partnerships at all levels.  Nowhere are those partnerships more important than with our federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers who work on the frontlines every day to keep our cities and communities safe.

These courageous men and women, who put their lives on the line to protect others, must have the tools, training, and resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

This week at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) General Assembly in Chicago, we each had an opportunity to reiterate our support for police officers and first responders across our country, many of whom are struggling to hire or retain personnel in the face of tough economic challenges.

As part of ongoing work to better understand and overcome current fiscal challenges, this week, the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office released a new report on how the economic downturn has impacted police departments nationwide.

According to the department’s research, we expect that, by the end of this year, nearly 12,000 police officers and sheriff’s deputies will have been laid off.  Already, law enforcement agencies nationwide currently have nearly 30,000 unfilled vacancies.  And an estimated 28,000 more officers and deputies experienced week-long furloughs last year. In 25 years of collecting data, this is the first national decrease in law enforcement positions ever recorded.

There is great demand for existing federal fire fighter hiring funding.  In FY10 alone there were $1.8 billion in applications for $420 million in  SAFER funds.

Especially in these difficult economic times, the tough choices we are all facing should not come at the expense of public safety and national security.  And, fortunately, they don’t have to. The American Jobs Act would provide $5 billion in assistance to states and local communities to create and save thousands of police and first responder jobs across the country.  These funds would not only help to safeguard our national security and bolster public safety – they would strengthen our economy.

Passage of the American Jobs Act also would ensure that many of the critical partnerships we have established with local law enforcement can continue – and improve our ability to share information, to train frontline officers to recognize indicators of terrorism and crime, and to encouraging the public to be vigilant in reporting suspicious activity to appropriate authorities.

These steps provide a strong foundation for law enforcement at all levels to protect communities from terrorism and other threats. They also help us better understand the risks confronting the homeland while protecting the privacy rights and civil liberties of all Americans, and foster a strong relationship with the international community.

When it comes to advancing our public safety efforts, we simply can’t afford to wait. We must take action now to combat the economic conditions that have affected – and, in some communities, devastated – law enforcement agencies nationwide. We urge Congress to pass the American Jobs Act so that we can protect the men and women on the frontlines who protect us and contribute to our nation’s safety and security every day.

Special Guest Speaker, Dr. Neil Websdale Northern Arizona University Professor and Director of the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative, joined onstage from left to right by Director of the Office on Violence Against Women Susan B. Carbon, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole, and President of the William Kellibrew Foundation and Deputy Director of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation William C. Kellibrew IV.

 

The following post appears courtesy of Susan B. Carbon, Director of the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).

Understanding how we can better serve victims of domestic violence, including those of domestic violence homicides, was the theme of the Department of Justice’s National Domestic Violence Awareness Month program.

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole set the stage for a critical discussion with a panel of national experts. He reminded us that this administration has made ending domestic violence a priority.   

“The double tragedy of deaths due to domestic violence is the realization that in many cases, they could have been prevented.  There is a growing consensus among researchers and practitioners that domestic violence homicides are predictable and thus often preventable.”

Leading the dialogue on domestic violence homicides was international peace advocate and survivor William C. Kellibrew, IV. He told his story of a childhood besieged with violence.  At the age of six, he was molested and at the age of ten, he witnessed the murder of his mother and brother by his mother’s estranged boyfriend.  After years of therapy, he has become an advocate on behalf of ending violence and poverty.  In an effort to encourage other young people to feel more comfortable asking for help, Mr. Kellibrew challenged everyone to engage and educate youth.

Northern Arizona University Professor Neil Websdale, who directs the National Domestic Fatality Review Initiative, explained that fatality reviews. These reviews bring together a wide range of professional and community members to examine homicides from the vantage points of the victims (and sometimes offenders) and learn how to prevent such tragedies. They have the potential to identify gaps in responses, commonalities and risk factors in individual cases.  In turn, this information can be used by communities and law enforcement to improve responses to incidents of domestic violence.  OVW has provided funding to support these types of reviews.

Dr. Websdale also facilitated a dialogue among panelists Susan Ley of the District of Columbia’s Wendt Center for Loss and Healing; the senior victim witness specialist with the D.C. United States Attorney’s Office Marcia Rinker; and David Sargent, lead trainer for the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) in Maryland.

Developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, the LAP is an intervention program that uses a questionnaire to identify victims of domestic violence who are at risk of being seriously injured or killed by their intimate partners. Those individuals are then immediately connected to the domestic violence service provider in their area. Identifying these at-risk victims can help prevent serious harm, even murder, from occurring.

The panelists discussed the importance of lethality assessment tools for identifying at-risk individuals and the critical importance of victim support services for individuals exposed to grief, trauma, and violence.  They shared information about intervention and prevention practices and awareness building about the cycle of abuse.  Together, these strategies have the potential to change lives by better equipping service providers and victim advocates.

Working together, learning from each other, and applying what we have learned will change the landscape.  We are building a nation where women, men and children will no longer be victims of domestic violence.

We need to stay focused and vigilant. We need to continue to nurture the seeds that are planted by those around us who speak out, and take action, each day.

For more information about the Office on Violence Against Women, visit ovw.usdoj.gov. We remind all those in need of assistance, or other concerned friends and individuals, to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.

The following post appears courtesy of Attorney General Eric Holder.

Across the country, law enforcement agencies and police departments of all sizes are struggling to confront once-in-a-century financial constraints.  In the face of growing demands and increasingly limited resources, many law enforcement executives have been forced to make difficult – and often painful – budgetary decisions, while responding to a host of new and evolving threats.

I’m proud to say that our nation’s law enforcement community has responded to these challenges not with frustration, but with resolve.  Yet, in spite of their best efforts – and the strongest support this Administration can provide – there’s no denying that recent economic conditions have created significant obstacles to fulfilling critical public safety goals.

As part of ongoing work to better understand and overcome current fiscal challenges, this week, the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office released a new report on how the economic downturn has impacted police departments nationwide.  According to our research, we expect that, by the end of this year, nearly 12,000 police officers and sheriff’s deputies will have been laid off.  Already, law enforcement agencies nationwide currently have nearly 30,000 unfilled vacancies.  And an estimated 28,000 more officers and deputies experienced week-long furloughs last year.

In 25 years of collecting data, this is the first national decrease in law enforcement positions ever recorded. But – at every level of the Justice Department, and across the Obama Administration – we are committed to reversing this alarming and unacceptable trend.

That’s why – block by block, city by city, department by department – we are working to help our partners make the most of limited resources, and to get law enforcement officers back to work. 

Last month, with this goal in mind, the COPS office announced more than $240 million in new grants to support the hiring and retention of more than 1,000 officers in 238 agencies and municipalities across the country.  These critical funds will help promote not only employment, but public safety – and they’ll also provide support for innovative and cost-effective 21^st century policing strategies.

But, while we are excited about what our law enforcement partners will be able to accomplish with these investments, we are far from satisfied.  And we cannot – and will not – forget about the additional 2,300 worthy grant applications – totaling more than $2 billion – that had to be declined because adequate resources were not available to fill them.

Fortunately, President Obama’s proposed American Jobs Act would provide significant help in addressing this crisis.  The bill includes $4 billion in funding for law enforcement hiring through the COPS office.  These funds would not only help to safeguard our national security and bolster public safety – they would strengthen our economy by creating or saving essential jobs for first responders.

Yet the Senate has responded to these urgent needs with a proposal for only $200 million in support for such initiatives – and the House of Representatives has zeroed out this allocation altogether. 

This gap is not only drastic – it’s dangerous.  In taking action to combat the conditions that have devastated law enforcement agencies nationwide, we simply can’t afford to wait.

Tomorrow’s progress depends upon the commitments – and investments – we make today. Providing the resources necessary to get our first responders back on our streets – and to give them the tools they need to keep our neighborhoods safe – will not only strengthen our law enforcement community, but also help to ensure a brighter, and safer, future for our nation.

Find out more by reading the full report.