It is an idea ACS strives to make real in the work this organization does in law schools, with law students, lawyers, policymakers and opinion leaders across the country. As the third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice and one who oversees, among others, the Civil Rights Division, the Office of Justice Programs and the Access to Justice Initiative, I'm grateful for your commitment and honored by your invitation to contribute to today’s discussion about indigent defense.

The owner and operator of a Louisiana-based durable medical equipment (DME) company was sentenced today to serve 97 months in prison for his role in a $6.7 million Medicare fraud scheme.

These day-to-day efforts by the Justice Department and our counterparts around the world might not be visible to the public, but the fruits of these efforts are.

A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

A federal court in Orlando, Fla., permanently barred Carlos A. Cabrera from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

Especially this morning, we must recommit ourselves to the work that – however the cases are decided – will remain undone. We have traveled far together on the road to true equality and non-discrimination.

The United States sued a Southlake, Texas woman last night, seeking to bar her from preparing federal tax returns for others

Ash Grove Cement Company has agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty and invest approximately $30 million in pollution control technology at its nine Portland cement manufacturing plants to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.

After a thorough investigation of the competitive effects of the proposed equity investment and joint venture, the Antitrust Division concluded that the facts and circumstances did not warrant further investigation or action.

MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. will pay a $720,000 civil penalty to settle charges that the company violated premerger reporting and waiting requirements when it acquired voting securities of Scientific Games Corporation.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Stuart F. Delery announced today that the Department of Justice, on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Sage Pharmaceuticals.

As an extraordinarily dedicated public servant, a talented national security and law enforcement executive, and a principled leader with extensive experience in government and the private sector, Jim Comey is uniquely qualified to serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey K. Skilling has been resentenced to 168 months in prison on conspiracy, securities fraud, and other charges related to the collapse of Enron Corporation. In addition to the prison sentence, Skilling, 59, was ordered to forfeit approximately $42 million to be applied toward restitution for the victims of the fraud at Enron.

Scottie Alice Johnson of Montgomery County, Ala., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States for her role in a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) scheme.

Significant strides have been made in expanding access to quality representation for more of those who need it. Yet – despite the undeniable progress our nation has witnessed over the last half-century – America’s indigent defense systems continue to exist in a state of crisis. And, as this film demonstrates, a great deal of work remains before us.

We will continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with Hanover County, Va., that will allow for the county, a covered jurisdiction under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, to bail out from coverage under these provisions. Bailout will exempt Hanover County, along with the town of Ashland, from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The agreement is in the form of a consent decree filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and must be approved by the court.

The Department of Justice today restrained the 1909 Pablo Picasso painting “Compotier et tasse” – estimated to be worth $11.5 million – on behalf of the Italian government.

Attorney General Eric Holder today issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas.

A former executive of Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) – a publicly traded company based in Jacksonville, Fla. – was sentenced today to serve five years in prison for her participation in a six-year scheme to prepare and file more than 1 million fraudulently signed and notarized mortgage-related documents with property recorders’ offices throughout the United States.

A federal grand jury in Scranton, Penn., returned an indictment today charging Jessie Con-Ui, a federal inmate, with the murder of federal corrections officer Eric Williams.

The Department of Justice will continue to carefully monitor jurisdictions around the country for voting changes that may hamper voting rights. Let me be very clear: we will not hesitate to take swift enforcement action – using every legal tool that remains available to us – against any jurisdiction that seeks to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s ruling by hindering eligible citizens’ full and free exercise of the franchise.

Attorney General Eric Holder today issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act.

SunCoke Energy Inc. and two of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $1.995 million to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations of emission limits at the Gateway Energy and Coke plant in Granite City, Illinois, and the Haverhill Coke plant in Franklin Furnace, Ohio.

Two individuals were arrested on a federal warrant alleging that they operated a series of fraudulent businesses targeting Spanish-speaking consumers.

The Justice Department announced that yesterday a federal jury convicted a former corrections officer of the Alabama Department of Corrections, of two civil rights violations and five obstruction of justice-related violations in connection with the beating death of former inmate Rocrast Mack.

General Electric Aviation Systems (GEAS) has agreed to pay $6.58 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims in connection with multiple Department of Defense contracts.

A corrections officer at the Stone County Regional Correctional Facility in Stone County, Miss., was sentenced today to serve one year in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $6,000 for ordering the beating of an inmate at the detention facility in violation of federal civil rights laws.

Michael Mancil Brown was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Nashville, Tenn., for allegedly engaging in an extortion and wire fraud scheme involving former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City today returned an indictment charging a resident of Sandy, Utah, with five counts of presenting false, fictitious and fraudulent claims to the United States, and three counts of passing fictitious obligations.

A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City today returned a superseding indictment charging a resident of Heber City, Utah, with 18 counts of presenting false, fictitious and fraudulent claims to the United States and one count of passing a fictitious obligation.

The U.S. is disappointed and disagrees with the determination by Hong Kong authorities not to honor the U.S. request for the arrest of the fugitive, Edward J. Snowden.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with Macy’s Retail Holdings and other Macy’s entities (Macy’s) resolving allegations that the company violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Yesterday a federal grand jury in Portland, Ore., indicted George Allen Mason Jr., 23, and his wife, Saraya Sophia Lisa Gardner, 23, on charges related to a the assault of a 26-year-old gay man who was walking his dog with his boyfriend on the streets of Hillsboro, Ore., which occurred because of animus against the victim’s sexual orientation.

The Justice Department announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the Reading Parking Authority in the city of Reading, Pa., alleging that the Reading Parking Authority discriminated against former employee Henry Perez, as well as other current and former employees, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting them to harassment based upon their national origin.

A former employee of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS-ASPR) was sentenced today to serve six months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the United States by submitting fraudulent employment offers in order to claim retention bonuses totaling $138,875

A federal grand jury returned a 30-count indictment against Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev for his alleged role in using weapons of mass destruction at the Boston Marathon to kill three individuals and maim or seriously injure many others, as well as for using a firearm to intentionally kill Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Police Officer Sean Collier.

Four Northern California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty for their role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California.

A manufacturer and exporter of wind turbines based in the People’s Republic of China, two employees of that manufacturer and a former employee of a subsidiary of AMSC, a United States-based company formerly known as American Superconductor Inc., were charged today with stealing trade secrets from AMSC causing an alleged loss of more than $800 million to the company.

A jury in El Paso, Texas, today convicted Keith Nicholas Aiken, 31, of making false statements to law enforcement while serving as a civilian military employee stationed in Afghanistan.

King Pharmaceuticals LLC (King) will pay $2.2 million and take measures to comply with the Clean Air Act to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at its pharmaceutical manufacturing facility located in Bristol, Tenn.

The chief executive officer of a Virginia-based security contracting firm was sentenced today to serve four years in prison for serving as a figurehead owner of a front company created to obtain more than $31 million intended for disadvantaged small businesses through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Section 8(a) program, which allows qualified small businesses to receive sole-source and competitive-bid contracts set aside for minority-owned and disadvantaged small businesses.

The Justice Department Civil Rights Division and Los Angeles County today announced that they have reached preliminary agreements to make broad changes to policing in the Antelope Valley and to the enforcement of the Housing Choice Voucher Program (commonly known as Section 8).

Attorney General Eric Holder today issued the following statement regarding the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance to Federal agencies.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that Lawrence Garafola, a resident of Poway, Calif., pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Kathryn Keneally and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag for the Northern District of California announced that Pius Kampfen of Mill Valley, Calif., pleaded guilty today to an information charging him with willful failure to file the required reports of foreign bank accounts (FBAR) for a Swiss bank account he controlled.

A federal jury today convicted four individuals for their participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving nearly $70 million in fraudulent billings by Hollywood Pavilion (HP), a mental health care hospital.

Three individuals charged in connection with operating a series of fraudulent business opportunity companies were arrested Friday following their indictment by a federal grand jury in Miami on June 25, 2013, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced today.

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced that Alexei Iazlovsky of Potomac, Md., pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to filing a false tax return for tax year 2008.

A Los Angeles-area doctor and a patient recruiter pleaded guilty today for their roles in a power wheelchair fraud scheme that defrauded Medicare of over $10.1 million.