"We are blocking this transaction because the proposed merger would substantially lessen competition in the tax preparation software market, resulting in higher prices, lower quality and reduced innovation," said Assistant Attorney General Varney.

"This event is more than just a celebration of all that has been accomplished up to this point. It’s also a solemn reminder of the obstacles to equal justice and equal opportunity that, unfortunately, persist. And it’s an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the continued progress – and unwavering vigilance – that must be not only our shared priority, but our common cause."

The Department of Justice announced today that it has resolved claims made by Stephen Ralston against the South Bend, Ind., Public Transportation Corporation (TRANSPO) under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole spoke at the annual National Missing Children’s Day ceremony today at the Justice Department’s Great Hall, honoring missing children, their families, child advocates and others who protect the safety of children.

"National Missing Children’s Day is a reminder to all parents and guardians of the need for high-quality photographs of their children for use in case of an emergency, vigilant efforts by the public to pay close attention to the posters, AMBER Alerts and posted photographs of missing children."

The Justice Department today announced settlements with two lenders under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) to resolve allegations that the lenders wrongfully foreclosed upon active duty servicemembers without first obtaining court orders, in violation of the SCRA.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today the launch of a public awareness campaign at a Federal Interagency Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Task Force event to bring attention to the challenges faced by children and families affected by drug abuse and highlight the work being done across the country to address these issues.

The Justice Department announced today a comprehensive settlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Wells Fargo &s services nationwide, including its nearly 10,000 retail banking, brokerage and mortgage stores, over 12,000 ATMs, and its telephone and website services.

The Justice Department today reached a settlement agreement with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), an organization of 60,000 pediatricians based in Elk Grove Village, Ill., resolving allegations that the organization impermissibly allowed postings on its www.PedJobs.org website that limited applications to U.S. citizens and certain visa holders.

The Justice Department today filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against Kenneth and JoAnn Scott for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with the Alexandria Country Day School in Alexandria, La., to resolve allegations that the school denied a six-year-old girl with Type I diabetes admission to the school after her parents requested that the school supervise her in daily diabetes care practices.

The Justice Department today announced that it has entered in to a court-enforceable agreement with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio resolving a longstanding dispute over access to information related to the department’s Title VI investigation of the sheriff’s office.

The case originated when a lawful permanent resident responded to a Canvas Corporation job advertisement seeking U.S. citizen applicants for vendor positions.

The Justice Department announced today that it has opened a civil investigation into allegations of use of excessive force by members of the Portland, Ore., Police Bureau (PPB), in accordance with the pattern or practice provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

The Justice Department has reached an agreement with the city of Bedford, Va., that, if approved by the court, will allow for the city’s bailout from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the city from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the act.

The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with Alta Irrigation District, a special district in California, that, if approved by the court, will allow for the district to bail out from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the district from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

The Justice Department today filed a motion for appointment of a receiver in the U.S. District Court, St. Croix, USVI, to remedy 25 years of non-compliance with court orders by the Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections (BOC) regarding unconstitutional conditions of confinement at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional and Detention Facility.

"At the Department of Justice, we are investing in more effective enforcement strategies, but we are also investing in communities across the country in proven strategies for preventing crime, in particular for reaching vulnerable young people before they commit crimes or when they begin going down the wrong path, and we are also investing in providing a transition for individuals coming out of prison, what we call reentry, because if we can reduce the recidivism rate, we can also reduce crime."

The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance today announced the Building Neighborhood Capacity Program Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator Solicitation, part of an innovative approach to build capacity in distressed neighborhoods.

Midwest BankCentre will open a full-service branch in an African-American neighborhood and invest approximately $1.45 million in majority African-American areas of the St. Louis metropolitan area as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that they engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of race and color.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited Philadelphia today where they participated in the sixth regional health care fraud prevention summit.

Nixon State Bank of Nixon, Texas, will establish uniform pricing policies, conduct employee training, and pay nearly $100,000 as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of national origin.

The Justice Department today announced it has filed a lawsuit alleging that Waupaca County, Wis., discriminated against Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department patrol officer Julie Ann Thobaben because of her gender when it failed to promote her.

The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with the city of Manassas Park, Va., that, if approved by the court, will allow for the city to bail out from its status as a “covered jurisdiction” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt the city from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

"With your unique insights, and your ongoing engagement, I have no doubt that we can move forward in meeting the goals that we all share: improving public safety; saving precious taxpayer dollars; and ensuring that the millions of Americans who have served their time – and are struggling to rejoin their communities – are able to become productive members of society, to contribute their skills and training to our workforce, to provide for themselves and their families, and to remain crime-free."

This new site is a central, credible resource to inform practitioners and policymakers about what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services.

Today the Department of Justice and the FBI, along with international law enforcement partners, announced the indictment of two individuals from Latvia and the seizure of more than 40 computers, servers and bank accounts as part of Operation Trident Tribunal, an ongoing, coordinated enforcement action targeting international cybercrime.

The Justice Department today filed papers seeking to intervene in Steward, et al. v. Perry, et al., a case filed on behalf of thousands of Texans with developmental disabilities to enforce their right under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to receive services provided by the state in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.

The Department of Justice released a new technical assistance document describing public entities’ obligations and individuals’ rights under the integration mandate of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1999 landmark Supreme Court decision, Olmstead v. L.C.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with George’s Inc. that requires George’s to make important capital improvements to a Harrisonburg, Va., chicken processing plant in order to settle the litigation surrounding George’s acquisition of the Tyson Foods Inc. plant.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO), Alamance County and Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson seeking a judicial declaration that department attorneys may interview particular ACSO personnel outside the presence of ACSO’s counsel.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the city of New Berlin, Wis., alleging that the city violated the Fair Housing Act by repeatedly taking action to prevent the construction of an affordable housing development by a private developer, MSP Real Estate Inc.

The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against Farmland Foods Inc., a major producer of pork products in the United States, alleging that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by imposing unnecessary documentary requirements on non-U.S. citizens when establishing their authority to work in the United States.

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with Beach Babies Learning Center LLC, located in Old Saybrook, Conn., to resolve allegations that the center terminated the enrollment of a then two-year-old child from its program because the child has autism.

The Justice Department today announced an agreement with Van Buren County, Ark., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access, the department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Justice Department today announced it has reached an agreement with officials of the Colorado Judicial Department to ensure that limited English proficient (LEP) individuals seeking services throughout Colorado’s state court system will have access to timely and competent language assistance.

The United States has sued an Orange County, Calif., man to stop him from selling bogus tax credits.

The Department of Justice today filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dave Axtell, a U.S. Air Force reservist, against James J. Williams Bulk Service Transport Inc., its parent company Trans-System Inc., and another Trans-System subsidiary, System TWT Transportation Inc.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a supplemental agreement with New Mexico officials to help ensure that military service members and U.S. citizens living overseas will have an opportunity to participate fully in the 2012 federal general election cycle.

The Departments of Justice and Education reached a settlement agreement with the Tehachapi Unified School District in Tehachapi, Calif., to resolve an investigation into the harassment of a middle school student based on his nonconformity with gender stereotypes.

The United States has filed a lawsuit in federal court in New Orleans seeking to bar two women and their tax preparation companies from preparing federal tax returns for others.

The Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced today an agreement with Alameda County, Calif., to ensure compliance with provisions of the Voting Rights Act that require the county to provide election materials and information in Spanish and Chinese.

The Justice Department today announced the settlement of a lawsuit alleging that the owner and operators of a Monroe, Mich., mobile home park violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with children.

The Justice Department announced today that it has sued the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), the nation’s largest mortgage insurance company, and two of its underwriters, Elgina Cunningham and Kelly Kane, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against women on paid maternity leave.

The Justice Department today announced that it has entered into a comprehensive agreement with the state of Delaware that will transform Delaware’s mental health system and resolve violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

JPMorgan Chase &s role in anticompetitive activity in the municipal bond investments market and has agreed to pay a total of $228 million in restitution, penalties and disgorgement to federal and state agencies.

The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with Rappahannock County, Va., that will allow for the county and its two political subdivisions to bail out from their status as “covered jurisdictions” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

Senior environmental enforcement officials from the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toured sites in Newark, N.J., today and met with federal partners and with environmental and community organizations to discuss mutual efforts to address environmental challenges and enforce environmental laws, and in particular efforts to achieve environmental justice.

The complaint, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, alleges that Louisiana has violated the NVRA by failing to provide voter registration services at offices providing public assistance and serving persons with disabilities in Louisiana.

The Justice Department is seeking to block a husband and wife from operating a scheme that allegedly helps high-income individuals attempt to improperly avoid income taxes by funneling money through purported “welfare benefit plans.”