While incarceration is a necessary part of the strategy for ensuring public safety, we know it is not the only answer in every case -- especially for the low-level drug offender. If any of us hope to change the behavior of our criminal population – and make our communities safer – we must make the investment to treat individuals with substance use disorders and others in need of help as a part of the criminal justice system.

Since that moment – thanks to the work of groups like this one, and the dedication of passionate advocates like all of you – our nation has experienced remarkable, once-unimaginable progress.

The former medical director at defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network (HCSN) and six therapists were arrested today, accused of conspiring to fraudulently bill Medicare and Florida Medicaid more than $63 million.

The Justice Department announced today that Happy Asker, franchise owner of multiple “Happy’s Pizza” franchises, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Detroit along with Maher Bashi, Tom Yaldo, Arkan Summa and Tagrid Bashi for multiple tax offenses arising from a conspiracy to underreport taxable income and payroll taxes of nine Happy’s Pizza franchises.

The Justice Department announced that seven defendants were arrested and arraigned today for their roles in a mortgage fraud conspiracy that operated in Detroit.

A five-count indictment was filed charging three people from Ashland, Ohio, with engaging in a labor trafficking conspiracy and related crimes for holding a woman with cognitive disabilities and her child against their will and forcing the woman to perform manual labor for them, law enforcement officials said today.

Today – starting here and now – it’s time to commit ourselves to a respectful, responsible dialogue about issues of justice and equality – so we can meet division and confusion with understanding, with compassion, and ultimately with truth.

he Justice Department today entered into a sweeping civil rights agreement with the commonwealth of Puerto Rico to modernize and reform the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD).

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that Richard R. Whatley, a former owner of Alliance Staffing Management Inc. (ASM), was sentenced to 51 months in prison today for willfully failing to account for and pay over employment taxes.

An associate of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) gang pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges related to her involvement in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Acting Assistant Attorney Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.

The Justice Department announced today an agreement with the town of Poestenkill, N.Y., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities.

The Justice Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida alleging the state is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in its administration of its service system for children with significant medical needs, resulting in nearly 200 children with disabilities being unnecessarily segregated in nursing facilities when they could be served in their family homes or other community-based settings.

The Department of Justice announced today the filing of a lawsuit against the Puerto Rico Police Department PRPD) alleging that the PRPD discriminated against Yolanda Carrasquillo on the basis of race, color and religion in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII).

The Justice Department announced today that it has asked a federal court to bar Ronald Manis of Carbondale, Ill., from preparing tax returns for others.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced today that they, along with plaintiff adult home residents, entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement with the state of New York under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Justice Department announced today that a federal district judge in Charleston, S.C. permanently barred Stacy Middleton from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

Three former financial services executives were sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for their participation in frauds related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts.

A greater Detroit-area physical therapist assistant – who was also an owner of a home health agency and a patient recruiter – pleaded guilty today for his role in a $22 million home health care fraud scheme.

Attorney General Eric Holder today welcomed the confirmation by the U.S. Senate of Tony West as the Department of Justice’s Associate Attorney General.

A captain in the Army National Guard pleaded guilty today to playing a lead role in a bribery and fraud scheme resulting in a loss of at least $210,000 to the U.S. Army National Guard Bureau, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

A member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) gang pleaded guilty today to racketeering charges related to his membership in the ABT’s criminal enterprise, announced Acting Assistant Attorney Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas.

The Justice Department announced today that Tyree Davis Sr. of Flossmoor, Ill., was arrested on an eight-count indictment charging him with obstruction of justice and filing fraudulent multi-billion dollar liens against government employees.

Just as it always has been, the American dream is founded – today – on the fundamental promise of equal protection, and equal justice under law, for everyone in this country.

Dubuis Health System and Southern Crescent Hospital for Specialty Care, Inc. (Southern Crescent) have agreed to pay the United States $8,000,000 to settle allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department announced today. Dubuis Health System manages long-term acute care hospitals in multiple states, including Southern Crescent. Southern Crescent is a long-term acute care hospital located in Riverdale, GA and is part of the CHRISTUS Health System.

Edin Sakoc, 54, of Burlington, Vt., was arrested today on charges that he obtained his naturalized citizenship through fraud by failing to disclose his prior acts of persecution and crimes committed during the Bosnian conflict, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Tristram J. Coffin of the District of Vermont, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge in Boston Bruce M. Foucart and Special Agent in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Albany, N.Y., Field Office.

Building on the work of the original and successful Defending Childhood Task Force and efforts across the Department of Justice in Indian country, the American Indian and Alaska Native Task Force will consist of two groups – an Advisory Committee and a Federal Working Group.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released the following statement Monday night after the U.S. Senate voted 93-1 to confirm James Comey as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pharmaceutical company acquired by Pfizer, Inc. in 2009, has agreed to pay $490.9 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the unlawful marketing of the prescription drug Rapamune for uses not approved as safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Justice Department announced today that the Executive Director of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) Michael Bresnick will be leaving the department on Thursday, August 1, 2013.

Attorney General Eric Holder today welcomed the confirmation by the U.S. Senate of Stuart F. Delery as the Department of Justice’s Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.

The Justice Department announced today that the city of St. Peters, Mo. will pay $80,000 and make changes to its zoning laws to settle a lawsuit alleging that the city violated the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it denied a zoning request to operate a group home for four women with intellectual disabilities.

As Attorney General, the highest award I can bestow within the Justice Department is the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service – which is typically presented only once each year. Today, in recognition of Bob Mueller’s leadership of the FBI, his contributions over the course of his career, and his exemplary service to the American people, it is my privilege to present him with this year’s Exceptional Service Award.

Two individuals, Donald Torriero and Julius DeSimone, were sentenced in federal court in Utica, N.Y., for illegally dumping thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated construction debris on a 28-acre piece of property on the Mohawk River in upstate New York, the Justice Department announced.

The Justice Department announced today the filing of a lawsuit with the Executive Office of Immigration Review’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO), against Autobuses Ejecutivos LLC, d/b/a Omnibus Express, a bus company based in Houston.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a cooperative settlement agreement with the city of Henderson, Nev. under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Larry Lehmann of Giddings, Texas has agreed to pay $400,000 to settle allegations that he violated the False Claims Act in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s E-rate Program, the Department of Justice announced today. The E-rate Program, created by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, subsidizes eligible equipment and services to make Internet access and internal networking more affordable for public schools and libraries.

These three principles — data-driven innovation, effective collaboration, and meaningful reentry — certainly are not the only approaches to smarter policing in this new century, but they are important as we continue to build the bridge to justice and equality in this challenging climate of contraction, subtraction, and sequestration.

The Justice Department announced today an agreement with the city of Fort Morgan, Colo., to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities.

The Justice Department announced today that Gary Mach, a Palm Desert, Calif. resident who operated Crystal Springs Pool Service (CSPS), pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The United States has filed suit against PharMerica Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The lawsuit alleges that PharMerica violated the False Claims Act and the Controlled Substances Act by dispensing controlled drugs without valid prescriptions and causing claims for illegally dispensed drugs to be submitted to the Medicare program.

The Justice Department will not pursue federal criminal civil rights or other federal criminal charges against the United States Border Patrol (USBP) agent involved in the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Carlos LaMadrid, the Department announced today.

The Justice Department will not pursue federal criminal civil rights or other federal criminal charges against the United States Border Patrol (USBP) agent involved in the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Ramses Barron-Torres, the department announced today.

"Today, a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities. And many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate these problems, rather than alleviate them," said Attorney General Holder.

Consumers will also pay more on routes where US Airways and American today offer competing nonstop service. We know from prior mergers that elimination of head-to-head competition on nonstop routes results in substantial price increases for consumers.

Kathryn Keneally, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, jointly announced today that James S. Faller II, of Russell Springs, Ky., was indicted by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Ky.

The Justice Department and U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware Charles M. Oberly III announced today the filing of a lawsuit alleging that Regal Contractors LLC, Regal Builders LLC and Noble Pond Homes willfully violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by terminating U.S. Air Force Reserve Member Lon Fluman following his return from required military training with his reserve unit.

A greater Detroit-area physical therapist who was also an owner of a home health agency pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a $22 million home health care fraud scheme.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today that it has joined with private plaintiffs in entering an interim settlement agreement with the state of Texas intended to enable Texans with intellectual and other developmental disabilities to live in community settings rather than nursing facilities.

The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Sacramento, Calif., charging Teresa Marie Marty, Charles Tingler and Victoria Tingler, all of Placerville, Calif., with conspiracy to defraud the United States and filing multi-million dollar liens against government officials.

Justice Department announced that a 14-count superseding indictment was unsealed today, charging JB Tax Professional Services Inc., Jacqueline J. Arias and Jose Bayron Estrada, of Spruce Pine, Ala., along with 19 foreign nationals, many of whom resided in the New Orleans area, with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud by filing fraudulent income tax returns.