The U.S. Attorney's Report To The District - December 2010

During the past year, we have restructured our office to ensure that our attorney resources are aligned with our district priorities. We want our work to have a positive and meaningful impact on the lives of the residents of the Eastern District of Michigan. We recently completed a six-month review of that structure, and will continue to monitor and adjust our work as necessary to best serve our citizens.

As President Obama has said, "Justice isn't about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a case book, it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives." At the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, we put that concept into action every day. As the lawyers for the American people, we evaluate every case by asking ourselves how it will impact the quality of life in our community.

We have set priorities that help make our region the kind of place where people want to live and do business. These priorities are: preventing terrorism, reducing violent crime, ending public corruption, enforcing civil rights, and combating financial fraud, including mortgage fraud, health care fraud, environmental violations, and theft of trade secrets.

Our efforts can help attract and retain residents and businesses in Michigan by improving the quality of life in our state. We do that by protecting public safety from harm by terrorists, drug traffickers, violent street criminals and child predators. We do it by prosecuting public officials who steal from taxpayers and abuse the public trust. We do it by enforcing civil rights so that minority and immigrant communities feel welcome to live and do business here. And we do it by focusing on financial crimes that will protect our state -- environmental crimes to preserve our lakes and other natural resources, which are the key to our state's future; mortgage fraud to prevent foreclosures and loss of property values; health care fraud to prevent increased costs to taxpayers; and theft of trade secrets to defend our auto and tech industries.

We strive for integrity, fairness and diligence in everything we do. But we don't just wait for cases to come to us. We are also proactively seeking ways to improve justice for our citizens through prevention efforts, collaboration with public and private partners, and community engagement. We cannot be successful without the trust and assistance of the members of our community, and we understand that trust needs to be earned.

We chose our careers because we wanted to make a difference in our community. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. has asked our prosecutors to be community problem solvers, not just case processors. At the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, we are embracing that mission, so that our region and our state can thrive.

Barbara L. McQuade
United States Attorney