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Civil Division

Civil Division

The Civil Division represents the United States and its departments and agencies in defensive civil litigation and affirmative civil enforcement actions in the Middle District of Alabama. It is also responsible for litigating to collect debts owed to the United States, including judgments, fines, restitution, and penalties. The Civil Division in the Middle District is small and the AUSAs in the Division are generalists required to handle a wide variety of civil matters.

Affirmative Civil Enforcement

In its Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) actions, the Civil Division seeks to recover damages from fraud, theft, or destruction of government property, and other misconduct; to secure civil penalties for violations of the nation’s health, safety, and economic welfare laws; and to enjoin ongoing mail, wire, or bank fraud, and freeze ill-gotten gains derived from those frauds.

Defensive Litigation

The Civil Division has a large caseload involving defensive litigation. The cases handled in this area include tort cases filed against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act; claims against individual employees of the United States alleging constitutional violations (Bivens actions); discrimination cases brought by federal employees based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, or age; Administrative Procedures Act cases; Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Privacy Act cases; prisoner litigation; and condemnation cases, tax cases, and bankruptcy cases where the United States claims money it is owed.

Financial Litigation Unit

The Financial Litigation Unit (FLU) is a section of the Civil Division that is responsible for enforcing judgements to collect civil and criminal debts due to the United States in a timely, aggressive, efficient, and cost-effective manner. Civil recoveries arise generally from civil fraud prosecutions and penalties and from delinquent student loans. Criminal recoveries are for restitution, which is returned to crime victims, and fines and penalties, which are distributed through various state grants for use by crime victims.

Updated November 10, 2020