A Day in the Life on the Front Lines of Safeguarding Justice
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The prompt for this round of the FEDforum is: What is a day in the life for a member of your organization?This week, hear from the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys (NAAUSA).
Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) work far outside traditional business hours to serve the American people and safeguard our nation’s justice system. AUSAs work on both the civil and criminal side doing traditional legal work –research, writing, and litigation – as well as working alongside federal law enforcement and local partners in the investigative process. Every day, our nation’s more than 6,000 AUSAs work to ensure the entire federal law enforcement community is aware of legal precedents and acts in accordance with our duty to defend the innocent and prosecute the guilty.
On the front end, criminal AUSAs review agency investigative reports and evidence, issue charging recommendations, and discuss what additional evidence is needed to ensure a conviction. AUSAs also retain one of the most important tools in the investigative process – the grand jury.
AUSAs can summon a grand jury to examine evidence and determine if an indictment should be issued. Grand juries can subpoena evidence, including documents, physical evidence, and digital evidence, as well as take sworn testimony. This tool empowers citizens to determine if the evidence gathered by law enforcement and presented by prosecutors warrants a criminal charge.
AUSAs can also engage in plea bargaining and work with a defendant’s counsel to dispose of a case before a trial through a plea agreement. AUSAs also interview witnesses and debrief potential cooperating witnesses, including defendants charged with a crime and confidential informants.
AUSAs can work with federal law enforcement through training as well. AUSAs in some districts volunteer to provide legal training to law enforcement agents to ensure they have a clear understanding of the law.
On the back end of the process, AUSAs review current inmate’s requests for early release or other post sentencing modifications. AUSAs must gather and review evidence from the individual’s original case file to determine if the individual is eligible for a sentence modification. AUSAs argue before a judge what the proper adjustment should be if one is warranted. In some instances, AUSAs must gather records from decades earlier that are only available in paper form. This takes close coordination with other law enforcement entities, such as the Bureau of Prisons.
Civil AUSAs represent the United States in all manner of civil litigation, including government contracts, employment, and tort litigation. Civil AUSAs take depositions, file pleadings and argue motions in federal court, and conduct civil trials.
For AUSAs on both the criminal and civil side, deadlines are critical. AUSAs must be conscious of all court mandated filing deadlines and often must rearrange their schedule to ensure deadlines can be met. AUSAs regularly appear in court to litigate their cases, so they must balance a heavy docket with numerous court dates. At trial, AUSAs question witnesses, present opening and closing arguments, and argue motions.
Outside the courtroom, AUSAs spend considerable time writing briefs for the court and internal memos outlining legal arguments and addressing potential weaknesses in their cases.
The work of AUSAs vary significantly by office and U.S. Attorney. AUSAs must be flexible to local conditions and responsive to public safety priorities. While these actions encompass many of the situations an AUSA may run into on a “day in the life,” they only brush the surface of the expansive and critical work AUSAs perform across the country.
This column from National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys (NAAUSA) is part of the FEDforum, an initiative to unite voices across the federal community. The FEDforum is a space for federal employee and law enforcement groups to share their organizations’ initiatives and activities with the FEDagent audience.
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