Environment Prosecutions for July 2012
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2012 the government reported 37 new environment prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 15.9% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with environment-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. (See Table 1)
When monthly 2012 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-18 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 34 percent from levels reported in 2007.
The dip in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall decrease in environment prosecutions is 26.6 percent instead of 34 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
The decrease from the levels five years ago in environment prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of environment prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
Within the broad category of environment, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within environment are
Illegal Discharge of Toxic, Hazardous or Carcinogenic Waste
Wildlife Protection
Marine Resources
Environmental Crime
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in July 2012 was for "Environ-Wildlife Protection", accounting for 62.2 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Environ-Environmental Crimes" (37.8%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for environment prosecutions in July 2012 was Interior accounting for 62 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of environment referrals were: EPA (30% ), IRS (5%), Agri (3%). See Figure 3.
Environment Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In July 2012, 13 defendants in environment cases for these matters were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in July the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 16 U.S.C Section 668 involving the "Bald and golden eagles". This was the lead charge for 38.5 percent of all magistrate filings in July.
Environment Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In July 2012, 24 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there were an additional 3 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during July.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of environment matters filed in U.S. District Court during July 2012.
Lead Charge Count Rank 16 USC 703 - Taking, killing, or possessing migratory birds 7 1 More 33 USC 1319 - Water Pollution - Enforcement 3 2 More 42 USC 7413 - Air Pollution Prevention and Control - Fed strd 3 2 More 16 USC 1538 - Endangered Species - Prohibitive acts 2 4 More 16 USC 3372 - Illegally Taken Fish & Wildlife - prohibited acts 2 4 More 18 USC 545 - Smuggling goods into the United States 2 4 More 26 USC 7201 - Attempt to evade or defeat tax 2 4 More 33 USC 1317 - Toxic and pretreatment effluent standards 2 4 More 42 USC 6928 - Hazardous Waste Management - Federal Enforcement 2 4 More 16 USC 1338 - Wild Horses and Burros - criminal provisions 1 10 More 33 USC 1311 - Effluent limitations - Water Pollution 1 10 More Table 2: Top charges filed
"Taking, killing, or possessing migratory birds" (Title 16 U.S.C Section 703) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Water Pollution - Enforcement" under Title 33 U.S.C Section 1319 and "Air Pollution Prevention and Control - Fed strd" under Title 42 U.S.C Section 7413.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In July 2012 the Justice Department said the government brought 10.6 environment prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of environment prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank Miss, S 6 1 More Cal, C 3 2 More La, W 2 3 More Minnesota 2 3 More N Car, E 2 3 More S Dakota 2 3 More Alaska 1 7 More Cal, S 1 7 More Ga, N 1 7 More Ind, S 1 7 More N Car, W 1 7 More N Mexico 1 7 More N. Y., E 1 7 More Ohio, S 1 7 More Texas, N 1 7 More Wisc, E 1 7 More Table 3: Top 10 districts
The Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson)—with 6 prosecutions—was the most active during July 2012.
The Central District of California (Los Angeles) ranked 2nd.
Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport), District of Minnesota, Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) and District of South Dakota are now ranking 3rd.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new environment crime cases of this type during July 2012 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Reeves, Carlton Wayne Miss, S 6 1 More Haik, Richard T., Sr La, W 2 2 More Montgomery, Ann D. Minnesota 2 2 More Dever, James C., III N Car, E 2 2 More Burgess, Timothy Mark Alaska 1 5 More Lorenz, M. James Cal, S 1 5 More Lawrence, William T. Ind, S 1 5 More Conrad, Robert James, Jr. N Car, W 1 5 More Irizarry, Dora L. N. Y., E 1 5 More Smith, George Curtis Ohio, S 1 5 More Robinson, Mary Lou Texas, N 1 5 More Randa, Rudolph Thomas Wisc, E 1 5 More Table 4: Top 10 judges
All 12 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of environment filings . (Because of ties, there were a total of 12 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Carlton Wayne Reeves in the Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson) ranked 1st with 6 defendants in environment cases.
Judges Richard T. Haik, Sr in the Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport), Ann D. Montgomery in the District of Minnesota and James C. Dever, III in the Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) ranked 2nd with 2 defendants in environment cases.
Report Generated: October 1, 2012
