Tejpal Singh, Named Assistant United States Attor

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Tejpal Singh was recently appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney from the District of Columbia. With kesh and turban, Tejpal is the first Sikh attorney appointed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

DOJ appointments are highly coveted and very prestigious.

The U.S. Attorneys are a vehicle by which the United States acts in court. They execute all the laws of the United States and prosecute anyone who violates those laws. Cases taken up by the U.S. Attorneys range from terrorism (terrorism against Americans abroad is prosecuted in the U.S.) and espionage to fraud and cybercrimes.

The reason why the U.S. Attorney's office is difficult to get into is because of the prestige of prosecuting high profile cases. The attorneys represent the U.S. government in court and they bind the government when they prosecute federal law violations. For example, when the government goes after terrorists or mobsters, the U.S. Attorneys are the ones who prosecute them.

Each state has a U.S. Attorney. Larger states may have more than one. U.S. Attorneys are normally appointed by the President and confirmed by Congress. The U.S. Attorney of each district then appoints Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Tejpal Singh was appointed by the U.S. Attorney from D.C., Roscoe C. Howard. There are approximately 2,000 Assistant U.S. Attorneys across the country.

The position is highly competitive. Only one in ten applicants for Assistant U.S. Attorn

ey is granted an interview, and of those, about half are offered a position. An appointment as Assistant U.S. Attorney provides an excellent opportunity for young lawyers to gain valuable litigation and trial experience in front of judges and juries.

In D.C. where Tejpal Singh practices, they are responsible for local law enforcement as well - felonies, murder, rape. D.C. has the largest office in the country with 340 Assistant U.S. Attorneys.

U.S. Attorneys also prosecute federal hate crimes. The U.S. Attorney's office has a Bias Crime Task Force which was established well before 9/11. Tejpal says that the objective of the task force is to reach out to the affected communities and to prevent and prosecute potential hate crimes. Part of that role is to go into the community and inform them of what hate crimes are and to let them know that the government will prosecute them. One case that Tejpal worked on with SMART before entering the office was the Gurdwara incident in D.C. in which the temporary building/trailer at the construction site was vandalized shortly after 9/11. Tejpal represented SMART in the task force and continues to sit on the task force and work on hate crimes, although it is not his primary job.

Whether the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office gets involved in hate crime cases depends upon which jurisdiction that crime occurred. In other words, the D.C. office is only responsible for hate crimes that occur in D.C., and normally hate crimes are prosecuted by local law enforcement first, but under extraordinary circumstances the federal government can intervene and take over these cases.

In March 2003, Tejpal Singh left private practice and resigned from SMART as a requirement for appointment at the U.S. Attorney's office.

As a new appointee, Tejpal is on rotation of duties. He is currently working in the appellate section of the U.S. Attorney's Office representing the United States on criminal appeals before the D.C. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Cou

rt of Appeals for the District of Columbia. His job is to make sure that criminals who are convicted by a judge or jury and appeal to get out of their sentences stay in jail.

Many lawyers who come into this position move on to become judges, move to senior levels at the DOJ and others go into the private sector. When asked about his future plans, Tejpal replied, "I plan to stay at the office for a while and hope to get as much experience as I can. From there, it is nice to know I have opportunities, but I am enjoying the office at the moment."

Born in Philadelphia, Tejpal Singh graduated from Boston University with a bachelors in Political Science and Philosophy, magna cum laude. He went on to receive a law degree from George Washington Law School, with honors, in 1998. After graduation, he joined Crowell and Morning LLP, where he specialized in government contracts and general litigation. As part of his practice, Tejpal worked on complex commercial litigation arising in federal and state courts, and has particular expertise in the areas of telecommunications and international litigation. He litigated cases involving the False Claims Act and the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, and participated in bid protests before the General Accounting Office.

During that time, Tejpal served as Civil Rights Counsel and a Board of Directors to the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Taskforce (SMART). He worked closely with broad and diverse national coalitions to prevent hate crimes, protect civil liberties and promote diversity, and was a frequent guest speaker before national organizations on issues related to hate crimes and religious discrimination. In the wake of 9/11, Tejpal frequently met with senior officials from the Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, and the FBI on matters related to the reduction and prevention of hate crimes and improper religious and racial profiling. In 2002, Tejpal was named one of the "Top 30 Most Influential Asian Pacific Americans Under 30"

by the online magazine Politicalcircus.com.

Tejpal is also an active member of the D.C. Bar Association, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA), the South Asian Bar Association, and the Sikh Bar.

"The fact that there has never been a turbaned Sikh in the Department of Justice before is significant," says Tejpal. "Diversity is very important, particularly in the context of getting good policy and prosecution practice. Just by having a presence in the office, one can have an affect on policy - and in part determine who to arrest and what crimes to charge. With experience and moving on to senior levels, one can actually make policy - when and who to prosecute, determine the proper types of investigation, and dictate how those investigations should progress."

Tejpal firmly believes that "It is important to have as many Sikh Americans in political and non-political positions as possible - to have a diverse political and executive branch of government. It gives people opportunities and opens doors that would not otherwise be open." When he was interested in law school, Tejpal says he was discouraged from going into the field because of the discrimination he might have to face. But now, he says, there are a growing number of successful Sikh American lawyers who are making a positive contribution to society.

Tejpal's job is to enforce the law and protect all Americans, not just Sikh Americans. But having a Sikh presence at the DOJ, in a position of authority, who understands the concerns of Sikh Americans, helps the community as a whole.

comment: The photograph was taken shortly after 9/11 at a meeting about hate crimes and racial profiling with D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams (left) and D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi (right).

Source: Sikhnet.Com

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