Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke doesn’t want the case against accused Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner moved out of state, the Arizona Republic reported.

Dennis Burke (DOJ)

Last week, it was announced that U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Burns of the Southern District of California, a former federal prosecutor, will preside over the case. Among the dead in the shooting rampage was U.S. District Judge John M. Roll, chief of the Arizona federal courts.

As previously reported, U.S. District Judge Raner Collins ruled that federal judges assigned to Arizona’s Tucson division must recuse themselves from presiding over the case because ethics rules require judges to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Burke’s office said in a statement that prosecutors would fight to keep the case in the state if defense attorneys seek to have it moved. He also denied reports that federal officials planned to move the case to San Diego.

“For good reason, federal law dictates these offenses be tried in this district,” a Burke spokesman said in the statement. The Republic reported that a Justice Department spokesman echoed the commitment to keep the trial in Arizona.

Six people died in the shooting rampage at an constituent event in a supermarket parking lot being held by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-N.M.), who was severely wounded with a gunshot to the head.

Dennis Burke (DOJ)

Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke on Monday announced the formation of a new civil rights unit to coordinate civil rights prosecution, training and outreach in the state. The unit will be headed by Tucson Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire Lefkowitz, who will have state-wide authority on civil rights matters, according to a news release.

In addition to working with federal prosecutors, Lefkowitz will assist the District Law Enforcement Coordinator to develop a protocol with law enforcement agencies that investigate civil rights cases. One of the focuses of the unit will be the new hate crimes law that Congress passed last year.

“The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to and has had an historic role in upholding the civil and constitutional rights of all individuals, including the most vulnerable members of our society,” Burke said in a statement. “The creation of the Civil Rights Unit in Arizona ensures civil rights cases will be given top priority, whether they be the prosecution of hate crimes, or protecting the victims of human trafficking, discrimination based on disability, or civil rights abuses under color of law.”

Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke named a new leader for the office in Tucson, The Associated Press reported today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shelley Clemens replaces acting chief Robert Miskell, who took over the 71-attorney Tucson office after Lynnette Kimmins stepped down last fall.

Clemens had served as a criminal division deputy chief since January 2008. She previously was the first assistant in the Washington County, Okla., district attorney’s office.

Dennis Burke, the new U.S. Attorney in Arizona, said the immigration system in the United States is “broken” and “does not reflect economic reality.”

In an interview for a cover story in Arizona Attorney magazine, Burke also said:  ”We’ve created a market for human smuggling that accompanies an already-existing drug-smuggling industry, which flourishes in Arizona. What we have here is a third-world economy next to the most prosperous economy in the world.”

Burke is a former top aide to Janet Napolitano, the former Arizona governor who is now the Homeland Security secretary. Burke is also chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee border and immigration law enforcement subcommittee.

In Arizona, “we have a combination of very intense border issues that can be violent and drive a lot of the immigration debate in this country,” Burke told the magazine.

More from the interview:

“I’ve believed for a long time that a lot of it boils down to an immigration system that’s been broken. It’s less broke than it has been in the past, because resources have gone into it. But we have a visa system and caps on the number of individuals allowed into this country that have been arbitrary. The result is that the trade for and the smuggling of actual humans in and out of the country becomes an incredibly profitable business. And since it’s an illegal business, it ends up becoming very violent.”

Burke said he hopes his office can help advance comprehensive immigration reform. “We have an obligation to show that we can secure our border under the current system, so that reform can be achieved through Congress. I think the District can… lay a predicate for the fact that overall comprehensive reform can be accomplished because we’re doing our best to secure the border here.”

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (government photo)

The Justice Department has set up a telephone tip-line as part of its investigation of Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio. As of 1:35 p.m. Wednesday, the mailbox was full.

The tip line, first reported on Tuesday by the Phoenix Business Journal, is in both English and Spanish and asks those with information about the sheriff department’s treatment of Latinos to leave their names and numbers.

Arpaio, who has gained fame as “Sheriff Joe” for his tough enforcement of immigration laws and the arrest of thousands of illegal immigrants, has been accused of unfairly targeting Latinos in his crime sweeps, traffic stops and immigration raids. Arpaio denies wrongdoing, saying his officers are simply enforcing the law. He accused Civil Rights Division attorneys investigating him as posing as reporters at a press conference in October.

Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar told the Phoenix Business Journal that the tip line is part of the federal civil rights inquiry and that the department also is using 800 numbers for other investigations.

The new U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Dennis Burke, who was confirmed by the Senate in September,  has said border enforcement is a top priority.

Eric Holder (DOJ)

Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday announced nine appointees to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys.

In August, Holder tapped Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones to chair the committee, an influential policy-making and advisory body that serves as the voice of the U.S. Attorneys at Main Justice.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, of Illinois’ Northern District, served as interim chairman before Jones was confirmed. Chicago’s top prosecutor, a Republican appointee who has been recommended for a second tour of duty, will remain on the committee.

The nine new members are listed below. Click on their names for a summary of their Senate questionnaires.

• Preet Bharara, of the Southern District of New York
• Dennis Burke, of Arizona
• Jenny Durkan, of the Western District of Washington
• Paul Fishman, of New Jersey
• Neil MacBride, of the Eastern District of Virginia
• Peter Neronha, of Rhode Island
• Joyce Vance, of the Northern District of Alabama
• Channing Phillips, acting U.S attorney in the District of Columbia
• John Davis, chief of the criminal division of the federal prosecutors’ office in Alexandria, will represent the views of Assistant U.S. Attorneys.

They will each serve two-year terms.

The Senate so far has confirmed 18 of 93 U.S. Attorneys. One nominee is waiting for approval by the full Senate, and 11 more await a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Holder, in a statement, said he would rely heavily on the the AGAC as the department works to curb violent crime and gang violence, promote civil rights, police the marketplace and protect national security.

The AGAC’s other members, who were appointed during the Bush administration, include U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, of  Middle District of Alabama; Rod Rosenstein, of Maryland; Brett Tolman, of Utah; and Gretchen Witt, the civil chief in the District of New Hampshire.

Regulations require only that the committee have an “appropriate” number of members.

The Senate confirmed six U.S. Attorneys this afternoon by unanimous consent.

They are:

Steven Dettelbach (ohio.gov)

Carter Stewart (Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease)

-Steven Dettelbach (Northern District of Ohio): The partner at the Baker & Hostetler law firm was nominated July 14. Dettelbach will replace Gregory White, who resigned in 2008. Read more about Dettelbach here.

-Carter Stewart (Southern District of Ohio): The associate at the Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease law firm was nominated July 14. He will replace Gregory Lockhart, who resigned last month. Read more about the appointee here.

Peter Neronha (DOJ)

Daniel Bogden (Getty Images)

-Peter Neronha (Rhode Island): The Rhode Island Assistant U.S. Attorney was nominated July 31. Neronha will replace Robert Clark Corrente, who resigned June 26. Read more about the appointee here.

-Daniel Bogden (Nevada): The former Nevada U.S. Attorney, who was fired during the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge, was re-nominated July 31. Bogden will replace Gregory Brower, whose resignation is effective Oct. 10. Read more about Bogden here.

Neil MacBride (Business Software Alliance)

-Dennis Burke (Arizona): Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s senior adviser on border security and law enforcement was nominated July 14. Burke will replace Diane Humetewa, who resigned Aug. 2. Read more about the appointee here.

-Neil MacBride (Eastern District of Virginia): The Justice Department Associate Deputy Attorney General was nominated Aug. 6. MacBride will replace Chuck Rosenberg, who resigned in October 2008. Read more about MacBride here.

The Senate has now confirmed all 11 U.S. Attorneys that have been reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

On Thursday, the panel is slated to consider U.S. Attorney nominees Jenny Durkan for the Western District of Washington and Paul Fishman for New Jersey. After the committee votes on Durkan and Fishman, it will still have to consider five more U.S. Attorney nominees. The panel has not announced when it will vote on the five nominees.

A former Arizona U.S. Attorney joined the Native American law practice of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, the Cleveland-based firm announced today.

Diane Humetewa

Diane Humetewa, the first American Indian woman to be a U.S. Attorney, will work on natural resources, energy, water and real estate issues out of the firm’s Washington and Phoenix offices. She resigned as U.S. Attorney last month after serving almost two years as the top federal prosecutor in Arizona. Humetewa was nominated in 2007 to replace Paul Charlton, who was forced out during the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge.

Click here for our previous report about attempts by Bush White House officials to sink her nomination in 2007.  But Humetewa’s sponsor and former boss, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), refused to budge, and she was appointed to the U.S. Attorney post.

“Diane is joining us at an opportune time, given the increasing Native American demand for legal and legislative services in the Southwest and in Washington, D.C.,” Phoenix office managing partner Robert L. Matia said in a statement. “Her extensive background in these areas complements our existing practices. We are very excited to welcome her to Squire Sanders.”

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed Dennis Burke, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s senior adviser on border security and law enforcement, to be the next Arizona U.S. Attorney. The Senate has yet to schedule a floor vote on the Burke nomination.

The Senate Judiciary Committee reported four U.S. Attorney nominees out of committee today by voice vote.

They are:

Daniel Bogden (Getty Images)

-Daniel Bogden (Nevada): The former Nevada U.S. Attorney, who was fired during the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge, was re-nominated July 31. Bogden would replace Gregory Brower. Read more about Bogden here.

Neil MacBride (Business Software Alliance)

-Dennis Burke (Arizona): Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s senior adviser on border security and law enforcement was nominated July 14. Burke would replace Diane Humetewa, who resigned Aug. 2. Read more about the nominee here.

-Neil MacBride (Eastern District of Virginia): The Justice Department Associate Deputy Attorney General was nominated Aug. 6. MacBride would replace Chuck Rosenberg, who resigned in October 2008. Read more about MacBride here.

-Peter Neronha (Rhode Island): The Rhode Island Assistant U.S. Attorney was nominated July 31. Neronha would replace Robert Clark Corrente, who resigned June 26. Read more about the nominee here.

“I think they are nominees worthy of confirmation,” Judiciary Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said at the meeting today.

The panel has now endorsed a total of 11 U.S. Attorney nominees, including five who were confirmed by the full Senate last month. Another seven U.S. Attorney nominees have yet to be considered by the committee.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) criticized Senate delays on DOJ nominees in prepared remarks for the confirmation hearing of Environment and Natural Resources Division nominee Ignacia Moreno and four federal judges.

DOJ nominees who are still awaiting Senate confirmation include Dawn Johnsen for the Office of Legal Counsel, Thomas Perez for the Civil Rights Division, Mary L. Smith for the Tax Division, and Christopher Schroeder for the Office of Legal Policy. In addition, two U.S. Attorney nominees — Steven M. Dettelbach for the Northern District of Ohio and Carter M. Stewart for the Southern District of Ohio – have already been reported out of committee and “deserve prompt consideration by the full Senate,” Leahy said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider three U.S. Attorney nominees at a Sept. 10 meeting, the panel announced today.

Peter Neronha (DOJ)

They are:

-Peter Neronha (Rhode Island): The Rhode Island Assistant U.S. Attorney was nominated July 31. Neronha would replace Robert Clark Corrente, who resigned June 26. Read more about the nominee here.

Daniel Bogden (Getty Images)

-Daniel Bogden (Nevada): The former Nevada U.S. Attorney, who was fired during the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge, was re-nominated July 31. Bogden would replace Gregory Brower. Read more about Bogden here.

-Dennis Burke (Arizona): Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s senior adviser on border security and law enforcement was nominated July 14. Burke would replace Diane Humetewa, who resigned Aug. 2. Read more about Burke here.

Of the 20 Obama administration U.S. Attorney nominees so far, five have already been confirmed.