Editing United States Marshals Service (section)

==Criticism and controversy==
{{See also|Police misconduct#United States}}

===Inspector General audits===
An audit by the [[Office of Inspector General]] (OIG) (November 2010) of the Justice Department found "weaknesses in the USMS's efforts to secure federal court facilities in the six USMS district offices we visited".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/USMS/a1102.pdf |title=Audit of the United States Marshals Service's Oversight of its Judicial Facilities Security Program |date=November 2010 |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]] |access-date=March 26, 2011 |archive-date=January 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101143432/http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/USMS/a1102.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The report found, among other things, that the Marshals Service's Judicial Security Division had contracted private security firms to provide Court Security Officers without having completed background checks. Another incident involved the Marshals Service awarding a $300 million contract to a security guard company named USProtect Corporation, which had a known history of numerous criminal activities leading to convictions for [[mail fraud]] and [[bank fraud]] and [[insurance fraud|false insurance claims]] in addition to a civil judgment against its chief financial officer. Technical problems included court security officers not being properly trained on security screening equipment, which also meant equipment not being used. The OIG noted that in February 2009, several courthouses failed to detect mock explosives sent by Marshals Service Headquarters in order to test security procedures. They also found that 18% of court security officers had outdated firearms qualifications.

===Internal thefts===
In January 2007, Deputy U.S. Marshal John Thomas Ambrose was charged with theft of Justice Department property, disclosure of confidential information, and lying to federal agents during an investigation. Deputy Ambrose had been in charge of protecting mobster-turned-informant [[Nicholas Calabrese]], who was instrumental in sending three mob bosses to prison for life.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/12/deputy-us-marshal-john-t_n_186004.html |work=[[HuffPost]] |title=Deputy US Marshal John T. Ambrose To Be Tried For Leaking Secrets To The Mob |first=Mike |last=Robinson |date=April 13, 2009 |access-date=March 26, 2011 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606220506/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/12/deputy-us-marshal-john-t_n_186004.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A federal jury convicted Ambrose on April 27, 2009, of leaking secret government information concerning Calabrese to William Guide, a family friend and former Chicago police officer who had also served time in prison for corruption. Ambrose also was convicted of theft of government property but acquitted of lying to federal agents.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/mob/1547639,marshal-ambrose-trial-loses-juror-042809.article |title= Deputy U.S. Marshal Ambrose guilty on two charges |first1=Natasha |last1=Korecki |first2=Frank |last2=Main |date=April 28, 2009 |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502140324/http://www.suntimes.com/news/mob/1547639,marshal-ambrose-trial-loses-juror-042809.article |archive-date=May 2, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On October 27, 2009, Ambrose was sentenced to serve four years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/crime-law-justice/trials/02008000.topic |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |title=Trials |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720215042/http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/crime-law-justice/trials/02008000.topic |archive-date=July 20, 2014 }}</ref>

On March 26, 2009, the body of Deputy U.S. Marshal Vincent Bustamante was discovered in [[Ciudad Juárez|Juárez]], [[Mexico]], according to the Marshals Service. Bustamante, who was accused of stealing and [[pawnbroker|pawning]] government property, was a fugitive from the law at the time of his death. [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] State Police said the body had multiple wounds to the head{{spaced ndash}} apparently consistent with an execution-style shooting.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/26/marshal.killed/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]]|title=Wanted U.S. marshal's body found in Mexico |date=March 26, 2009 |first=Doug |last=Gross |access-date=March 26, 2011 |archive-date=October 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004203337/http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/26/marshal.killed/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Racial discrimination===
In 1998, retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg won a landmark [[Equal Employment Opportunity|EEO]] and [[Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964|Title VII]] [[racial discrimination]] and retaliation lawsuit against the Justice Department, for which he was awarded $4 million. The jury found the entire Marshals Service to be a "racially [[Hostile work environment|hostile environment]]" which discriminates against black employees in its promotion practices. U.S. District Judge [[Thomas Penfield Jackson]] summarized the jurors' decision by stating that they felt there was an "atmosphere of racial disharmony and mistrust within the United States Marshal Service".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ramea7.com/Matthew_Foggs_BIO_WithOut_Photo.htm |title=Ramaea7.com |access-date=June 17, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720220753/http://www.ramea7.com/Matthew_Foggs_BIO_WithOut_Photo.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="bwbadge.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bwbadge.com/|title=CARCLE: Congress Against Racism and Corruption in Law EnforcementCARCLE|website=www.bwbadge.com|access-date=January 16, 2010|archive-date=January 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113211004/http://www.bwbadge.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2011, Fogg is president of "Bigots with Badges",<ref name="bwbadge.com"/> and executive director of CARCLE (Congress Against Racism and Corruption in Law Enforcement), and is also associated with [[Law Enforcement Against Prohibition]] (LEAP), a [[drug law]] reform organization of law enforcement officers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Speakers&bio=234 |title=Matthew F. Fogg |access-date=March 26, 2011 |archive-date=June 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611110634/http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Speakers&bio=234 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 2023, U.S. Marshals Service settled a $15 million, nearly 30-year-old EEOC class action lawsuit filed by Matthew Fogg in January, 1994. Alleging discrimination against African-American Deputy U.S. Marshal applicants, employees and Detention Officers with regard to hiring, promotions, recruitment and headquarter assignments.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/press-release/us-marshals-service-reaches-settlement-class-action-lawsuit | title=U.S. Marshals Service Reaches Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit &#124; U.S. Marshals Service | date=25 September 2023 }}</ref>

===Ruby Ridge===
{{Main|Ruby Ridge standoff}}

The Department of Justice under [[Janet Reno]] acknowledged wrongdoing in U.S. marshals' decisions surrounding a firefight at [[Ruby Ridge]] in 1992, where a deputy U.S. marshal shot 14-year-old Samuel Weaver in the back. Afterwards, deputy U.S. marshals became involved in a gunfight with Weaver's father, who was wanted on a federal warrant for failure to appear, and another person. Deputy U.S. marshals dispute this claim. Deputy U.S. marshal Billy Degan was killed during a surveillance operation after identifying himself as a federal agent. This led to an extended gunfight in which both sides fired several rounds. Samuel Weaver was shot and killed. His body was taken to a small building for more than a week and an autopsy was unable to determine entry and exit wounds (see Idaho Federal Court Transcripts for clarification of this incident).{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} ''[[Newsweek]]'' described the incident as "one of the most shameful episodes in the history of American law enforcement".<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=August 27, 1995 |title=Echoes of Ruby Ridge |work=[[Newsweek]]|url=http://www.newsweek.com/echoes-ruby-ridge-182402 |access-date=October 1, 2017 |archive-date=October 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029121652/https://www.newsweek.com/echoes-ruby-ridge-182402 |url-status=live }}</ref>