Alice Martin

Alice H. Martin (born in Mississippi) served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2001 to 2009.

Martin earned her bachelor of science in nursing from Vanderbilt University and practiced as a registered nurse while attending law school classes at the University of Mississippi. She completed her juris doctorate in 1981 and practiced as a criminal defender for five years before transitioning into medical malpractice and product liability defense litigation. She then joined the U. S. Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general in the Western District of Tennessee, specializing in white-collar investigations and defense of the military, veteran's and prison hospital systems in malpractice cases. From there she was appointed to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of the United States and presided over criminal and civil jury trials. She was nominated to the position in September 2001 by President George W. Bush and sworn in on September 29.

During her time in the position she is most known for successfully prosecuting abortion clinic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph and for winning convictions against numerous public officials in the region.

The North Alabama Public Corruption Task Force, which Martin created in 2002, has been credited with convicting 125 public officials and government contractors, including Alabama two-year college system chancellor Roy Johnson, State Senator E. B. McClain, and State Representative Bryant Melton. An investigation into Jefferson County's sewer system construction and the ensuing debt crisis led to 21 convictions for various bribery schemes. Among those convicted were former Jefferson County Commissioners Jeff Germany, Chris McNair and May Buckelew.

She also took the lead in the first prosecution based on the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate fraud legislation. Though she notably failed to get a conviction in the conspiracy case against HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy, she was selected as a "Top Ten Prosecutor" by the Corporate Fraud Reporter in 2004. Her office did win convictions against Scrushy along with former Governor Don Seigelman in 2006 for corruption related to Scrushy's appointment to the state's hospital certificate of need board.

Siegelman's 88-month prison sentence has been held up as an example of what some consider to be partisan conduct by the U. S. Attorney's office. Siegelman, a Democrat, was prosecuted for activities that many consider to be standard practice at all levels of government. Moreover he was singled out for prosecution despite testimony from Lanny Young of payments made to numerous high-profile Republican politicians who were never investigated for wrongdoing. Siegelman's conviction has been appealed.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has begun an investigation into the allegations of selective prosecution. They are also investigating a complaint against Martin from Axion Corp., a company she prosecuted for allegedly providing classified information about Blackhawk helicopters to a Chinese manufacturer. The case was dismissed after it was revealed that the information was never classified.

In addition to her work in Alabama, Martin has served on several federal committees. Martin submitted her resignation in June 2009 following the election of Barack Obama. Former assistant U. S. Attorney Joyce Vance has been nominated as her successor.

References

• Horton, Scott (March 9, 2008) "Alice Martin's War" Harper's Magazine
• Weiss, Debra Cassens (July 15, 2008) "U.S. Attorney Martin Investigated by Ethics Watchdog for 2 Prosecutions." ABA Journal
• Gordon, Robert K. (June 16, 2009) "U.S. Attorney Alice Martin of Birmingham announces resignation." Birmingham News