Carmen M. Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (J.D. '81)
Carmen M. Ortiz has dedicated much of her professional career to public service. Nominated by President Barack Obama, as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Ms. Ortiz was confirmed by the United States Senate in November 2009. She is the first Hispanic and the first woman to represent Massachusetts as United States Attorney.
As the chief federal law enforcement officer in Massachusetts, Ms. Ortiz supervises the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the federal government has an interest. She oversees the work of more than 200 attorneys and support staff in Boston, Worcester and Springfield.
U.S. Attorney Ortiz’s top priorities include terrorism and national security, healthcare fraud, civil rights, violent crime reduction and white collar crime. In 2010, she implemented the District’s first civil rights initiative, aimed at reinvigorating enforcement efforts of federal civil rights laws and increasing visibility among affected communities through extensive community outreach efforts. In addition, Ms. Ortiz serves as Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee’s Healthcare Fraud Working Group and is a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rights.
Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, she was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Economic Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (Massachusetts), and also served as the Grand Jury Supervisor. In addition to her federal service, Ms. Ortiz served as an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, where she worked for a total of eight years, overseeing the District Court and prosecuting homicides, sexual assaults, robberies and other felony cases.
In addition to her public service, Ms. Ortiz was a senior trial attorney at the law firm of Morisi & Associates, P.C., concentrating on civil, criminal, and governmental agency litigation. She also was a Program Associate and Training Coordinator at the Harvard Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice (1989-1991). There she worked on the Harvard/Guatemala Criminal Justice Project, which entailed collaborating with the judiciary of Guatemala and other legal professionals to implement criminal justice reforms. In 1991, on behalf of the National Football League, Ms. Ortiz investigated allegations of sexual harassment that were made by a sports writer against the New England Patriots.
Awards, Honors, and Recognitions
ACCESS First One Award (2011); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Outstanding Contributions to the Community (2011); Las Primeras Award for Exemplary Achievement, Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorney’s (2011); El Planeta Newspaper, 100 Most Influential People for the Hispanic Community of Massachusetts, (2011); Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) Foundation, President’s Award (2010); George Washington University Law School, J. William Fulbright Distinguished Public Service Award (2010); Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, Pioneering Women of Color Award (2010).