The Honorable John Ashcroft
United States Attorney General
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20530-0001

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

We write to applaud the Department's involvement in securing indictments last week against 40 alleged members and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood on racketeering charges. We are aware that these indictments are the result of an extensive nationwide state and federal investigation of this dangerous criminal syndicate.

The Anti-Defamation League has closely tracked the efforts of organized hate groups to recruit in prisons for many years. We recently published the enclosed report, Dangerous Convictions: An Introduction to Extremist Activities in Prisons, which details the growth, activities, and recruiting efforts of extremist hate groups in prisons. In this report, we conclude that to mitigate the harm of these dangerous groups more needs to be done to increase public awareness of their threat and law enforcement authorities need additional resources to track and respond to their ongoing threat to public safety.

Last week's indictments send a strong message to members of other extremist prison gangs: We will not tolerate violence, racial bigotry, and hatred in our prisons. We urge you to continue your vigilant efforts to root out extremist hate groups in prison, to prosecute these members of the Aryan Brotherhood to the fullest extent permissible under the law, and to continue to provide sufficient resources to prison officials to monitor and expose these groups.

Sincerely,