Dan M. Alsobrooks
Help NDAA Raise Our Voice
"We can hang together or hang separately.” Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said this at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, about the need for the 13 colonies to band together to survive. Below is the first political cartoon on this continent, created and first printed by Franklin in 1754 and revived during the Revolutionary War. As it depicted the necessity of the American colonies to join together or perish, it could hardly be more apropos to the embattled prosecutors of America today.
One of my highest priorities for NDAA this year is to increase NDAA membership. We must raise our numbers in every membership category from the chief prosecutor, to assistant prosecutors, criminal investigators and support staff. What is absolutely clear is that the association’s ability to provide a national voice to defend and further the interests of prosecutors is only as strong as our collective membership. I submit that if all prosecutors do not join together, those forces in our country that are hostile to the role of law enforcement in protecting the rights and safety of our society, will continue to undermine the ability of prosecutors and all of law enforcement to carry out that mission. NDAA calls itself the “voice of the nation’s prosecutors.” Although we speak for a majority of all prosecutors, we are far from having all prosecutors as members.
NDAA currently has a majority of the chief prosecutors in its membership. Eighteen states have 100 percent membership and a number of others are close to full active support of the association. Many of the chief prosecutors who are not NDAA members are part-time prosecutors, most from small population jurisdictions, who need our services the most. Some prosecutors are held back by limited budgets or lack of involvement in their respective state associations. A significant number of assistant prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates are currently members of the association. If all of them belonged to NDAA, that number would be substantially larger. Almost all of the work of NDAA and its affiliates (APRI and the National College of District Attorneys) directly benefits assistant prosecutors and prosecutors’ staffs across the country. What has NDAA done lately for America’s prosecutors? The answer takes a while because the list is long. Is NDAA worth the cost of membership? The cost is nothing compared to the benefits.
Official pronouncements by NDAA presidents or policy positions adopted by the NDAA Board at the right time and place have some impact, but are pin drops compared to the noise level that would come from the combined voices of all the prosecutors in the country. And make no mistake, the noise level of the anti-prosecution slant we confront daily in the media and from our critics cannot be overcome unless every prosecutor takes a place in the choir.
The critical building blocks ensuring that the voice of the nation’s prosecutors is heard at the highest levels of government and in the national media are in place, thanks to the determined efforts of the NDAA Board and staff. For example:
- The work of Newman Flanagan and the NDAA Board in the last administration led to creation of the incredibly valuable Ernest F. Hollings National Advocacy Center.
- The advocacy training of the National College of District Attorneys and the research, training and technical assistance of APRI continues to be the best in the education field. The Center for Prosecution Ethics and Professionalism has recently been established by the college at the University of South Carolina.
- The testimony of Illinois State’s Attorney Paul Logli before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the work of District Attorney J. Tom Morgan of Georgia and Prosecuting Attorney Gary Walker of Michigan, co-chairpersons of the NDAA legislation committee, have advanced the discussion of student loan forgiveness for prosecutors on the state and national levels. With the support of prosecutors nationwide, for the first time we have an opportunity to pass meaningful legislation on this vital issue.
- The NDAA president, executive director and key NDAA members are meeting quarterly with U.S. Attorney General Ashcroft, his chief deputies, representatives of the National Association of Attorneys General and FBI Director Mueller, DEA Director Hutchinson and Homeland Security Chief Ridge.
These accomplishments and contacts are important, but the long-term impact depends on every state and local prosecutor talking to their members of congress and their senators and educating their media and their citizenry. An example is the existence of the National Advocacy Center (NAC), threatened almost every year in federal budget discussions. Its continued existence depends on convincing the Congress of the benefit it brings to their individual districts. If a Congressman or Senator does not hear from prosecutors in their districts, they may well assume that the NAC is not a benefit they need to worry about. As every chief prosecutor knows, it grows more difficult every year to compete with the private sector and other state or federal agencies in hiring and retaining talented and experienced assistant prosecutors. Loan forgiveness would help even the playing field in recruiting public-spirited attorneys who want to make their communities better places to live but cannot afford to accept the low salary. These issues are only the tip of the iceberg.
The famous World War I poster of Uncle Sam, with finger pointed straight at the viewer, saying “I need you” is a latter-day version of Franklin’s quote and cartoon mentioned above. Maybe we need a similar poster of Newman Flanagan, NDAA’s version of Uncle Sam (all he needs is a goatee), to call all prosecutors to join NDAA. Without a doubt, NDAA needs every prosecutor in this country to hang together against the myriad of challenges we all face. If you have not joined NDAA or know a prosecutor who has not joined, take action today.
For more information on membership in the National District Attorneys Association, see NDAA’s Membership section of the NDAA Web site at www.ndaa-apri.org or call (703) 549-9222 and request a membership brochure.
