NDAA’s National and International Relationships
Before I report on the activities as your president, I would like to take a moment to recognize an exceptional man who made an outstanding impact on the criminal justice community. On September 29, 2006, the prosecutor community suffered a tragic loss when John Reid Justice, solicitor for the 6th Judicial Circuit of South Carolina, died at the age of 63. I was honored to represent NDAA at his funeral in Chester, South Carolina, on October 3. John Justice was a great mentor to me, and representing our organization at his funeral was the most significant yet unfortunate event I have attended since beginning my term as NDAA president. This issue of The Prosecutor is dedicated to his honor. Please take a moment to read the prosecutor profile on page 13 and the remarks of Executive Director Tom Charron about John Justice.
Thus far, my time as NDAA president has been extremely rewarding and increasingly busy. It has been a great privilege to represent America’s prosecutors in my travels throughout the country. In recent months I have had the honor to meet with several prosecutor and federal organizations with whom I hope NDAA can develop a close working relationship in the coming year.
In July, Tom Charron and I were fortunate to attend the National Black Prosecutors Association meeting in Houston. NDAA’s attendance at that meeting marked the first time that any formal dialogue was exchanged between NDAA and the National Black Prosecutors Association. As NDAA president, one of my initiatives is to increase minority representation and participation in NDAA and in prosecutors’ offices and associations nationwide. Tom and I networked with many of the officers and participants at the meeting. NDAA was well received and we look forward to developing our relationship with the association in the future.
In July, I also had the opportunity to travel to Phoenix, Arizona, where I met with the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council. I’d like to thank them for their hospitality. During our meetings, we discussed the priorities of Arizona’s prosecutors and how NDAA can assist them in their efforts and also how we can help each other with some of the new nationwide initiatives affecting prosecutors.
My travels representing NDAA have not been limited to the United States. In August, Bob Fertitta, former dean of the National College of District Attorneys, and I were privileged to represent our organization at the meeting of the International Association of Prosecutors in Paris. I was warned before my trip that there might be some hostility toward American prosecutors, especially with regard to capital punishment. However, I walked away with the opposite impression. In fact, prosecutors from around the globe were interested in discussing prosecutorial issues with me as well as how the American judicial system worked. They also wanted information that they could use to make changes to their own systems. I found that international prosecutors are looking to the American system as a model to improve judicial systems in their own countries.
In September, I was back in the U.S. where I met with solicitors in South Carolina to share some of NDAA’s goals and discuss how we can work together and help each other on upcoming initiatives. The prosecutors in South Carolina were extremely gracious and welcoming and I appreciate their warmth. I look forward to our future work together.
Also on the schedule for September was the NDAA Executive Committee meeting in California. The meeting was very productive and I was glad to have everyone in attendance. I would like to thank Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein for his assistance and hospitality while the executive committee was in town.
On a final note, I’d like to share with our nation’s prosecutors the great presence NDAA has in Washington, DC. In an effort to keep our president-elect involved in current NDAA activities, I invited Jim Fox to travel to Washington with me in September to attend meetings with several government agencies. During our trip to the nation’s capital, we witnessed first hand how our presence there is becoming more and more dominant with each passing year.
To kick-start my visit, Tom Charron, Jim Fox and I had an opportunity to have a breakfast meeting at the White House with Toby Burke, special assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs, and Ruben S. Barrales, deputy assistant to the president and director of the office of intergovernmental affairs.
We also sat down with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and discussed an important initiative for prosecutors—Project Safe Childhood. Attorney General Gonzales emphasized the need for federal, state and local prosecutors to communicate and collaborate in order to make this initiative successful. The Justice Department has required that all U.S. attorneys adopt strategic plans which include local prosecutors. Attorney General Gonzales likewise encouraged all local prosecutors to reach out to their respective U.S. attorney on this initiative. In states where criminal penalties for the sexual exploitation of children need to be enhanced, he urged local prosecutors to work with state legislatures to enact harsher penalties for those heinous crimes. The relationship between local prosecutors and U.S. attorneys has improved in recent years, and both groups are continuously encouraged to work together to protect our nation’s communities. Other issues arose during our meeting with the attorney general such as the association’s funding request of $4.5 million for the National Advocacy Center in South Carolina and the recruitment and retention of minorities as career prosecutors.
The discussion about Project Safe Childhood continued with Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. In keeping with the tone of Attorney General Gonzales’s statement, McNulty said that it was critical for law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels to work together. In the coming months, NDAA will have much more detailed information about the Project Safe Childhood initiative. A Project Safe Childhood Conference convened in December to allow all U.S. attorneys to discuss a strategic and detailed plan for implementation of the project with local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies. All members of the NDAA Board of Directors were invited to the conference and an NDAA representative was scheduled to appear on a panel to discuss outreach efforts.
My visit concluded with a meeting with Cybele Daley, deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Justice Programs. Throughout our meeting, we discussed restricted and limited funding that is currently available for new initiatives. Specifically, the programs that cause the most concern are those in which NDAA has played an active role in recent years such as: Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Gang Resistance Education and Training program (GREAT) and reentry programs.
I left the capital confident in NDAA’s presence there and optimistic about our organization’s current and future working relationship with the federal government. I look forward to developing close, working relationships with all of the organizations I have had the privilege to meet with over the past several months, and I am confident that future meetings will generate similar feelings. I am excited about NDAA’s initiatives and I am honored to be the spokesperson for this wonderful, powerful organization. I look forward to meeting with you in coming months.
