Kevin P. Meenan,  NDAA's New President
NDAA’s new president, Kevin P. Meenan, received an early and unique introduction to cybercrime in 1995. It occurred in his own office one night when Meenan and his then 13-year-old daughter surprised a burglar breaking into secured juvenile files. The suspect—a deputy clerk of the court—had stolen courthouse keys and was stealing photos of abused and sexually molested children to scan into his computer. The defendant was part of a child pornography Internet ring based in Germany. He was ultimately convicted of both federal and state violations and sent to a federal prison.
Meenan has seen many such cases since 1995, but that first one, he says, “certainly got my attention that cyber-crime was a serious emerging problem.”
Now in his fourth consecutive term as district attorney of Wyoming’s seventh judicial district (population, 68,000), which includes Casper, the state’s largest city, he supervises a staff of 25, which includes eight assistants. He also oversees progressive juvenile and drug diversion programs as well as a victim witness unit. Meenan’s office, together with the DA’s office in Cheyenne, the state’s other large jurisdiction, handles more than two-thirds of all the criminal cases in Wyoming.
“Casper’s an oil town,” Meenan explains, “and always has been kind of a rough and tumble town. We have the same problems other DAs have: homicides, sexual assaults, domestic violence, burglaries, thefts, as well as a huge methamphetamine problem.”
Meenan believes the principal challenges facing the nation’s prosecutors involve their public image. “I think prosecutors today are under attack to some degree,” he says. “In addition to doing all the things we do as prosecutors, we have the challenge of maintaining people’s confidence in the integrity of our offices, and it’s important that the image we project be one that assures people that they’re being treated fairly and equitably.”
To this end, Meenan says one of his principal goals as NDAA president is to “raise the visibility of NDAA on behalf of prosecutors everywhere,” adding, “When these issues are in the national media and a prosecutor is confronted locally and is uncertain how to answer, NDAA becomes their source. It is important that we develop an ability to move quickly on issues in our organization and in rallying our members to respond to situations.” Meenan notes, “If NDAA projects a strong and clear image of what prosecution is all about, every prosecutor in the country is served.”
Membership is another major concern of Meenan as he moves into his presidency. His goal is that every elected prosecutor in the United States be a member of NDAA. He declares, “When the non-member prosecutors out there see that we are their principal resource and that their first call when they have a problem or a question should be to NDAA, they’ll want to belong. And when they realize that we’re ready and eager to provide them with information, technical assistance and training for the handling of their cases and other aspects of their duties, our membership should increase.”
Kevin Meenan is a third generation Wyomingite. He left the state only to attend Northwestern University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1977 but returned to Wyoming to attend the University of Wyoming College of Law, from which he received his law degree in 1980. After several years in private practice, he ran for district attorney in 1986, was elected and has been re-elected ever since. He’s married and the father of four children. When he has the time, he’s an avid mountain biker.
Meenan says he had wanted to be a lawyer ever since his sophomore year in high school “because I wanted to be able to help people and to help my community. I suppose that it was just the way my parents raised me.”
Asked what he would tell a law student considering what field of law to enter after graduation, Meenan said, predictably: “Prosecution, because to me it has been the most gratifying and satisfying way to practice law. It has offered a tremendous mix of challenges to me—some politics, some policy, some administration and some trial work. Even as an elected official I still have the opportunity to try cases, and I enjoy that.”
Still addressing his comments to the theoretical law student, Meenan echoed the sentiments that many of his counterparts have expressed in saying, “I feel that as a prosecutor I can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life in my community. A prosecutor’s office is where the rights of a citizen and the Constitution really come to life. I can’t think of a more rewarding way to practice law. You’re able to help thousands of people, you are able to make sure that certain rights are maintained and that the people’s property and lives are protected.
“It’s a tremendous honor and privilege to be an elected prosecutor. You are a true servant of the people.”
|
