DOJ Legend Jack Keeney Dies

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Jack Keeney meeting Michelle Obama with Attorney General Eric Holder

The legendary John C. Keeney, who served in the Criminal Division for 59 years, passed away on Saturday, November 19, 2011, at his home in Kensington, Maryland. Jack joined the Criminal Division at Main Justice on March 19, 1951, and served until his retirement in 2010, at the age of 88. He served 11 U.S. Presidents. For several decades, he served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, including numberous stints as the Acting Assistant Attorney General.

In 1990 Keeney received the Henry E. Petersen Award, the Criminal Division’s highest award. He 1996, he received the Attorney General’s Award, the highest award bestowed by the Attorney General. In 2010, one of the Criminal Division buildings was named in honor of Jack.

Before his service with the Department of Justice, Jack was a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying several B-17 bombing raids over Nazi Germany, one such raid resulting in his being held by German forces as a prisoner of war.

Jack received law degrees from The Dickinson School of Law and The  George Washington University Law School. He was married to the late Eugenia Brislin and had five children and two grandchildren.

He was truly an American hero.

Former NAFUSA Executive Director Charles Graves Dies

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Chuck Graves, who served as Executive Director of NAFUSA 1998-2000, and as President of NAFUSA 1999-2000, passed away August 22, 2011, in Billings, Montanta. He was 80 years old at the time of his death. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as the United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming, and served from 1977-1981.

Graves received his law degree from the University of Colorado. He had a successful law practice in Cheyenne, Wyoming for many years. He is survived by his wife, Halene, as well as five children and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

NAFUSA presented Halene with an American flag with the following inscription: Flown over the U.S. Department of Justice on November 15, 2011 in honor of Charles E. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming (1977-1980).

Santa Fe Conference Roundup (Updated)

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NAFUSA President Rick Deane and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano

UPDATED SUMMARY NOVEMBER 9, 2011

NAFUSA concluded a successful annual conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 1, 2011. Click here to view 700 photos from the conference.

Main Justice has posted videos from the Santa Fe conference.

Click here to view the presentation of the Bradford Award to AUSA Ken Sorenson.

Click here to view Janet Napolitano’s keynote address at the concluding banquet and Ken Sorenson’s presentation of the case which won him the Bradford Award.

Finally, click here to view portions of the WikiLeaks panel discussion.

NAFUSA member Peter Vaira once again has provided detailed summaries of the conference. Click here to read Peter’s summaries of the Santa Fe conference presentations, including Steve Easton’s presentation on expert witnesses, the panel on Southwest border issues, the WikiLeaks panel and Stewart Youngs’s presentation on the Supreme Court term 2010-2011.

Ira Raphaelson Named Legal Head at Las Vegas Sands Corporation

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NAFUSA member Ira Raphaelson, who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1989-1990, was named Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Las Vegas Sands, Corp., beginning November 1, 2011, where he will be responsible for the company’s legal affairs worldwide. Raphaelson previously served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors of Scientific Games Corportation, a leader in the lottery industry.

In addition to serving as U.S. Attorney, Raphaelson was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as Special Counsel for Financial Institutions. He also served as Counsel to the Attorney General (1991-1993). He earned his J.D. from Northwestern University. He is married with three children and two grandchildren.

‘Macleans.ca’ Interviews Valerie Plame Wilson at Santa Fe Conference

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Luiza and Charlie Savage at the Santa Fe conference

The New York Times correspondent Charlie Savage is not the only journalist in the Savage family. Charlie’s wife, Luiza Savage, is a corresondent for Macleans.ca, the Canadian weekly news magazine. Charlie has attended the past two NAFUSA conferences. In New York City in 2010, he moderated the panel discussion on the appropriate forum in which to prosecute terrorism cases. Charlie continues to follow this still unsettled issue. See, for instance, Charlie’s October 28, 2011 article in The Times. In Santa Fe, Charlie moderated the panel on the Southwest border and was a WikiLeads panelist.

Luiza Savage accompanied Charlie to Santa Fe. She put her time to good use when she interviewed another WikiLeaks panelist, Valerie Plame Wilson, at La Posada following the panel. Luiza’s interview of Valerie Plame can be read here.

Charlie Savage and Valerie Plame Wilson on the WikiLeaks panel

Videos of NAFUSA WikiLeaks Panel Posted on ‘Main Justice’

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Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith, former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, argues why the U.S. shouldn’t try Julian Assange.

In a second Main Justice video, former federal prosecutor Eric Snyder argues the case for prosecution. Goldsmith and Snyder were joined on the panel at the Santa Fe conference by 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie Savage, now Washington correspondent for The New York Times, Ken Wainstein, who served in many high ranking positions in the Bush Administration, including the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Valerie Plame Wilson, a former covert CIA operations officer whose name became public as a result of a well publized leak. The panel was moderated by NAFUSA Executive Director Rich Rossman.

Videos courtesy of Main Justice – Politics, Policy and The Law.

Napolitano Keynote Address and Sorenson Presentation

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was keynote speaker at the NAFUSA Conference in Santa Fe on October 1st. Outgoing NAFUSA president Bill Lutz gave the introduction.

At the NAFUSA Conference, Hawaii Assitant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson discussed the prosecution of former Northrop engineer Noshir Gowadia, convicted of selling classified military information to the Chinese. Sorenson won the 2011 J. Michael Bradford award for the case.

Videos courtesy of Main Justice — Politics, Policy and The Law.