NAFUSA members will find interesting the publication of the Oxford University Press book, coauthored by Brett Curry, Professor of Political Science at Georgia Southern University, and Banks Miller, Associate Professor of Political Science & Public Policy at the University of Texas at Dallas, “U.S. Attorneys, Political Control, and Career Ambition.” Here is the link to the book’s page at Oxford UP: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/us-attorneys-political-control-and-career-ambition-9780190928247?cc=us&lang=en&#
The first book-length treatment of USAs in more than 40 years, this study is accessible, and discusses aspects of the history surrounding the USA position while also offering an empirical investigation of specific issue areas spanning the Reagan-Obama presidencies. It incorporates anecdotes involving more than 50 former USAs throughout the book; Professor (and former AUSA) Dan Richman of Columbia Law School has written an endorsement on the book’s cover.
The last scholarly book devoted to U.S. Attorneys was “Counsel for the United States,” by James Eisenstein.
NAFUSA member William “Bill” Killian (ED Tennessee 2010-2015), has authored a new book, “Won’t Back Down: The Journey from Small Town Tennessee to Presidentially Appointed United States Attorney.” In a compilation of legal anecdotes, Bill shares the experiences, cases, and instances of injustice that defined his career as a trial lawyer and his path to becoming a United States Attorney.
Prior to his work as U.S. Attorney, Killian was a sole practitioner in his law firm in Jasper, Tenn., was city attorney for the city of Monteagle, Tenn. for 21 years and was the assistant district attorney for the Twelfth Judicial District in Tennessee. Throughout his professional career, Killian has held various teaching positions with colleges and universities in east Tennessee and the University of Tennessee College of Law. He served in the United States Army and the Tennessee National Guard from December 1970 to January 1973.
Killian earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee School of Law in 1973 after completing his B.S. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He is a former member of the Tennessee Bar Association House of Delegates and the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross Chattanooga Chapter.
The book can also be accessed through the following link:
NAFUSA life member Chuck Rosenberg (ED Virginia 2006-2008, Texas 2005-2006) and the former Acting Director of DEA), will return to present the 2019 ethics lecture at the annual NAFUSA conference in San Francisco, September 25-27. Chuck organized last year’s excellent panel on the opioid crisis. This fall, Chuck will speak on “The Korematsu Story–The Duty of Candor to The Court. Registration for the September conference is expected to begin in June.
Here is his preview:
In early 1942, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR issued Executive Order 9066, enabling west coast military commanders to set up curfews and exclusion zones, ostensibly to protect the US against sabotage by Japanese Americans. More than 110,000 Japanese Americans on the west coast were relocated to internment camps, primarily in the mountain west. However, two reports – one commissioned by the State Department and one conducted by the Naval Office of Intelligence – showed that there actually was not a significant threat from Japanese Americans living on the west coast. Indeed, for the most part, those reports showed quite the opposite and, to the extent there was a threat from Japanese Americans, it was confined to a small group of individuals largely known to the FBI and national security officials, many of whom were already under surveillance or in custody. Further, at least two DOJ attorneys knew about the Munson and Ringle reports and believed – and put it in writing – that withholding the findings from those reports from the Supreme Court in connection with the litigation of the Hirabayashi (curfew) and Korematsu (exclusion) cases amounted to a suppression of evidence. Those DOJ attorneys lost an internal debate to the Solicitor General, who concealed the information from the Court and misled it in oral argument in response to a direct question about the views of the USG on the threat posed by Japanese Americans. About seven decades later, the SG’s office (led, at the time, by Neal Katyal) confessed error, acknowledging that the reports had been suppressed and that providing truthful information to the Court was not only required but might have affected the outcome.
NAFUSA President Terry Flynn announced that FBI Director and NAFUSA life member Chris Wray will be the keynote speaker at the 2019 NAFUSA Annual Conference. The meeting will be held at the Westin St Francis in San Francisco, on September 25-27. Director Wray will speak at the closing dinner on Friday, September 27. Registration will begin in June.
Chris Wray is serving as the eighth and current Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2017. From 2003 to 2005 he served as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division in the George W. Bush Administration. From 2005 until 2017, Wray was a litigation partner at King & Spalding. He earned his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was the Executive Director of the Yale Law Journal. After law school, he clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He joined the Justice Department in 1997 as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In 2001, he moved to Main Justice as the Associate Deputy Attorney General and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General.
Click here to read the remarks of NAFUSA’s last keynote speaker, Senator Doug Jones in Nashville in 2018: Doug Jones NAFUSA remarks 2018. NAFUSA member and former board member and officer, Doug would have been NAFUSA’s president in 2018 if he had not stepped down to run for the Senate. His remarks stressed the importance of reaching across the aisle and bi-partisanship.
NAFUSA Immediate Past President Hal Hardin received two honors in his home state of Tennessee.
On November 7, 2018, at the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual banquet in Memphis, Tennessee, Hal was presented a leadership plaque for his service as past president of the society.
On December 5, 2018, at the National Bar Association’s Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Hal was presented with the John C. Tune Public Service Award, an accolade given to a member who “makes outstanding contributions to the greater Nashville area community while distinguishing themselves as practicing attorneys.” The award is the highest award which can be bestowed upon a member by the Bar.
Duquesne University Law School is searching for a new Dean to succeed Dean Maureen Lally- Green who is retiring. The law school is a major force in Pennsylvania. There are more Duquesne Law graduates on the state and federal bench in Pennsylvania than graduates from any other law school. The Search Committee is not confining its search to persons from academia. The current Dean spent 10 years as a judge on the state intermediate appellate court before becoming the Dean. Persons interested should contact Judge Jeffrey A. Deller, at judgedellerchambers@pawb.uscourts.gov
President Trump announced today that he will nominate William P. Barr to return as head of the Justice Department. Barr served as the Attorney General during the first Bush administration from 1991 to 1993. Barr, a graduate of George Washington University Law School, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department, then as the deputy attorney general and then attorney general.
This morning Ron Woods, NAFUSA Executive Director Emeritus, sent this email to his fellow Bush 41 appointees, resulting in some fine photos with the President:
To Bush 41 U.S. Attorneys
I hope you were able to watch the two funerals/celebrations of life that were televised over the past two days in Washington and Houston. The military arranged the funerals and they were spectacular, with a flight overhead of 21 Navy jets as President Bush arrived at his final resting place at his Presidential Library at Texas A & M.
The celebrations showing his accomplishments and how respected and admired he was made me feel very proud that I was appointed by President Bush and I hope you felt the same. President Bush was finally recognized for the many achievements he obtained in his one term Presidency. Bush was a remarkable human being devoted to public service, honor, duty, country. He was such a gentleman to everyone.
Several months ago, our Houston Chapter of Former FBI Agents was having our monthly lunch in a private room in a local restaurant. During the lunch, the door was opened and James Baker pushed President Bush into the room in his wheelchair. There were about 30 of us in the room and James Baker said “I’m James Baker and I used to be Secretary of State and President Bush wanted to say a few words to you”
President Bush said that he was having lunch in the restaurant and the manager advised him that ex FBI Agents were having lunch in the private room. He stated I don’t want to interrupt your lunch but I wanted to express my thanks for your public service and how much I admire the FBI and the men and women who serve in the FBI. He was such a class act.
The news as I write this is that our friend and colleague Former Attorney General Bill Barr is the front runner to be named Attorney General. Further proof of the soundness of President Bush appointees.
The photo below was taken at the 1992 Republican Convention in Houston as I was coordinating with the Secret Service on security issues.
Ron Woods
Mike McKay with the president in the photo above. Jay and Julie Stephens in the bottom photo.
Click here to read how George H.W. Bush’s appearance a 1976 Sunday talk show changed NAFUSA member Joe Whitely’s life. Daily Report . That experience led to Joe and his wife, Kathy, signing up to campaign for H.W. in Georgia. H.W. later appointed Joe to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in 1990. Joe had earlier been appointed by President Reagan to serve in Macon as the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. Later W nominated Joe to serve as the first general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security.
On December 21, 1988, the bombing of PanAm 103 took the life of NAFUSA member Rick Hartunian’s 21 year old sister, Lynne, over Lockerbie, Scotland. Rick (Obama appointee), NAFUSA member Dan French (Clinton appointee), and former U.S. Attorney Glenn Suddaby (Bush appointee) traveled with their spouses and Glenn’s fiancé to Lockerbie, Scotland to participate in the Cycle to Syracuse, an idea conceived by now retired Lockerbie Police Officer Colin Dorrance to honor the 270 victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which occurred 30 years ago. The journey, which is summarized in this video clip, https://youtu.be/6OOeNzmH1ls , was meant to symbolically complete the journey that Rick’s sister Lynne and the other 258 lost passengers, together with 11 Lockerbie residents, were unable to complete. Dan is the General Counsel at Syracuse University; Glenn is a the Chief U.S. District Judge in the NDNY, and Glenn’s fiancé, Jill Denny, is a senior assistant to the Chancellor and helped staff the event for Syracuse University, which sent a contingent of students and faculty to Scotland on October 13 to start the first leg of the ride, from Lockerbie to Edinburgh. Dan cycled that 80 mile trip, wearing a photograph of Rick’s sister along the way.
After the trip through Scotland, the journey continued from Washington DC, where the Lockerbie riders began the 600 mile US cycling leg, up the Eastern seaboard through New York City and into Upstate New York, through Albany and finally onto Syracuse. In Syracuse, the Lockerbie riders — accompanied by Dan and Glenn for the final 60 mile leg of the journey — were greeted by families and students and participated in Remembrance Week ceremonies at Syracuse University, honoring all of the victims of the tragedy, including the 35 Syracuse students lost in the bombing.
In recalling the events of 30 years ago, Rick Hartunian explained that “while the pain of losing a loved one never goes away, coping with such terrible loss is made easier by the kind gestures of friends who, like Dan, Glenn, the Lockerbie riders and all those who participated in these remembrance events, show that gestures of love and brotherhood will always outlast and overcome the forces of hatred and evil that too often challenge us in ways we never could imagine.”
At the top is a photograph of the three former NDNY USAs (Dan French, Rick Hartunian and Glenn Suddaby) at the beginning of the journey in Lockerbie on October 13, 2018. Below is a photo of the three former US Attorney colleagues at the journey’s end in Syracuse, New York on November 2, 2018.
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