Loading Poll...Hall Institute Forum on Prosecutorial Misconduct
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** NEWS RELEASE: Special Forum Shines Light on Justice’s Dark Side **
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WHAT: Hall Institute of Public Policy Forum on Prosecutorial Misconduct
* Co-sponsored by Seton Hall University School of Law
* Moderated by Prof. Paula Franzese, Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law
* Featuring Attorney Ray M. Brown, Jr.; U.S. Attorney Paul A. Fishman; Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 22, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Seton Hall University School of Law, One Newark Center-Room 272, 1085 Raymond Blvd., Newark, NJ 07102
REGISTER: Open to Public — Free Admission — Register here to reserve your seat http://prosecutorialmisconduct.eventbrite.com/
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The U.S. legal system maintains a centuries-long tradition of legal protections and precedent.
Yet, recent headlines have revealed serious examples of “prosecutorial misconduct” — conduct which violates court rules or ethical standards of law practice — that have resulted in stunning miscarriages of justice affecting thousands of Americans.
This Feb. 22 public forum co-sponsored will feature legal scholars discussing prosecutorial misconduct close to home.
* MODERATOR: PAULA FRANZESE, Seton Hall University’s Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law, is one of the country's leading experts in government ethics, spearheading ethics reform initiatives on behalf of three governors, serving as Special Ethics Counsel to Governor Richard Codey, Chair of the State Ethics Commission, Vice-Chair of the Election Law Enforcement Commission and as ethics advisor to state and local governments across the country, including Mayor Cory Booker's administration in Newark.
She joined in the submission to the U.S. Supreme Court of an amicus brief in the Kelo Case and has written and presented on takings law reform. In 2011 she was presented with the National Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL)Award, the highest form of recognition conferred by the organization, in honor of her "significant, demonstrable and positive contributions to the fields of campaign finance, elections, ethics, freedom of information and lobbying over a significant period of time."
* RAYMOND M. BROWN, JR. is a former legal analyst for Court TV and a current litigator and partner with Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis, where he chairs the white-collar crime practice group. Brown's father, Raymond A. Brown, was one of the first black judge advocate generals in the U.S. military, one of the first black lawyers in New Jersey, and, as president of the Jersey City branch of the NAACP, intensely involved in the civil rights movement.
Mr. Brown has appeared in high profile trials including the nine-month trial involving former Labor Secretary Raymond J. Donovan and the successful eight-year defense of senior executives of a major multinational corporation charged with environmental violations. Mr. Brown has appeared in courts in 12 states and conducted investigations throughout the U.S. as well as in Kenya, El Salvador, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, the Bahamas, Colombia, and Sierra Leone. Mr. Brown has served as Counsel before the International Criminal Court in the Hague and as Co-Lead Defense Counsel at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
* PAUL J. FISHMAN, U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey, was nominated by President Barack Obama as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey and sworn in on October 14, 2009. As U.S. Attorney, he is responsible for overseeing all federal criminal investigations and prosecutions and the litigation of all civil matters in New Jersey in which the federal government has an interest. In addition to his service as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Fishman serves as Chair of Attorney General Holder’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (“AGAC”). Created in 1973, the AGAC represents the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and provides advice and counsel to the Attorney General on policy, management, and operational issues affecting the offices of the United States Attorneys across the country.
Mr. Fishman was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1983 to 1994, during which time he served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, Chief of Narcotics, Chief of the Criminal Division, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney. From 1994 to 1997, he was a senior adviser to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States on a variety of law enforcement, policy, legislative, national security, and international matters, as well as on specific investigations and prosecutions.
* CAROLYN A. MURRAY, Acting Essex County Prosecutor, has served in her current post since Feb. 22, 2011; she was formerly counsel to New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and possesses more than 20 years of county, state, and federal prosecutorial experience.
As Counsel to the Attorney General, Ms. Murray was responsible for oversight of several divisions of the Attorney General’s Office including the Division of Criminal Justice, Division on Civil Right and Juvenile Justice Commission. She served in the executive office of the Attorney General and advised the Attorney General on legal, policy and administrative matters, with an emphasis on matters relevant to the criminal justice system. Murray formerly served the Essex Prosecutor’s Office as Counsel and First Assistant Prosecutor; she joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark in 1995, where she served eight years under future Gov. Chris Christie as an Assistant U.S. Attorney before receiving promotion to Chief of the Public Prosecution Unit.
For background on Prosecutorial Misconduct see these articles on the Hall Institute site at www.hallnj.org:
- Win at All Costs: Government Misconduct in the Name of Expedient Justice
An award-winning 10-part investigative series from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette documenting cases of federal agents and prosecutors pursuing justice by breaking the law.
- John Edwards and the Prosecutors by Michael P. Riccards
- Prosecutorial Misconduct and Abuse by Michael P. Riccards
- Seton Hall Attorneys File Amicus Brief in United States v. Hamdan
New developments involving military tribunals and Guantanamo Bay detainees.
“Prosecutors are the most powerful figures in the American criminal justice system,” says Hall Institute of Public Policy Executive Director Michael P. Riccards. “This forum offers solutions on what can be done to alleviate the growing number of prosecutorial abuses and misconduct that occur each year in the United States.”
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Lawrence McCullough, Press Director
Hall Institute of Public Policy-New Jersey
P.O. Box 8051, Trenton NJ 08650
(732) 392-2237
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