The importance of funding the John R. Justice Act and funding training for prosecutors.

• Author: Cassilly, Joseph I.
• Position: President's page

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."--Abraham Lincoln

"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."--Frank Lloyd Wright

THE ELECTION IS PAST and the "ins" are in our nation's capital. The NDAA Board of Directors met in Santa Fe at the end of November and decided to do three things with respect to the new administration and congress.

First, NDAA voted to support the confirmation of Eric Holder, Jr. to be the next attorney general. Many of the Board know Mr. Holder from prior service in the Justice Department, but unlike other U. S. attorneys, Mr. Holder's experience in the District of Columbia was with street crimes and the kinds of issues that confront state and local prosecutors. To this purpose, support letters were sent to Senators Leahy, Specter and Cardin on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Second, we decided that we must develop a very aggressive approach to the decision makers in Washington with respect to funding the John R. Justice Act and training for prosecutors. Although there are many issues of importance to prosecutors we believe that we must prioritize and put all of our efforts toward these two appropriations. In the last issue of The Prosecutor, I asked each of you to make an effort to reach out to your congressmen to introduce NDAA to them. Now I am asking you to fax them letters pointing out the critical importance of these bills to you, their constituents.

The John R. Justice Act, when funded, will provide student loan relief to prosecutors. If you are dealing with student loan payments or someone in your office is, write. Don't sit there thinking how nice it will be when someone else does the work to get this funded. You need to

write a letter, explain that you are a prosecutor, the amount of your student loan, the salary you receive and your desire to remain a prosecutor. If you are the supervisor of someone with a student loan explain how the office is affected when trained prosecutors leave for better pay, taking their training and experience with them. Explain that your community is made up of voters and that your service to them has a reflection on Congress and the administration. Because the John R. Justice Act is to be administered by the U.S. attorney general, send a letter to him asking him to make its implementation a priority.

Training for prosecutors at the NAC and through other grants NDAA...