The National College of District Attorneys announces
The National Center for Prosecution Ethics
For Immediate Release January 30, 2001
COLUMBIA, SC – The National College of District Attorneys
is pleased to announce the establishment of the National
Center for Prosecution Ethics, which will be sponsored by
the National College of District Attorneys and the University
of South Carolina School of Law. The National Center for
Prosecution Ethics will be dedicated to the promotion of
the highest ethical standards for prosecutors. The new Center
will operate parallel to the recently established Nelson
Mullins Center on Professionalism at the Law School. The
Nelson Mullins Center is dedicated to the improvement of
professionalism in the legal profession.
The National College of District Attorneys has been engaged
in training prosecuting attorneys at the University of Houston
Law School and around the country for over thirty years.
In 1998, the College began conducting educational programs
at the National Advocacy Center of the Department of Justice
at the University of South Carolina under the direction
of the National District Attorneys Association. Since it’s
founding, every course presented by the College has included
a component relating to the professional responsibilities
of prosecutors. In addition, the College has published three
books on prosecutorial ethics and a new Office Administration
Manual for prosecutors featuring an entire chapter on prosecution
ethics. The National College of District Attorneys, which
is sponsored by the National District Attorneys Association,
the American Bar Association, and the American College of
Trial Lawyers, is now affiliated with the University of
South Carolina School of Law and is located on the campus
of The University of South Carolina.
A fundamental asset of the National Center for Prosecution
Ethics will be a Resource Center. This Resource Center will
serve as an information hub, where prosecutors will be able
to collect and disseminate materials relating to rules,
standards, and guidelines, along with administrative and
judicial opinions concerning the professional responsibility
of prosecutors – all of which will be accessible around
the country via the Internet.
In addition, the National Center for Prosecution Ethics
will assist the School of Law, the National College of District
Attorneys, the National District Attorneys Association,
local prosecutors’ offices and the various states
in designing courses of instruction, conducting educational
programs, and developing strategies for the implementation
of rules of professional responsibility more considerate
of the uniqueness of the prosecution function.
An advisory committee will meet periodically to give direction
to the Center and assure continuing contact with the current
state of prosecutorial ethics. The members of the committee
would be representative of state, local and federal prosecution
offices; the private bar; the judiciary and the faculty
of the law school.
Finally, the National Center for Prosecution Ethics will
sponsor an annual symposium at the National Advocacy Center,
under the direction of the University of South Carolina
School of Law, the National College of District Attorneys
and the National District Attorneys Association. The primary
goal of the symposium will be to promote professionalism,
disseminate information and discuss the latest developments
in prosecutorial ethics.
Fundraising from both the public and private sector is
underway. The Honorable William L. Murphy, District Attorney
of Staten Island, New York, past-president of the National
District Attorneys Association and a member of the Board
of Regents of the National College, made the first donation
to the Center in the amount of $10,000.00.
