This year's conference in Santa Fe turned out to be one of the most successful in NAFUSA's 32 years. With 100 members present and a total attendance including guests and speakers of 186, the turnout matched prior conferences in New York and Washington, historically the most popular sites.

Hosts President Bill Lutz and his wife, Jeanne, drew raves for the beautiful venue and the outstanding social events - the cocktail reception at the Palace of the Governors on the Santa Fe Plaza and the luncheon at the Governor's Mansion.

Highlights included the keynote address from Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security. She was among friends, having served as United States Attorney in the District of Arizona.

The conference also featured two outstanding panel discussions. The Friday panel "Southwest Border Issues" included an appearance by Gustavo Mohar, General Secretary of the Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN), second in command for Mexico's agency comparable to a combined FBI and CIA, and David Aguilar, the Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The panel was joined by Larry Villalobos, Section Chief of the Research and Analysis Section of the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) and Ken Gonzales, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico and moderated by Charlie Savage of The New York Times.

Saturday's panel on WikiLeaks featured Charlie Savage, Professor Jack Goldsmith of Harvard Law School, Ken Wainstein of O'Melveny & Myers, Valerie Plame Wilson, a former covert CIA operations officer, and Eric Snyder of Kobre & Kim. Rich Rossman, the new NAFUSA Executive Director, moderated the panel.

This year's J. Michael Bradford Award winner was Ken Sorenson, a 25 year veteran Assistant United States Attorney from the District of Hawaii, who recently prosecuted a high profile espionage case involving the illegal disclosure of classified information on the B-2 bomber. The Bradford Award is given annually to NAFUSA's choice of the most outstanding AUSA in the country.

It was announced that next year's conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on October 11-13, 2012.

On Saturday, October 1, 2011, Richard H. Deane, Jr., became the 32nd president of NAFUSA. At the concluding banquet of the Santa Fe conference, Rick was introduced by outgoing president Bill Lutz. Rick promply lauded the job done by Bill and his wife, Jeanne, in organizing the outstanding conference in New Mexico. Rick then presented Bill with a NAFUSA's gift of a high powered telescope and tripod to view the New Mexico skies above Bill's home in Las Cruces.

Rick Deane served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, 1998-2001. He was also a Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District from 1980-1994. Rick is currently a partner in the Atlanta office of Jones Day, where he is co-chair of the Firm's Corporate Criminal Investigations Practice and a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Rick is single and lives in Atlanta. He has three children, a daughter, Nikki, who is an accountant; a son, Ricky, a Staff Sergeant with the United States Army, having just returned from extended duty in Korea and a previous 18 month tour in Iraq; and a son, Jonathan, a graduate MBA student.

On Saturday evening, the following officers for 2011-2012 were elected: President Elect: Jay Stephens, District of Columbia; Vice President: Don Stern, Massachusetts; Secretary: Matt Orwig, ED Texas; Treasurer: Greg Vega, SD California; Immediate Past President: Bill Lutz, New Mexico.

The new directors elected for the term ending 2014 were: Paul Coggins, ND Texas; Karen Hewitt, SD California; Doug Jones, ND Alabama; Tom Maroney, ND New York; and Ron Woods, SD Texas.

On Saturday, October 1, at the concluding banquet in Santa Fe, Ron Woods stepped down as NAFUSA's executive director. Ron completed four years as NAFUSA's chief operating officer and received a standing ovation from the banquet audience as President Bill Lutz lauded Ron's service and presented him with an iPad2 as a token of NAFUSA's appreciation. During his term, the active membership grew from 86 to nearly 300, taking NAFUSA to a new level of professionalism and stature.

Ron was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. One of the most well known and well regarded lawyers in Texas, Ron also served four years as a Special Agent for the FBI. He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.  He resides in Houston with his wife, Patty.

Rich Rossman succeeds Ron as NAFUSA's executive director. Rich has been a member of NAFUSA for 30 years. He served as president in 2009-2010. He was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1980-1981, and also served as the chief of staff in the Criminal Division at Main Justice, 1998-1999. Rich retired from the active practice of law in 2007; he had been a partner at Pepper Hamilton for 23 years. Rich is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and lives in Michigan with his wife, Patty.

Calling it a "lively discussion," Main Justice has reported on Saturday's NAFUSA WikiLeaks panel.

Should the U.S. government prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for disclosing a vast trove of classified State Department cables and military documents?

 

The pros and cons of prosecution- and whether WikiLeaks is legally distinguishable from newspapers and other traditional media - were debated Saturday at the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys annual conference in Santa Fe, N.M.

Read Mary Jacoby's story. 

In another article about the conference, Main Justice reports on the J. Michael Bradford Award.

Ken Sorenson said he was "speechless" when former District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens called to tell him on behalf of NAFUSA he'd won the J. Michael Bradford award. He thanked the organization for "thinking about the guys out there in the trenches."

Sorenson won the Award for his prosecution of a military technology espionage case. Main Justice has the details.