National Association of Attorneys General Announces Release of Anticorruption Manual for State and Local Prosecutors

Washington, D.C. — Today, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) announced the upcoming release of The Anticorruption Manual: A Guide for State Prosecutors. The book, which provides an overview of prosecuting corruption in the United States, is the first publication in 30 years dedicated to guiding prosecutors who investigate and charge public corruption crime. It is also the first of its kind to address the needs of state and local corruption prosecutors.

The Anticorruption Manual: A Guide for State Prosecutors:

• Provides tools and tips for prosecutors initiating or managing a corruption investigation.
• Outlines the mechanics of real-world corruption cases, written by prosecutors who investigated and charged such cases.
• Highlights the ethical, statutory, and constitutional limits and obligations most likely to arise in corruption prosecutions, including how to balance the public’s interest in a case with the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
• Explains various civil and administrative remedies that may be effective in corruption prosecutions.

“Inside and outside the United States, we need to be constantly reminded that the overwhelming majority of crimes are handled at the state and local level. The same applies to corruption offenses. The Anticorruption Manual, edited by Amie Ely and Marissa Walker, is an extraordinarily helpful tool for prosecutors, teachers, students and practitioners. It contains numerous examples and case studies highlighting the nature of the problem, detailed references to federal and state statutes, preventive approaches, challenges in investigation and prosecution, lessons learned, investigative techniques, sanctions, practical insights and good ideas, resources and tools. We should all be grateful to the National Association of Attorneys General for producing such a detailed, hands-on, and essential reading that will support efforts to enhance capacity and improve the effective implementation of anticorruption laws.” – Nikos Passas, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University

“Anticorruption laws are only as effective as their enforcement. But that is complicated business: evidence can be murky, and cooperation can be scarce. Critical choices must be made, often in the midst of intense public attention and political pressures. Delicate questions of prosecutorial ethics, and of timing, add further complexities. The Anticorruption Manual provides—for the first time in decades—a comprehensive survey of those issues and more, laying out cases and cautionary tales from the state as well as federal level. Anyone concerned with bringing the law to bear against corruption will find this book indispensable.” – Michael Johnston, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science, Emeritus at Colgate University

This book is a dedicated guide for state and local prosecutors who investigate and charge public corruption crime within the United States and abroad. It also is a valuable read for law school professors, law students, and citizens who are interested in understanding the role prosecutors can play in the fight against corruption.

About the Editors:

Amie N. Ely, Director, NAGTRI Center for Ethics and Public Integrity, National Association of Attorneys General. Ely is a graduate of Oberlin College and Cornell Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Stephen C. Robinson in the Southern District of New York, and for the Honorable Richard C. Wesley on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Following her clerkships, Ely spent nearly seven years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she prosecuted hundreds of defendants, was lead or co-counsel in more than ten trials, and represented the Government in over a dozen appeals to the Second Circuit.

Marissa G. Walker, Program Counsel, NAGTRI Center for Ethics and Public Integrity, National Association of Attorneys General. Walker is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and Cornell Law School. She clerked for the Honorable David O. Carter in the Central District of California and worked in private practice in the areas of securities defense litigation and white-collar criminal defense.

Contributors:

Chapter authors include former and current federal, state, and local prosecutors, as well as law professors. Contributors include:

Stacy Aronowitz, Brenda Bauges, Wes Cheng, Michael Chu, Carrie Cohen, Dan Cort, Alice Dery, Katie Duhig, Robert Falin, Steve Grimes, Peter Henning, Michelle Henry, Johnjerica Hodge, Christine Hoffman, Brian Kane, Peter Lee, Beverly Ma, Ann Ratnayake Macy, Howard Master, Thomas McGoldrick, Glen McGorty, Dave Navarro, Victor Olds, Jeff Perconte, Anthony Picione, Daniel Pietragallo, Rebecca Ricigliano, Jessica Roth, Rob Shapiro, Darrin Sobin, Steve Solow, Kevin Steele, and Tim VanderGeisen.

The Anticorruption Manual: A Guide for State Prosecutors is published by the National Association of Attorneys General and is available for pre-order directly from the NAAG website, as well as Amazon.com. The Anticorruption Manual will be published on August 2, 2021.

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