In the United States,a district attorney (DA),county attorney,county prosecutor,state's attorney,prosecuting attorney,commonwealth's attorney,state attorney or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area,typically a county or a group of counties. The exact scope of the office varies by state. Generally,the prosecutor represents the people of the jurisdiction. With the exception of three states,district attorneys are elected,unlike similar roles in other common law jurisdictions.
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system,which is adopted in common law,or inquisitorial system,which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against the defendant,an individual accused of breaking the law. Typically,the prosecutor represents the state or the government in the case brought against the accused person.
Richard Lewis Thornburgh was an American lawyer,author,and politician who served as the 76th United States attorney general from 1988 to 1991 under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. A Republican,he previously served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania and as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Dennis Michael Fisher is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He also serves as the Distinguished Jurist in Residence at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. A former politician,Fisher has served as a state representative,state senator,and as Attorney General of Pennsylvania. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002,losing to Ed Rendell.
Stephen A. Zappala Jr. is an American lawyer who is the current District Attorney of Allegheny County,Pennsylvania.
William Henry Stanton was an attorney,editor,politician and judge. He served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district,elected to fill the vacancy when Winthrop Welles Ketcham resigned and serving for three months from December 1876 to early March 1877. He was previously editor of the Scranton Daily Times until 1872.
Andrew Peyton Thomas is an American politician,author and former attorney. He was the county attorney for Maricopa County in Arizona from 2004 until April 6,2010. During his term in office,he was known for his anti-illegal immigrant policies. On April 10,2012,Thomas was disbarred by a disciplinary panel of the Arizona State Supreme Court for his actions as county attorney.
The Office of the Missouri Attorney General was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri's first Constitution in 1820 provided for an appointed attorney general,but since the 1865 Constitution,the Attorney General has been elected. As of January 2023,there have been 44 attorneys general in Missouri.
Bruce Lee Castor Jr. is an American lawyer and retired Republican politician from Montgomery County,Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania in March 2016,and also first deputy attorney general the following July. Castor became acting attorney general less than a month later. He led for the defense of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump along with American lawyer David Schoen.
The Indiana Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Indiana in the United States. Attorneys General are chosen by a statewide general election to serve for a four-year term. The forty-fourth and current Attorney General is Todd Rokita.
The California Department of Justice is a statewide investigative law enforcement agency and legal department of the California executive branch under the elected leadership of the Attorney General of California (AG) which carries out complex criminal and civil investigations,prosecutions,and other legal services throughout the US State of California. The department is equivalent to the state bureaus of investigation in other states.
Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. is an American attorney and politician who served as the District Attorney of New York County,New York,also known as the Manhattan District Attorney. He was previously a principal partner at the law firm of Morvillo,Abramowitz,Grand,Iason,Anello,&Bohrer,P.C. He is the son of Cyrus Vance Sr.,former Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter. Vance did not seek reelection as District Attorney in the 2021 election,and was succeeded by Alvin Bragg. He is currently a partner at Baker McKenzie.
The kids for cash scandal centered on judicial kickbacks to two judges at the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre,Pennsylvania,US. In 2008,judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were convicted of accepting money in return for imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles to increase occupancy at a private prison operated by PA Child Care.
Ernest D. Preate,Jr. is a former Republican Pennsylvania Attorney General. As Attorney General,he argued before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case,Planned Parenthood of Southeast Pennsylvania v. Casey on behalf of Robert P. Casey,then governor of Pennsylvania. Preate also successfully argued another landmark case,Blystone v. Pennsylvania in the United States Supreme Court addressing the death penalty.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is an agency of the Oklahoma state government that is headed by the Attorney General of Oklahoma. The OAG is responsible for supervising the administration of justice across the State,providing legal assistance to the State government,and prosecuting violators of State law.
Kathleen Margaret Kane is an American former politician and lawyer who served as the 48th Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 2013 until her resignation in 2016 following her conviction for perjury,obstruction of justice,and related charges for illegal activities while she was attorney general. She was the first woman and first Democrat ever elected to the position.
Cynthia Anita Ackron Baldwin is an American jurist who was a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after serving sixteen years as a Pennsylvania County Court judge. Baldwin was the first African-American woman elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the second African-American woman to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She retired from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2008. After her retirement from the Court,she became a partner with Duane Morris and served as the first General Counsel for the Pennsylvania State University.
Anne X. Alpern was an American jurist and politician who served as the attorney general for Pennsylvania and was later appointed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. She was the first woman to hold either position.
Risa Vetri Ferman is the judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Montgomery County,Pennsylvania,and was formerly District Attorney of the same county. Before winning the election as the county's prosecutor,Ferman worked for 15 years in the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. In November 2007,she became the first woman elected District Attorney in Montgomery County. In 2011,Ferman won re-election and began her second term as District Attorney in January 2012. She is the daughter of Barbara and Sal Vetri,and sister of restaurateur Marc Vetri and television director and producer Adam Vetri.
Craig Carpenito is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. On January 5,2018,Carpenito was appointed U.S. Attorney pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §546 by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. On April 27,2018,the judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey unanimously appointed Carpenito U.S. Attorney pursuant to their statutory powers. He resigned on January 5,2021. He previously served as a federal prosecutor in the office from 2003 to 2008.
