Norm Maleng Minister of Justice Award

BACKGROUND

Norm Maleng served as the King County (Seattle, WA) Prosecutor from 1978 until his death in 2007.  He  was a very effective and, in many ways, a tough prosecutor, being particularly protective of those he viewed as vulnerable, creating special prosecutorial units to deal with child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence. He chaired the Criminal Justice Section in 2003-04 and served on its Criminal Justice Standards Committee in the early 1990’s.  In 2006, Norm Maleng was given the Section’s Minister of Justice Award recognizing his embodiment of the principles enunciated in the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, Prosecution Function, particularly: “The duty of the prosecutor is to seek justice, not merely to convict.”

This award was renamed the Curtin-Maleng Minister of Justice Award in 2021 to honor the late Kevin Curtin, who was Senior Appellate Counsel/Grand Jury Director for the Middlesex District Attorney.  Curtin was vice-chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section Council and co-chaired the Section's Committee on Appellate and Habeas Practice. 

RECIPIENTS

• 2002 E. Michael McCann
• 2003 Cal Rerucha
• 2004 None
• 2005 Charles J. Hynes
• 2006 Norman Maleng
• 2007 Lt. Col. V. Stuart Couch
• 2008 Gary L. Walker
• 2009 Susan Gaertner
• 2010 Barbara LaWall
• 2011 Craig Watkins
• 2012 Nola Foulston
• 2013 Louis Lappen
• 2014 Andrew Boutros
• 2015 Pearl Kim
• 2016 Kym Worthy
• 2017 Richard Schmack
              Robert Zauzmer
• 2018 Kevin Curtin
• 2019 Camelia M. Valdes 
  
• 2020 Judith Friedman
• 2021 Daniel Satterberg
• 2022 Erek Barron and Andrew H. Warren 
• 2023 Monique H. Worrell and Kristine Hamann 

SELECTION CRITERIA

Awardees will be from all ranks of prosecutors including: (1) federal, state, local, and municipal prosecutors, (2) elected and appointed prosecutors, and (3) those in a large or small office.  Selection will be without regard to whether the recipient is head of an office, a supervisor of others, or a member of the ABA. The award will be bestowed on a prosecutor who embodies the principles enunciated in the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, Prosecution Function, particularly that “the Duty of the prosecutor is to seek justice, not merely to convict,” [Standard 3-1.2] and who exemplifies the following principles:

• the prosecutor’s obligation is to protect the innocent as well as to convict the guilty.
• the prosecutor must guard the rights of the accused as well as enforce the rights of the public.
• the prosecutor’s commitment to the legal and ethical standards must be unwavering.

NOMINATION GUIDELINE

2024 Award Deadline – Nov. 30, 2024

Nominations should include:

• the CJS Awards Nomination Form. 
• a letter addressing the award criteria listed above.
• the nominee’s resume.
• any other supporting documentation of the nominee’s achievements in the criminal justice field.

Incomplete nomination packages will not be considered.  Should no qualified candidate be identified in a particular year the award will not be presented that year.

Nominations must be emailed to [email protected]