Fixing the Criminal Justice System for the 21st Century

PITTSBURGH—In 2015, then-Attorney General Eric Holder chose Pittsburgh as one of only six U.S. cities to participate in the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. The ongoing effort is tasked with developing new public policies—that can potentially be implemented nationally—to improve relations between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

Buhl Foundation President and University of Pittsburgh alumnus Frederick W. Thieman serves on the initiative’s Pittsburgh advisory board. A former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, he brings more than 30 years of legal experience and civic engagement to the initiative’s mission. Thieman will share his unique insights on methods towards administering a more just criminal justice system without sacrificing public safety as the speaker in Pitt’s 2016 Discussions on Governance Lecture.

“It’s obviously important that we improve police community relations, but that’s really just the tip of the iceberg,” Thieman said. “Longstanding tensions between police officers and citizens are in no small part due to the perception that the police are the front line in an inequitable and unfair system. If we really want to accomplish meaningful and long-term change, the entire criminal justice system needs to be rebuilt.”

The lecture titled “Ethics, Citizenship and Governance: Can we fix the Criminal Justice System for the 21st Century?” will be delivered at noon Jan. 28 in room 111 of Pitt’s Barco Law Building, 3900 Forbes Ave., Oakland. The event is free and open to the public; due to limited seating, reservations are requested.

Thieman was named president of the Buhl Foundation, Pittsburgh’s oldest multipurpose foundation, in June 2007. Within the foundation, he leads efforts to provide grants and other forms of support to local organizations that assist Western Pennsylvanians in progressing in the areas of economic and community development, education, human services, and youth development.

Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Thieman served as the U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania from 1993 to 1997. In that role, he oversaw more than 40 attorneys, prosecuting federal offenses for 25 counties. While serving as the U.S. Attorney, Thieman played an instrumental role in establishing Allegheny County’s Youth Crime Prevention Council, a think tank consisting of local leaders working to reduce youth violence and increase opportunities for area young people. The council was publically applauded for its success and garnered national attention.

Throughout a legal career that has spanned more than three decades, Thieman practiced as a trial attorney with a specialty in complex business-related litigation. He received his bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1973. Thieman earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and served as assistant editor for the University of Pittsburgh Law Review.

The Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy sponsors Pitt’s annual Discussions on Governance Lecture. Established in 2007, the Thornburgh Forum builds on the legacy of Pitt alumnus and emeritus trustee Richard Lewis Thornburgh, a two-term governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. Attorney General under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The 2016 installment of the lecture series is cosponsored by Pitt’s School of Law and University Honors College.

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