BOSTON, MA – State Representative John Keenan (D-Salem), a member of the legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary and a former prosecutor under then-Essex County District Attorney Kevin Burke, was today named to the Council of State Governments’ 2007 Toll Fellowship Program.
“I am honored to be selected for the prestigious Toll Fellowship. It will be a wonderful opportunity for me to meet colleagues from all branches of government from all over the country and discuss some of the major policy issues of the day,” said Representative Keenan.
Rep. Keenan was nominated for the program by State Representative Michael Festa (D-Melrose), CSG Board of Governors, Toll Class of ‘02.
“I can say without hesitation that John is perfectly suited for the program, and that both he and CSG will greatly benefit from his participation in the ’07 class,” said Representative Festa. “We need people like John Keenan to remain in public service, and I think that the Toll Fellow experience will reaffirm and reinforce that commitment.”
Founded in 1986 on the premise that if states are to meet tomorrow’s challenges they must prepare for them today, the Toll Fellowship Program serves to equip talented state policymakers with the skills and strategies to meet the challenges ahead. Participants are selected competitively, based on leadership potential and accomplishments to date. Each year’s class of the top 40 emerging state leaders represents all three branches of government. Although members come from a variety of diverse backgrounds, they share the common goal of improving state governments as well as their personal effectiveness as public servants. Rep. Keenan will spend a week in Lexington, Kentucky in August with the Fellowship Program.
Earlier this year, Rep. Keenan was appointed to serve on the Council of State Governments’ Criminal Justice Board of Advisors for the Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference (CSG/ERC).
In December 1995, following an unprecedented surge in the region's prison population and a corresponding increase in state spending on the construction and operation of prisons, the CSG/ERC Executive Committee established the Criminal Justice Board of Directors. Members of the board include ranking state legislators, judges, corrections officials, juvenile justice agency directors, and crime victim advocates; cumulatively, they represent a cross-section of the senior-level state officials who shape criminal justice policy in the northeast.
Because CSG/ERC is the only regional office of the Council of State Governments that focuses on criminal justice policy, the CSG/ERC criminal justice program often works on projects that are national in scope. The program assists state policy makers across all levels of state government to evaluate, develop, and promote innovative state and regional criminal justice policy on a variety of important issues. It also helps in facilitating the sharing of expertise and knowledge between states, evaluating new programs and trends, and improving the effectiveness of adult and juvenile criminal justice systems.
Since its inception in 1995, the Criminal Justice Program has worked on a variety of issues, including victims’ rights, the response to people with mental illness in the criminal justice system, sentencing policies, and racial disparities in the justice system. Current projects include work on re-entry policy and coordination with the CSG’s Public Safety program, which oversees the Interstate Adult Offender Supervision Compact, which Massachusetts joined last legislative session.
For more information on the council of State Governments or the Toll Fellowship Program www.csg.org