Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone has been named the 68th president of the National District Attorneys Association.
“I am honored to hold this position,” he said. “The National District Attorneys Association has been the catalyst for a number of programs that we have put in place in the 14th Circuit. Our intelligence unit, our Special Victims Unit and our soon to be opened Family Justice Center are just some of the programs I learned about by serving on the NDAA board.”
Stone is only the second South Carolinian to serve as NDAA president. The first was the late Sixth Circuit Solicitor John Justice.
Stone’s agenda for the organization for the upcoming year is to work with Congress to fund the John R. Justice student loan forgiveness program.
“There are people throughout the country who want to be career prosecutors and public defenders but cannot afford to do so due to crippling student loan debt,” Stone said. “If we are to tackle some of today’s most pressing criminal justice issues like the opioid crisis, we need both experienced prosecutors and public defenders and the John R. Justice program is one of those ways we can provide a career path for these public servants.”
Also, Stone wants to create regional training facilities throughout the country. Stone said he wants NDAA training to be available to all prosecution offices regardless of size or budget and aims to establish local training facilities.
Stone has already testified in the United States’ Senate concerning the dangers of child exploitation on the internet and has met with members of Congress concerning the funding of the John R. Justice program.
