Building public trust

KU Law graduate uses background in law to serve in community affairs role

Liz Rebein is not your traditional prosecutor. Instead of charging defendants, filing motions and appearing in court, Rebein deploys her legal expertise through the promotion of positive relationships between law enforcement and the public.

As chief of the Community Affairs Unit in the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in Hackensack, New Jersey, Rebein helps deter crime through developing programs that increase community engagement, build public trust and promote transparency.

“I think that my job is kind of a testament to what we can do to improve the relationship between law enforcement, the community and the perception the community has of law enforcement,” said Rebein, L’07.

Success stories like Operation Helping Hands provide Rebein evidence that her efforts are working. Through the campaign – created in response to a dramatic spike in overdoses and fatalities in Bergen County – area law enforcement find and arrest residents buying heroin. Those individuals are then connected with a county-sponsored detox and treatment program.

Some participants – like Matt A. – stay in touch with the prosecutor’s office and provide updates on their path to recovery. Matt was arrested twice in one week and has been clean since working through the program. He now works at the detox hospital.

“He calls and texts me regularly about projects he’s working on and asking how he can help,” Rebein said. “He’s a talented artist who has some of his art on display at the hospital where he works.”

Liz Rebein, L’07, presents on “Transparency in Officer-Involved Shooting Investigations.”

Personal connections are a common thread in Rebein’s job, which has evolved during her seven years at the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. Although she began as an assistant prosecutor in the appellate division, she now leads community-building initiatives like the Youth Police Academy. The two-week “day camp” administered in partnership with the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office teaches area high school students about careers in public service, including law enforcement, the judiciary, county government, emergency services and the military. They also learn more about how the criminal justice system works.

Rebein said some people distrust the system when they see its flaws.

“What people need to understand is that the system works ultimately,” she said. “Being an appellate attorney, you see that all the time. My whole career has been reviewing mistakes that were made along the way, whether it was by the prosecutor, the defense attorney, the judge or some other aspect of the system.”

But defendants have a constitutional right in the United States to appeal their conviction and petition for post-conviction relief, Rebein said.

Liz Rebein, L’07, prepares hot dogs as part of a community event.

“They have the right to challenge their conviction and their sentence over and over and over,” she said. “I don’t know that the public really appreciates the beauty of our system and how well it works.”

Originally from Bucklin, Kansas, Rebein decided to pursue a law degree after working at Rebein Brothers law firm in college. Her boss and mentor, Dave Rebein, L’80, later became her father-in-law.

“He was wonderful to me in terms of helping me figure out what my options were and what opportunities going to law school would create for me,” Rebein said.

In Green Hall, Rebein participated in the Project for Innocence and moot court – two hands-on experiences that helped prepare her for practice. After years of appellate work, Rebein has embraced her more nontraditional role at the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

“My favorite part is that I think it makes a difference,” she said. “I didn’t see it coming, but I’m thrilled to have the job that I have.”

— By Ashley Hocking

Small town, high stakes

Anna Wolf serves as small town city prosecutor

The third Wednesday of each month is a busy day for Anna Wolf. That’s the only day the Tonganoxie Municipal Court is in session.

Wolf is the Tonganoxie city prosecutor.

“Everything depends on that one day, and you need to have everything ready,” said Wolf, L’12. “Otherwise, you’re going to go a whole other month before you get another opportunity. It puts a lot of pressure on that one day.”

Wolf is responsible for prosecuting all city ordinance violations, including DUIs, misdemeanors and traffic infractions.

She also performs bench trials, jury trials and other evidentiary hearings; drafts written motions; performs legal research; negotiates with attorneys and defendants; coordinates with court personnel to effectively run the monthly docket; advises the police department on best practices; and interviews witnesses.

Before prosecuting for the city of Tonganoxie, Wolf spent three and a half years as an Assistant District Attorney at the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office. She is most proud of helping victims of child sex crimes.

“It’s incredibly difficult work, and it’s so important to have good prosecutors doing it,” Wolf said. “It’s very time-consuming and emotionally exhausting, but it’s crucial that we have people out there fighting for those kids.”

Wolf fell in love with prosecution after an internship at the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office. She enjoys the rapid pace and variety of challenges inherent in the work. “I really like standing up and making an argument in court,” she said. “And I’ve always been interested in public service.”

KU Law’s Trial Advocacy course helped prepare Wolf for a career in prosecution. She said the class taught her how to communicate effectively, structure an argument and understand the rules of evidence.

“You get the ins and outs of what it’s like to be in a courtroom and making an argument,” Wolf said. “It takes a lot of preparation to be comfortable doing that.”

Like many city and county attorneys, Wolf also holds down a full-time law practice. She recently joined Payne & Jones in Overland Park as an associate and prosecutes for the city of Mission. She is excited to further develop her legal skills and experience at the firm.

Long-term, Wolf hopes to become a leader within the legal community — particularly for women, who are still underrepresented in law.

She strives for integrity in all of her legal work. As prosecutors and law enforcement have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, Wolf has focused on trying cases she believes in and holding herself to the highest standards of professionalism.

“I think the most important way to ensure the public has trust in prosecutors,” she said, “is to make sure that you’re doing the best job you can in the most ethical way possible.”

— By Ashley Hocking

Thank U, Next

As I am typing this, I only have one more final for my fall semester of 3L year. Looking back, I truly had some remarkable professors this semester and learned a great deal. To my great professors, I say thank you. I look forward to my next professors.

One taught me humor → Professor Webb Hecker, Business Associations I

Business Associations I seems like it would be a dry and boring class. How can learning about corporations and agents be exciting? With a different professor, that might be true. However, Professor Hecker brought humor to our learning. He kept us engaged and made the subject enjoyable. I enjoyed the jokes and stories Professor Hecker brought to class.

One taught me patience → Professor Kelley Sears, Contract Drafting

Drafting a contract is tedious and requires a lot of patience. Every word can make or break a contract for your client. Professor Sears made sure we knew that and understood the effect our words would have on our clients. He provided stories from his years of litigating. In the end, I learned to patiently analyze a contract and choose my words wisely.

One taught me pain → Professor B.J. Hickert, Estate Planning Principles

Anyone who tells you the Internal Revenue Code is not painful is likely lying. It has its own language and challenges. This semester, I dove into the IRC with Professor Hickert. It was painful, but he was a great teacher who broke down the estate planning provisions that are important for clients in real life and taught us how to protect our clients’ assets. He brought in his real-life practical estate planning experience, which made it much less painful and incredibly helpful for my future clients.

And one taught me creativity → Professor Thomas Stacy, Conflict of Law

On the first day of class, Professor Stacy told us we would leave class as even better lawyers because we would know how to solve conflicts of law for our clients. He challenged us to think of creative arguments for our clients and use the flexibility of choice of law analysis to our benefit. We had to think on our feet and defend our answers.

I’m so grateful for my ex-professors. I truly can’t wait for this next semester see what my next professors will teach me. Thank u, next.

— Jake Turner is a 3L from Mission and a KU Law Student Ambassador.

Justice after genocide

Deborah Wilkinson, second from right, spent 5 years litigating the appeals of six high-level Rwandan officials charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

KU Law grad excels at local, state and international prosecution

At least 800,000 people were killed in 100 days during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Deborah Wilkinson, L’82, helped bring some of the perpetrators of that violence to justice.

As senior appeals counsel at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania, Wilkinson and a team of fellow prosecutors spent 5 years litigating the appeals of six high-level Rwandan political and military officials charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

All six were found guilty in 2011.

“I feel that this case made a contribution to international law and international humanitarian law. It also provided closure for the numerous victims of these crimes,” Wilkinson said. “Many of the victims were following the case, and to know that these people were being held accountable was very significant. I’m glad I was able to contribute in that way.”

Throughout her career, Wilkinson has tried cases in three countries on three different continents, but she considers the prosecution of Rwandan atrocities her most significant work.

One of the defendants, a county executive named Sylvain Nsabimana, was prosecuted for failing to do anything to protect the ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus who spent the night near his office – seeking protection from Hutu extremists. Nsabimana did not intervene when groups descended at night to rape women and kill men and children. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

“It was a very interesting legal issue of liability for failing to act to prevent genocide,” Wilkinson said. “We won on that issue, which was very significant in international law. It’s called omission liability.”

Another defendant, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, was the first woman to be found guilty of genocide by an international tribunal. She received a life sentence.

Needless to say, Wilkinson’s career in prosecution has taught her a lot about human character and values, for better and worse. “If I had done what I thought I wanted to do — which was work in an office — I probably would have stayed in my little bubble of meeting people who were like me and not been exposed to a wide variety of humanity,” the Kansas City, Missouri native said.

Prosecution was not on Wilkinson’s radar when she began pursuing legal education at KU. But the required Criminal Law course piqued her interest, and she excelled in oral advocacy. Right out of law school, Wilkinson landed a job as assistant county attorney in Barton County. She made her mark early by successfully prosecuting the state’s first felony murder case involving child abuse, leading to the 1985 conviction of Eileen Brown for the death of her 6-week-old baby.

A few years later, Wilkinson moved to the Wichita District Attorney’s Office, where she spent 15 years prosecuting a range of criminal cases as an assistant district attorney. “I discovered I did very well speaking to juries, being persuasive and arguing in front of the court,” she said. “It was fast moving – always something different.”

With a solid foundation in the U.S. legal system, Wilkinson bridged into international practice through the American Bar Association’s Central and Eastern European Law Initiative. She spent two years in Kiev helping the U.S. Department of Justice implement training programs for Ukrainian judges and lawyers.

Wilkinson went on to teach comparative criminal law and procedure to Ukrainian law students after receiving a Fulbright grant. She also served in Kosovo as a legal advisor for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and later as an international prosecutor appointed by the UN to handle cases in place of the local prosecutors.

Throughout her international career, Wilkinson benefited from her ability to pick up new languages. She speaks French and Russian proficiently, and has studied Latin. She understood enough Kinyarwanda, Ukrainian, Swahili and Albanian over the years to navigate trials with the help of translators and interpreters.

“Learning languages helps you see how other people think,” Wilkinson said. “Sometimes entire concepts are different, and it really makes you bend your mind around different ways of thinking.”

Now in private practice in Lenexa, Wilkinson encourages students to acquire language skills, pursue international opportunities and contribute their legal prowess abroad. She can attest to the value of expanding one’s horizons.

“In prosecution, I met people from all strata of society – people who were poor, people who were rich, people who had drug issues,” Wilkinson said. “It was like being in a movie with all these different characters.”

— By Ashley Hocking

The problem solver

In the summer of 2005, a jury found Lawrence carpenter and former Christian school board member Martin Miller guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Charles Branson should have been overjoyed, but he wasn’t. Not exactly.

The newly elected Douglas County District Attorney had taken office six months prior, expecting jubilation when verdicts went his way. But two young children had lost their mother through violence.

“And now, because we had been successful, they had also lost their father,” Branson recalled. “It was such a profound moment for me, realizing there’s not the joy in victory that I thought there would be. You’re still dealing with real people and real issues in the aftermath.”

Despite the complexities and challenges of the work – or maybe because of them – Branson, L’96, still relishes the opportunity to serve the cause of justice in Douglas County after nearly 14 years on the job. As top prosecutor, he manages 16 attorneys, 18 support staff and an annual budget of just over $2 million.

He also manages change.

Over the past decade, Branson said, prosecutors have evolved from case processors to problem solvers. Statistics show that simply convicting offenders and locking them up does not ultimately reduce crime.

“Historically, our role was to prosecute, punish and move on,” he said. “Now we are really looking at making changes in how the system works to better address the needs of the people in the system.”

For example, under Branson’s leadership, Douglas County recently launched a diversion program for nonviolent female offenders with substance abuse issues. Women in the program receive comprehensive addiction treatment, including assistance with housing and child care. “We have an obligation to try to change behaviors of people who come through the criminal justice system,” Branson said, “so hopefully they won’t come through again.”

Branson never imagined a career in prosecution. The Hutchinson native was a KU business graduate who wanted to be his own boss. Within weeks of being sworn in to the Kansas Bar in May 1996, Branson hung a shingle in Lawrence. He built his practice slowly, representing a range of clients while learning to run a business. In 2002, he added part-time service as Eudora city prosecutor.

But Branson’s exposure to the criminal justice system through defense cases revealed upsetting flaws that ultimately inspired him to run for district attorney. In his view, police and prosecutors often neglected victims of domestic violence during investigation and charging, treating them as evidence.

“Then when it was time for trial, the survivor wouldn’t want to participate because she had not been supported,” Branson said. “I thought it was time to change the focus of the system.”

So when he was elected in 2004, Branson shared a simple philosophy with the attorneys in his office: A positive outcome doesn’t always mean a conviction.

“What is the best thing that can happen to this case that will make it less likely that these people will need our services again in the future? Is that charging the case? Not charging? Offering counseling and services up front? Is it going all the way through to trial?” he said. “You’re dealing with people’s relationships, and each one is different. You can’t apply a cookie cutter to those types of things.”

That maxim holds true across the spectrum of responsibilities that Branson’s office handles, including juvenile prosecution, civil litigation, child in need of care cases, mental health care and treatment matters, county code infractions and consumer protection violations. Branson and his team fulfill these duties in an era of increasing public scrutiny, elevated by recent high-profile cases questioning the conduct of law enforcement and prosecutors.

But Branson views the spotlight as an opportunity to educate the public about how the justice system works. He tries to be as forthright as possible by explaining charging decisions – always with a view toward balancing transparency and accountability with the rights of victims, witnesses and defendants.

“We have a human propensity to rush to judgment, but the nature of our work doesn’t always lend itself to being open and public about the entire process,” Branson said. “We sometimes can’t say what we believe the defendant did because our ethical obligations and rules dictate that we have to say that in court first. If we do that in the public eye, we have not honored their constitutional rights.”

— By Mindie Paget

Why I’m thankful for KU Law (but also thankful I’m almost done)

As I finish up my final semester at KU Law, I find that Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on my 2.5 years here and think about what I am thankful for.

I’m thankful for all the lessons, and I’m not talking about the classes. I’m talking about learning the hard way to make studying important, but not the most important. I’m talking about learning that sleep is every bit as crucial as preparing for a presentation. I’m talking about learning how to read and really absorb the information. I’m talking about learning to live in the present and enjoy every second.

I’m thankful for the people I’ve met and the relationships that I have developed. My best friend and maid of honor. Mentors that I will feel comfortable calling for advice for years to come. Friends and peers that I know I can rely on throughout my career. Role models who give me plenty to aspire toward.

Samantha Wagner, left, and Alex Pierce, L’18.

I’m thankful for the experience. I have experienced what it is like to be in a variety of areas of law. I have experienced an amazing graduate program. I have experienced success, support and encouragement. I have the experience to recover quickly and gracefully from failure and loss. I have the experience to discuss difficult topics with people from every walk of life, regardless of our different views or stances.

I’m thankful for the strong foundation that KU Law has provided me with. I feel prepared to take the next steps as December rolls around and I get ready to leave. I’m thankful that I have people in my corner, but that I also have the knowledge and technical skill to make my own way. I’m thankful that “I’m at KU Law” opens doors and starts pleasant conversations.

And as sad as my last day will be, I’m thankful that it is almost over! I am ready to start the next chapter. I am thankful that I’m wrapping up my last papers, preparing for my last exam and giving my last student presentations, all in the next couple of weeks. I’m thankful that I won’t be counting on those student loans to keep me afloat for six months at a time. I’m thankful that I won’t feel the same level of guilt as I binge-watch Netflix on the weekends. I’m thankful that I won’t be the stereotypical stressed-out law student any more (although I may miss the excuse for my stress levels). I’m thankful that I made it through.

I’m thankful that my time at KU Law is coming to a close, but I know I will cry as I leave Green Hall for the last time because I am even more thankful for my time here.

— Samantha Wagner is a 3L from Paola and a KU Law Student Ambassador.