Harry L. Shorstein (born August 3, 1940) is an American lawyer who served as

State Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

's Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, covering

Duval Duval or DuVal is a surname, literally translating from French to English as "of the valley". It derives from the Norman "Devall", which has both English and French ties. Variant spellings include: Davolls, Deavall, DeVile, Devill, Deville, Div ...

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Austria * Nassau (Groß Sankt Florian), incorporated village of Groß Sankt Florian Bahamas *Nassau, The Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upp ...

counties, from 1991–2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed to the post in 1991 by Governor

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician and military officer. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States senator fr ...

to fill the remaining term of

Ed Austin T. Edward "Ed" Austin Jr. (July 15, 1926 – April 23, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circ ...

, who resigned to successfully run for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. He was elected to a full term in 1992, re-elected in 1996, and ran unopposed in 2000 and 2004. At a February 6, 2007 news conference, the 66-year-old lawyer announced that he would not run for re-election in 2008. He subsequently returned to private practice,Patton, Charlie

Florida Times-Union, January 7, 2009-3 state attorneys leaving: Shorstein, Tanner, Blair and was succeeded as State Attorney by

Angela Corey Angela Corey (born October 31, 1954) is a former Florida State's Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties—including Jacksonville and the core of its metropolitan area. She was elected in ...

Career

Shorstein grew up in Jacksonville, graduated from Robert E. Lee High School and attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, where he received his bachelor's and law degrees. He was admitted to the Florida Bar on October 25, 1965. He served in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

as a captain in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, being awarded a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

with Combat "V", a

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is a United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or surface combat." Coast ...

, the

Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross also known as the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross or Vietnam Cross of Gallantry () is a military decoration of the former Government of South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam). The medal was created on August 15, 1 ...

, and a Presidential Unit Citation. After the war, he was hired by Public Defender Lou Frost and worked in that office before switching sides to the prosecution in 1970 as Division Head and Chief Assistant State Attorney. In 1974, Shorstein began two years as General Counsel for the City of Jacksonville, then switched to private practice for 15 years. In 1991 he was appointed State Attorney. Among the cases prosecuted during his term was the Brenton Butler case, in which the 15-year-old Butler was wrongfully accused of murder, and was later acquitted.Pinkham, Paul (February 23, 2001)
"Butler case spotlights interrogations"
''

The Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when t ...

''. Retrieved July 7, 2009. After leaving office, he joined the firm of Shorstein & Lasnetski, where he works with his youngest son, Paul. He had recently been considered for appointment as the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Middle District of Florida.Pinkham, Paul

Florida Times-Union, June 12, 2009-Shorstein seeking Florida U.S. attorney position His successor,

(who had been fired by Shorstein in 2007), "sent a letter to Florida's senators demanding that they oppose Shorstein's pending nomination as a U.S. attorney," writing that "he should not hold a position of authority in his community again, because of his penchant for using the

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

for personal vendettas." As of June 10, 2010, President Barack Obama had selected career federal prosecutor Bobby O'Neill, out of Tampa, for the position.

Work in the Juvenile Justice Program

Harry Shorstein launched a new juvenile justice program in Jacksonville that takes a three-pronged approach to juvenile crime. To reduce juvenile crime, it encourages both early intervention in high risk populations and rehabilitation among offenders. For violent and repeat offenders, it promotes incarceration. From 1993 to 1996, juvenile crime in Jacksonville decreased dramatically, which a

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

study attributed to the implementation of the plan. However, the same cannot be said for the adult offender program, especially the murder rate, which has given Jacksonville the distinction of being Florida's murder capital for fourteen of last nineteen years.Weathersbee, Tonyaa

Florida Times-Union, November 10, 2007-Underreporting of violent crime serves only to make things worse

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shorstein, Harry L. 1940 births Living people Florida Democrats Lawyers from Jacksonville, Florida University of Florida alumni United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War State attorneys in Florida United States Marine Corps officers