Denise O'Donnell is an attorney who served as director of the

Bureau of Justice Assistance The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, within the United States Department of Justice. BJA provides leadership and assistance to local criminal justice programs that improve and reinforce the nat ...

, as New York State commissioner of criminal justice services, and assistant secretary to the Governor for Criminal Justice in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

of Governor

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...

. She previously held the roles in the Cabinet of former Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was b ...

Early life and education

O'Donnell attended high school at Mount Saint Joseph Academy, and then studied at

Canisius College Canisius College is a private Jesuit college in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 master's ...

. Hers was the first graduating class from Canisius to include women. After graduating from college, she worked for the New York City Department of Social Services. While doing so, she earned a Master of Social Work. After the birth of her two children, O'Donnell earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the University at Buffalo Law School, graduating second in her class.

Career

In 1985, she became an assistant

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 c ...

. In 1998, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

appointed her the US Attorney for the Western District of New York. While working for the US Attorney's office she worked on two particularly prominent cases. The first was the investigation into

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

bomber, Timothy McVeigh. She was also the leader in the successful prosecution of anti-abortion extremist

James Kopp James Charles Kopp (born August 2, 1954) is an American who was convicted in 2003 for the 1998 sniper-style murder of Barnett Slepian, an American physician from Amherst, New York who performed abortions. Prior to his capture, Kopp was on the FB ...

for the murder of obstratician and abortion provider Barnett Slepian. She was pushed out of her position as US attorney by the Bush administration before her term had ended. Since 2001, she has practiced with the firm Hodgson Russ LLP, has lectured and campaigned for the attorney general's office. In late 2005, former United States Attorney General Janet Reno announced her support for O'Donnell's campaign. She dropped out of the race for AG shortly after the Democratic convention where she received approximately ten-percent of the delegates' votes. In the announcement ending her candidacy she neglected to endorse any specific candidate for the Democratic nomination but, instead, emphasized her desire to see

elected governor. She was a candidate in the 2006 Democratic primary for New York Attorney General. Spitzer announced her appointment as Criminal Justice Commissioner in January 2007. The

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

unanimously confirmed O'Donnell to the post March 21, 2007. As criminal justice commissioner, O'Donnell oversaw the planning and analysis of criminal justice policies and services for state government. She was appointed assistant secretary to the governor for criminal justice on July 25, 2007, by Spitzer in the wake of a report by State Attorney General

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

regarding the use of the New York State Police by Spitzer's staff to monitor the activities of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. As Assistant Secretary, she served as the Governor's top criminal justice advisor and oversaw the State Police, Division of Parole and the Department of Corrections. She also assisted in the development of statewide criminal justice and public safety policies and worked on homeland security efforts for the state. She was a candidate in the 2006 Democratic primary for New York Attorney General.Governor Paterson retained O'Donnell in his cabinet following his taking office on March 17, 2008. O'Donnell resigned from the Paterson administration on February 25, 2010, following reports of alleged misconduct by Paterson and members of his administration. Paterson and the State Police were accused of improperly contacting the alleged victim of domestic abuse committed by David W. Johnson, a top aide to the governor. In her resignation, O'Donnell called " uchactions unacceptable regardless of their intent," and said that the conduct was "particularly distressing" in an administration "that prides itself on its record of combating domestic violence." In December 2010, President Obama nominated O'Donnell to be the director of the

, a component of the Office of Justice Programs within the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

. After being confirmed by the senate, O'Donnell was sworn in on June 6, 2011. In June 2014 New York Senator

Charles Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

(D- NY) recommended O'Donnell to fill a vacant federal judgeship on the District Court in the Western District of New York. However, the Obama Administration declined to act on the recommendation and, in 2015, O'Donnell withdrew from consideration.

Personal life

She is married to John O'Donnell, a New York State Supreme Court Justice. Her son, Jack O'Donnell, is a lobbyist and political advisor.

References

External links

Senate Judiciary confirmation notice

Article about Kopp investigation

Article about O'Donnell's ties to Empire Racing Associates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Denise State cabinet secretaries of New York (state) Politicians from Buffalo, New York Eliot Spitzer American prosecutors University at Buffalo Law School alumni Canisius College alumni United States Attorneys for the Western District of New York Women in New York (state) politics Year of birth missing (living people) Living people