Mark David Agrast (born 1956) is an American lawyer who was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice, overseeing criminal and

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

matters for the department's Office of Legislative Affairs. In October 2014, he became the executive director of the

American Society of International Law The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the ba ...

Early life and education

Agrast earned a bachelor's degree in 1978 from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

. He attended the University of Oxford as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

from 1978 until 1981, and then earned a J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1985.

Professional career

Early in his career, Agrast was a senior legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds. In 1993, Agrast helped to form the Lesbian and Gay Congressional Staff Association. Agrast served as the legislative director for Studds' successor, U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, from 1997 until 2003. In 2003, Agrast joined the liberal Center for American Progress public policy research and advocacy organization as senior vice president for domestic policy. He later became a Senior Fellow at the Center.

Work in the Obama administration

On July 1, 2009, Agrast was appointed a Deputy Assistant Attorney General for criminal and national security matters in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legislative Affairs. In September 2009, Agrast was reported to have told activists that the Obama administration would not be pursuing or supporting new legislation to detain terrorism suspects and that it has all the current detention authority that it needs.

Personal

Agrast is openly gay. In 2007 in an article in '' The Washington Post'', he criticized the practice of outing closeted gays. "To many of us, coming-out is a process, a very personal journey dictated by the individual. My objection to outing is not about the people who are being outed. It's about us," Agrast told the paper. He also expressed sympathy for then-Sen. Larry Craig, who had been arrested for lewd conduct in a men's restroom. "We don't have to admire the choices that Craig has made in his life to feel some compassion for a 62-year-old man who seeks anonymous encounters because he can't come to terms with who he is."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agrast, Mark D. 1956 births Living people American lawyers Case Western Reserve University alumni Yale Law School alumni United States congressional aides LGBT appointed officials in the United States