U.S. Attorney’s office for district gets worthy new leader

Years ago, I represented a man who was charged with a serious crime. He’d experienced a panic attack while flying from Philadelphia to his native Italy, and caused a disturbance in flight so severe that the pilot was forced to turn the plane around. As you might imagine in the post9/11 era, this was a big deal. I fully expected the government to bring the entire weight of its power and authority against this poor fellow, whose only real crime was to have slept too little, drank too much and forgotten to take his anti-anxiety pills in the hours before the flight. That doesn’t excuse his conduct, but it does explain it.

The case was in front of a notoriously no-nonsense judge, and at that point in my career I had been to federal court less than a handful of times. In stepped Jennifer Arbittier Williams, the Assistant United States Attorney assigned to the case. Jennifer was already a seasoned federal prosecutor with a strong track record in anti-terrorism litigation, and even though my misbegotten Italian was no terrorist, his airplane antics put him in the same general neighborhood as hijackers. He could have gotten a very stiff, very severe penalty that would have ruined his life. Jennifer worked with our office so that our client could avoid spending 20 years in prison. Her professionalism, integrity and humanity were the difference between ruining the life of someone who made a very stupid mistake and putting the appropriate measure of compassion on the fragile scales of what we call justice.

Those are the type of things you don’t forget. That’s why it’s good to take a breath, a moment, and focus on people like Jennifer. She is first and foremost, a mother of four beautiful children. She shares those children, and a new puppy with her husband, newly-elected state Rep. Craig Williams, R-160. I wrote about Craig in the past, observing that “Craig Williams was decorated twice for valor in combat and retired from the Marines as a Colonel after 28 years of faithful service in his beloved Corps. He is defined by his service, both in the military and by every other societal metric we value.”

Change the name, the gender, and the military pedigree and you could basically say the same thing about his wife. Her service, although of a different sort, is -- and I will quote myself -- an equal reflection of every societal metric we value. I am clearly not the only person to have recognized Jennifer’s character.

This week, the sitting U.S. Attorney William McSwain resigned from his current position, something which normally happens at the end of a presidential term. Jennifer Williams, his first assistant, will become acting U.S. Attorney until President Joe Biden appoints a replacement. Here is hoping that he decides to keep this good woman in this important role.

I have nothing but good words for Bill McSwain. He has served the Eastern District of Pennsylvania honorably, and did something that far too many local prosecutors have either refused or were unable to do: Put the focus on the victims.

I don’t know how Jennifer Arbittier Williams will run the office of the U.S. Attorney. My personal experience with her has been limited to that one case, albeit a case that gave me a glimpse into how she approaches prosecution. Based on that alone, I am convinced that she will not act with cookiecutter efficiency, trying to rack up numbers so the stats for the office look good.

We are a country divided. We will likely remain divided at both a national, regional, and local level for some time to come. The incidents that occurred on Jan. 6 were just the most obvious, virulent example of that division. To expect that we will hold hands and sing Kumbaya is madness.

But at the very least, we can celebrate those moments when a person of character steps into the breach created by mediocrity and anger, and pin our hopes on them to bridge it with competence and compassion.

This is one of those moments, and those people. Let’s hope Joe Biden makes it permanent.