Distinguished Saint Martin’s alumnus to return to campus for lecture
Thomas W. Hillier II to share insights into federal public defense
February 14, 2008
Lacey, Washington — Saint Martin’s University will host the third
lecture of the 2007–08 Robert A. Harvie Social Justice Lecture Series on
Friday, Feb. 22, at 4 p.m. in Spangler Hall on the University’s main
campus, 5300 Pacific Ave. SE, Lacey, Washington, 98503. Saint Martin’s
distinguished alumnus Thomas W. Hillier II, federal public defender for
the Western District of Washington state, will speak on federal public
defense and its relationship to the changing landscape of federal
sentencing law. The event is free and open to the public.
Hillier, a graduate of Saint Martin’s (1969) and the Gonzaga
University School of Law (1973), has served as the district’s federal
public defender for more than 25 years. In 1982, he was appointed to the
position and has been reappointed every four years since. He argued
before the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Bagley, 473
U.S. 667 (1985), and has appeared before the 9th Circuit on many
occasions. Hillier currently represents Ahmed Ressam, the “Millennium
Bomber,” and will be appearing before the United States Supreme Court on
Ressam’s behalf next month.
Active in federal defender affairs nationally, Hillier sits on the
Legislative Subcommittee for Federal Defenders, the Federal Defender
Training Committee, the Sentencing Guideline Committee and the Advisory
Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence. He is also a lecturer at the
University of Washington School of Law and a Fellow in the American
College of Trial Lawyers.
Hillier returned to Saint Martin’s in 1994 to deliver the
commencement address and again in 2006 to receive a distinguished alumni
award. For outstanding service in his profession, he has received the
Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ William O. Douglas
Award, the Washington Bar Association’s Angelo Petruss Award, the
American Civil Liberties Union of Washington’s William O. Douglas Award,
the Seattle-King County Bar Association’s Outstanding Lawyer Award and
Gonzaga University’s Gonzaga Law Medal.
The Robert A. Harvie Social Justice Lecture Series was created by
Saint Martin’s University Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Robert
Hauhart, Ph.D., J.D., to raise awareness of social justice issues within
the community and to honor the work of Robert A. Harvie, J.D., former
professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at Saint
Martin’s.
Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, Catholic,
coeducational university located on a 320-acre wooded campus in Lacey,
Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict,
the University is one of 18 Benedictine colleges and universities in the
United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains.
Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through
its 21 majors and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts,
business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250
students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main campus,
and 650 more to its five extension campuses located at Fort Lewis Army
Post, McChord Air Force Base, Olympic College, Centralia College and
Tacoma Community College.
For additional information:
Robert Hauhart, Ph.D., J.D.
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4525
rhauhart@stmartin.edu
Keri Graham
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4564
kgraham@stmartin.edu