James Tierney (politician)
| James E. Tierney | |
|---|---|
| 51st Maine Attorney General | |
|
In office January 6, 1981 – January 6, 1991 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard S. Cohen |
| Succeeded by | Michael E. Carpenter |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 12, 1947 Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater |
University of Maine, Orono (B.A., 1969) University of Maine School of Law (J.D., 1975) |
| Profession | Professor, Attorney |
James E. Tierney (born April 12, 1947) is an American politician, law professor and attorney from Maine, where he served as State Attorney General from 1980 until 1990. He is currently the Director of StateAG.org, an educational resource on the office of state attorney general.
At 25, Tierney was elected to the Maine House of Representatives as a Democrat from Lisbon, Maine. After eight years in the Maine Legislature, where he was elected Majority Leader at the age of 29, Tierney became the Maine Attorney General. He served in that capacity for ten years during which time he was active on a wide variety of state and national issues. After leaving office in 1990, he began a career as a consultant to attorneys general. In December 1992 he was named as special attorney general to investigate misconduct allegations on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Tierney has been characterized by state attorneys general and the media as "America's 51st Attorney General."
From 2000 to 2016, Tierney was the Director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School, where he continues to serve as a Lecturer in Law. He is also a Lecturer at Harvard Law School. Tierney teaches on the role of state attorneys general while directing the Harvard Attorney General clinic. He has written extensively on a wide range of topics, such as the often volatile relationship between state AGs and their governors. In 2006, Columbia students recognized him as the Public Interest Law Professor of the Year.
Tierney is quoted widely on the operations of the office of state attorney general. He is a frequent speaker at meetings of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). Tierney has been a regular commentator on Court TV (TruTV) since its founding in 1991. In that capacity, he has commented on a wide range of trials from the celebrated cases of the early 1990s to the recent military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay.
Tierney may be best known as one of the key strategists in the state cases against the tobacco industry in reclaiming Medicaid payments paid out for tobacco-related disease.
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Wikipedia