R. Seth Williams
| Seth Williams | |
|---|---|
| 24th District Attorney of Philadelphia | |
|
Assumed office January 4, 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | Lynne Abraham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 2, 1967 |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Georgetown University Law Center Pennsylvania State University |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch | Army Reserve |
| Rank | Major |
Rufus Seth Williams (born January 2, 1967) is the 24th and incumbent District Attorney of the city of Philadelphia. He began his term January 4, 2010. He formerly served as an Assistant District Attorney (ADA). Williams is the first African-American District Attorney in Philadelphia and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Williams was put up for adoption after his birth. After placement in two foster homes, he was adopted and grew up in West Philadelphia, the only child of Rufus O. Williams, a teacher at Sulzberger Middle School, and his wife, Imelda, a secretary at the Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard.
He attended Friends' Central School, Central High School and Penn State, where he served as President of the Penn State Student Black Caucus, the Undergraduate Student Government, and was member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. As a student activist, he led a 102-mile march to the state capital at Harrisburg to get Penn State to divest from South Africa. He was a parishioner of St. Carthage Roman Catholic Church (now known as St. Cyprian's), and was altar boy of the year at age 14 in 1981. He graduated from Georgetown University Law in 1992 with distinction as a Public Interest Law Scholar.
After graduating from Georgetown, Williams joined the District Attorney’s Office. He served 10 years as an Assistant District Attorney. In that time, he was appointed Assistant Chief of the Municipal Court, where he supervised the 30 newest prosecutors. He also created and led the Repeat Offenders Unit with the goal of reducing the high percentage of crimes committed by repeat offenders. His courtroom experience includes 37 jury trials, more than 1,500 bench trials and more than 2,500 felony preliminary hearings.
In 2005, he challenged Lynne Abraham, Philadelphia's longtime incumbent District Attorney, in the Democratic primary, but lost with 46% of the vote. Following the election, he was appointed Inspector General of the City of Philadelphia, where he was responsible for investigating allegations of corruption, fraud, waste, abuse and employee misconduct among municipal workers and companies doing business with the city. He left in 2008 to take a position as counsel at Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, a Center City law firm.
...
Wikipedia