ALICE VACHSS

attorney, author, consultant & lecturer

"One of America's toughest prosecutors…" —PARADE, 1989

ALICE VACHSS

Legal Education: Boston University School of Law, J.D. [6/1974]
Bar Admissions: New York [1975]; Federal: Southern and Eastern Districts, N.Y. [1981];
Oregon [2000]; Federal: District of Oregon [2002]

Employment/Experience

1992-Present: author/lecturer (details below)
2006-Present: co-publisher, Teal Ribbon Publications, LLC: a small press specializing in non-fiction on the topic of sexual-assault response
2010-2013: special prosecutor for sex crimes, Lincoln County (Oregon) District Attorney
1995-2004: project director, Campus Consultants, a project of North American Family Institute: consultant group of former sex-crimes prosecutors, detectives and therapists to assist in/redesign campus sexual-assault response
1999-2003: staff attorney, Legal Aid Services of Oregon: emphasis on civil response to violence against women and elder abuse; special 18-month project: to design protocols for enhanced response to elderly or disabled sex-crimes victims
1982-1991: Queens District Attorney's Office

1985-1991: Chief Special Victims Bureau (responsible for 25-person vertical unit specializing in prosecution of sex crimes, domestic violence, and crimes against children and the elderly)
1982-1985: trial attorney specializing in the prosecution of sex crimes, intensive litigation experience (cumulative felony jury trials: approximately 100)

1978-1981: Private Practice: trial attorney, concentration in criminal and family courts; member of Indigent Defense Panel (Supreme, Criminal and Family Courts) and trainer for its Co-counsel Program
Consultant: The Juvenile Justice Planning Project (NY) and the Northeastern Family Institute (MA)
Research Director: The Rape-Victim Representation Project
1975-1978: staff attorney, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division (New York, NY): all phases criminal defense; extensive trial experience, misdemeanors and felonies, jury and bench
1974: research director, Advocacy Associates (NY and NJ): directed full-scale investigation into the practices of the New Jersey State Parole Board at Trenton State Prison; coordination of data collection, analysis and commentary for final report to the public
1973: summer internship, Office of the Public Defender (Burlington, VT): introduction to criminal-defense practices/techniques
1972: floor counselor/staff historian, ANDROS II (MA): maximum-security, intensive treatment unit for aggressive-violent youth; supervision of residents, counseling on legal/social issues, preparation of staff and residents for court appearances; documentation of Unit's history for State Dept. of Youth Services
1970-1971: counselor/teacher, VISTA-Teacher Corps Project, Rikers Island Reformatory (New York, NY): counselor in aftercare preparation and follow-up; coordinator of Education Opportunities Unit; literacy-skills counselor

Publications

Book
Sex Crimes, Random House (and Literary Guild), 1993; Henry Holt and Co. Inc. (paperback), German, Italian, Japanese and UK editions, 1994.

Articles
"The Charge of Rape, the Force of Myth," Washington Post Op-Ed (11/02/03)
"Megan's Law Won't Reduce Sex Crimes," New York Times Op-Ed (07/31/95)
"How To Keep Dangerous Criminals Behind Bars," PARADE Magazine (11/25/94)
"Rape and Denial," The New Republic (11/22/93)
"All Rape is 'Real' Rape," New York Times Op-Ed (08/11/93)
"We Need To Go To War," PARADE Magazine (06/27/93)

Manuals
Opening the Final Door: Redefining Rape Response: When the Victim Is Elderly or Has a Disability, Legal Aid Services of Oregon, 2001
Special Victims Bureau Training Manual, Queens DA's Office, 1985-91 editions
The Prosecutor's Manual (Wade/Huntley), NYS BPDS, 1980

Reports
Ad Hoc Parole Committee Public Information Report #1: "The Parole Denial Process in New Jersey," Arca Foundation, 1975

Law Review
"Voiceprints and the Defense," 10 New England Law Review 25 (1974)

Representative sampling of recurrent consultations

Advisory Board for "Abused Kids with Disabilities: A National Training and Support Program"
OVW peer review

Lectures · Training · Speeches

Albert Einstein Medical School Department of Psychiatry
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
American Association of University Women
Booth Memorial Medical Center Child Abuse Unit
Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn & Queens, Mary Immaculate Hospital Division
Circolo della Stampa (Press Club, Milan, Italy)
Council of the City of New York, Committee on Women
Clackamas County (Oregon) CASA
CSD 24
Dickinson College
Downstate Coalition for Victim Services
Eastern Regional Conference on Abuse and Multiple Personality
EAVES/Mayor of London
Embassy of the United States, Sofia Bulgaria
EVAW (End Violence Against Women)
Federation of Jewish Philanthropies
Gateway Democratic Club
Glasgow City Council (Scotland)
Gonzaga University School of Law
International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety
Holliswood Hospital
Hope Place, Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama
IS 59
Jamaica Hill Community Association
Jamaica Service Program for Older Adults, Inc.
Lake County (Illinois) Council Against Sexual Assault
JHS 73, Law Day Program
Leeds Metropolitan University (England)
Lewis and Clark Law School
Lincoln County (Oregon) District Attorney's Office
Lincoln County Task Force Against Sexual Assault, public forum
Long Island Jewish/Hillside Medical Center
Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, Civitas ChildLaw Center
Miami Book Fair International
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Mississippi Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse
Mount Sinai Services/City Hospital at Elmhurst
My Sisters' Place (Oregon)
NASPA (National Association of Student Affairs Administrators) Region IV
National Crime Victims Law Institute
National Organization for Women, NYS
New York Women in Criminal Justice
New York Women in Film
New York Women in the Media
New York Task Force on Processing Civilian Complaints by New York City Criminal Court
New York City Board of Education (various)
New York City Human Resources Administration Child Protective Services Academy
New York City Commission on the Status of Women Conference
New York City Department of Probation, Queens Adult Services
New York City Department for the Aging
New York City Coalition on Elder Abuse
New York City Task Force on Sexual Assault
NYPD Office of the Chief of Detectives, Sex Crimes Investigators' Seminars
New York State Conference on Child Abuse/Cornell University
New York State Assembly Republican Task Force on Sexual Assault
New York State Senate Committee on Codes and Committee on the Judiciary
New York University Post Graduate Hospitals Alumni Association
Open Forum: Violence Against Women
Niagara County (New York) Family Violence Coalition
Oregon Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force
Oregon Child and Family Services Advisory Committee
Oregon State University
Project Sapphire, London Metropolitan Police
Queens Borough Public Library
Queens College
Queensboro Council for Social Welfare
Queensboro Society
Queens County Academy of Medicine
Queens County Grand Jurors' Association
Queens County Maltreatment Services Council
Queens County Task Force Against Rape
Queens County Task Force Against Domestic Violence
Queens Hospital Center Rape Companion Program
Queens Interagency Council on the Aging
Queens Supreme Court, Law Day Ceremonies
Queensboro SPCC [Safe Space]
Rape Crisis Center of Portland, ME
Rape Crisis Intervention Services of Carroll County, MD
Rape Crisis Federation, England
Rape Crisis Network of Columbia, SC
Ridgewood Block Association
Richmond Hill Block Association
St. John's University School of Law
St. Lawrence County Citizens for Women's Justice
St. Vincent's Hospital Rape Crisis Program
San Francisco Book Fair
San Francisco District Attorney's Office
SATI (Sexual Assault Training Institute)
Seton Hall University School of Law
Sexual Assault and Harassment on Campus: 5th-13th International Conferences
South Carolina Solicitors' Association
South Queens Democratic Club
Southern Festival of Books (Nashville, TN)
Spokane (WA) Community Forum on Rape
Twelves Company (Plymouth, England)
Unified Court System (of New York) Summer Judicial Seminars
University of Alabama
Virginia Commonwealth University
Weiss Child Rescue Training at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Wisconsin Department of Justice, Statewide Prosecutor Education and Training Program
Wittenberg University
Yale University Law School, Women's Bar Association
Women's History Month, Queens Division
Yeshiva University: Benjamin Cardoza School of Law