Introduction of Representative Kevin Honan

The next award is special and I hope that the Honan family all knows how coveted it is within our office. The Brian J. Honan award recognizes what we believe is the complete prosecutor - not only excellent in the courtroom but grounded in the community where he or she gains knowledge, perspective and understanding that informs our work.

To those who knew Brian Honan when he was an Assistant District Attorney or from his service as a City Councilor, the honor of receiving an award that bears his name and spirit goes without saying. To those who maybe never had the pleasure of knowing Brian, I can only say that this is the award to aspire to. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone who didn't know Brian. Believe me, I served alongside him on the Council and we were both running for this office. I can tell you from firsthand experience that everywhere I went, everyone I met, they had already met Brian - and to meet Brian was just about all it took to become his friend.

Brian Honan was, simply put, a good man who inspired intense loyalty because of the way that he approached his life and his job and everyone he met. Brian was passionate about a lot of the issues we dealt with - public safety, housing, education - but what separated him from others was that he didn't approach those issues from an abstract standpoint but from the perspective of how they affected people - his neighbors, his constituents, and his friends.

His entire life and career were defined by how he cared about people and how he served them - as a teacher, as a prosecutor and as an elected official. This simple award can never inspire people in the same way that Brian himself could, but it is a living memorial aimed at recognizing, educating and moving the hearts and minds of young prosecutors to pursue their jobs, lives and careers in the same way that Brian did.

For the past three years Representative Kevin Honan has honored us by presenting this award. Also with us are his sister Clare Coughlin, Clare's husband Mike, and his mother, Mary Honan. We are so very honored by your presence. I'd like to invite Representative Honan up to say a few words about his brother and to present this year's Brian J. Honan award.

REMARKS OF REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN HONAN IN PRESENTATION OF THE BRIAN J. HONAN AWARD

SUFFOLK AWARDS CEREMONY

MAY 25, 2006

I want to thank you all for having me, my sister, Clare, my brother in-law, and my mother here for this ceremony. Many of you knew my brother, Brian. You worked alongside him in the D.A.'s office or he served you as a City Councilor. Maybe some of you knew Brian from his early days when he oversaw parks improvement in Allston-Brighton or, perhaps, even as a teacher. Before he graduated law school or ran for public office, Brian was a teacher at Saint Patrick's High School in Watertown.

However you knew Brian, I ask that you help to keep his memory alive. I and everyone in my family love hearing from people whose lives were touched, shaped or inspired by my brother. His was a life to be celebrated - and emulated. And it's because of this that the many honors created in Brian's name and memory - this one included - has such meaning. A library in Allston bears his name, as does as affordable housing development, and a park. A road race is run in his name each year that raises funds for the Brian J. Honan Foundation, one of many fundraising events that, through the Foundation, support the various causes and community groups in Allston-Brighton to which Brian was so dedicated. Each of these honors and awards are poignant because they all share a common thread - they're places where people come to live and learn and play. In other words, they are living memorials through which people can improve their own lives and the life of the community around them.

And the Brian J. Honan Award which we present here is no different. It recognizes people whose public service as a prosecutor reflects Brian's own, and hopefully it will inspire prosecutors for many years to come to approach their public service with the same passion, humor, and commitment to justice that defined Brian's career. Brian was very proud of his service in the D.A.'s office and he was very much a modern prosecutor. Brian saw the connection between the work that went on in the courtrooms and its effect on the lives of everyday people. He also recognized that no matter how talented you might be in the courtroom, a prosecutor needs to be directly engaged with the community he or she serves.

The recipient of this year's award reflects these qualities and values. He began his career in the Suffolk District Attorney's Office in 1997, beginning in Dorchester District Court. He worked in Charlestown, the Boston Municipal Court (BMC) and the Juvenile Unit. He went to the Gang Unit in 2001 and in 2004, District Attorney Conley promoted this lawyer to Chief of the Safe Neighborhood Initiative where he is engaged with community residents throughout Suffolk County.

Three years ago, District Attorney Conley began speaking very vocally about the pervasive problem of witness intimidation and the impact it was having on the administration of justice; not just on the effect it was having on cases, but how entire communities were effectively being denied their right to fair and equal justice because fear prevented them from fully accessing the criminal justice system. Even as new legislation was proposed, it was and remains clear that there was no single solution - that new laws would be pointless unless there were also changes in societal attitudes. We can't rely on the pop-culture powers that be, so the D.A. began looking for ways to let people who live in fear in their own communities know that they are not alone.

And it was here that this A.D.A. - someone of deep faith - really stepped up. He has taken the lead on a program aimed supporting victims and witnesses and connecting them to individuals within their communities whom they could turn to for help and support. He named the initiative Project Strength and Spirit. Though Project Strength and Spirit, police, prosecutors, victim-witness advocates and clergy identify witnesses in the most serious cases and work with them to address issues of fear and safety that prevent them from testifying. In addition, to deal with the immediate problem of gang members packing courtrooms to intimidate witnesses - and to address the larger issue of connecting people in neighborhoods to one another for a network of support - faith-based and other community residents actually come into court to show witnesses a friendly face and support for the courage it takes to testify. Project Strength and Spirit was piloted on a small number of cases a few years ago. Today, thanks to this prosecutors leadership, grant dollars were won to support the program, dozens of Boston's ministers have been trained, and dozens and dozens more community residents are participating. Literally, one witness at a time, one resident at a time, Project Strength and Spirit and this man are changing attitudes and making the promise of justice more real.

I am pleased to present the Brian J. Honan Award for Excellence in the Courtroom and Commitment to the Communities We Serve to Assistant District Attorney Kevin Hayden.