John Suthers

Infobox_Governor
name= John Suthers


caption=
order=37^th
office= Colorado Attorney General
term_start= January 4, 2005
term_end=
lieutenant=
predecessor= Ken Salazar
successor=Incumbent
birth_date= birth date and age |1951|10|18
birth_place= Denver, Colorado
death_date=
death_place=
spouse= Janet Suthers
profession= Lawyer
party= Republican
religion= Roman Catholic
footnotes=

John William Suthers (born October 18 1951) is the current Attorney General of Colorado. He is a practicing Catholic and member of the Republican Party.

Background

Suthers was born in Denver, Colorado and adopted a month later by a Colorado Springs couple.

He attended St. Mary's High School, and the University of Notre Dame, from which he graduated in 1974 with a degree in government. Suthers also attended the University of Colorado School of Law, graduating in 1977.

Professional career

From 1977 to 1981, Suthers served as a deputy and chief deputy district attorney in Colorado Springs. From 1979 to 1981, he headed the Economic Crime Division of the district attorney’s office and co-authored a book on consumer fraud and white-collar crime.

In 1981, Suthers became a litigation partner in the Colorado Springs law firm of Sparks Dix, P.C. He remained with the firm until 1988, at which time he was elected district attorney of the Fourth Judicial District. At the conclusion of his second term, he returned to Sparks Dix in 1997 as senior counsel in charge of the firm’s litigation section.

In 1999, Suthers was appointed executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections by Governor Bill Owens. In August of 2001, Suthers was appointed by President George W. Bush as United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. He was confirmed unanimously by the United State Senate.

Attorney General

Following the election of Ken Salazar to the United States Senate, John Suthers was nominated by Governor Owens and confirmed by the State Senate as the 37th Attorney General of Colorado in 2005. Suthers served the remaining two years of Salazar's term before running for reelection in 2006.

In November 2006, Suthers won election to the Attorney General’s Office, defeating challenger Fern O’Brien by nine points. During the same election cycle, the Republican candidate for Governor, Bob Beauprez, lost 56-40, and the Republican Secretary of State won by 1.5 percent.cite web |url=http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/electionresults2006G/|title=2006 Election Results]

As Attorney General, Suthers has made criminal justice and consumer protection his main priorities. He has launched a Safe Surfing Initiativecite web |url=http://www.ago.state.co.us/InternetSafety/SafeSurfing.cfm|title=Safe Surfing Initiative] to protect children from online predators. Legislation backed by Suthers made it a crime in Colorado to solicit a child online for a meeting. In the first two years of implementation, 250 alleged pedophiles were arrested on the new charges.cite web |url=http://www.ago.state.co.us/press_detail.cfm?pressID=830|title=Online Luring Legislation]

Suthers also convened a Mortgage and Foreclosure Fraud Task Force in 2005 to study Colorado’s burgeoning foreclosure problem.cite web |url=http://www.ago.state.co.us/press_detail.cfm?pressID=714|title=Mortgage and Foreclosure Fraud Task Force] As Attorney General, he has backed legislation promoted by the task force to reduce appraisal fraud and criminalize unscrupulous “foreclosure consulting”.cite web |url=http://www.ago.state.co.us/press_detail.cfm?pressID=831|title=Mortgage Fraud Legislation]

During the 2008 legislative session, Suthers spearheaded two consumer protection initiatives. Senate Bill 77, dubbed the "Hannah Montana Bill", criminalized the use of software to circumvent online ticket sales limits.cite web |url=http://www.ago.state.co.us/press_detail.cfm?pressID=831|title=AG proposes Hannah Montana, Colorado Rockies ticket fix] Suthers' second measure would have banned most robocalls in the state of Colorado.cite web |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXO4DyOc69-D_n4zjcgiBAYSvEfAD8ULBNMG01|title=States Try to Silence Robo-Calls] Despite being favored by more than 92 percent of Coloradans,cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8189377|title=Denver Post robocall poll] the measure was killed by a legislative committee.

John Suthers currently serves as co-chair of the National Association of Attorneys General criminal law committee. He also acts as one of four Attorneys General on United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey's Executive Working Group on Prosecutorial Relations, a group composed of federal, state, and local prosecutors from across the United States.cite web |url=http://www.ago.state.co.us/press_detail.cfm?pressID=940|title=Committee membership]

Personal

John Suthers previously weighed a run for the U.S. Senate, where he would have vied to replace Senator Wayne Allard. He was considered a front runner for the Republican nominamtioncite web |url=http://www.coloradopols.com|title=Coloradopols.com] before yielding to former Congressman Bob Schaffer. He has authored five books, including his most recent, "No Higher Calling, No Greater Responsibility: A Prosecutor Makes His Case" (Fulcrum Publishing, 2008).

Suthers and his wife Janet have two daughters, Alison, a lawyer in Denver, and Kate, an officer in the United States Navy.

References

External links

* [http://www.ago.state.co.us/index.cfm Colorado Department of Law and the Office of the Attorney General]
*"No Higher Calling, No Greater Responsibility: A Prosecutor Makes His Case" on [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1555916627 Amazon]