Miller Canfield Attorney Appointed to Monitor Cincinnati Police Reforms
Saul A. Green, a principal at the Michigan-based law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. and former U.S. Attorney, was appointed on Tuesday December 17, 2002 to monitor the Collaborative Agreement and Memorandum Agreement implementing police reforms in Cincinnati. Green’s appointment by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott means that he will continue his work at Miller Canfield and, in addition, head a team of experts from around the country to assess compliance with the reforms outlined in the Collaborative Agreement and Memorandum Agreement.
Green’s appointment comes after Cincinnati received the resignation of a Berkeley, Calif., attorney, who was serving as the independent monitor. Cincinnati is working to improve police policies and police-community relations. Green was U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan when a federal investigation of the Detroit Police began in 2000. His hire in Cincinnati was unanimously approved by the parties to the Agreements: including the City of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Police Department, the Cincinnati Black United Front, the ACLU, the Fraternal Order of Police and the U.S. Department of Justice.
At Miller Canfield, Green is director of Miller Canfield's Minority Business Practice Group and its Criminal Defense Group. He joined the firm in 2001 and currently practices litigation and dispute resolution with an emphasis on alternative dispute resolution, white-collar crime, labor and commercial litigation.
He will serve as independent monitor for five years to oversee the Agreements that implement police reforms related to use of force, racial profiling and other policies aimed at improving police- community trust.
"I believe that my continued work at Miller Canfield and my past experience give me important insight that will benefit my work as monitor," said Green. "I am very optimistic about the parties' ability to improve police-community relations in the city."
Green served seven years as United States Attorney, appointed by former President William J. Clinton, and has held the positions of Wayne County Corporation Counsel; Chief Counsel, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Detroit Field Office; and Assistant United States Attorney. In 1990, he was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to the Attorney Grievance Commission.
He received his law degree in 1972 from the University of Michigan Law School. He is an active volunteer on behalf of the university, currently serving as president of the Alumni Association, and has served on its board of directors, as well as numerous committees.
He has received many awards, including the Wolverine Bar Association Trailblazer Award in 1991, the 1999 State Bar Champion of Justice Award, and in 2002 he received the Wade Hampton McCree, Jr. Award, given in recognition for courage, humanity, achievement, and leadership, and he was selected by the State Bar of Michigan as the 2002 recipient of the Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Servant Award.
A life member of the NAACP, he also is an active member of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. He resides in Detroit.
The 300-attorney law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. was established in Detroit in 1852 and has offices in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Howell, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Monroe, and Troy, Michigan. Other offices are located in New York City, Pensacola, Florida, Washington, D.C., Windsor, Ontario, and in Gdynia, Katowice, and Warsaw, Poland.