Harry L. Shorstein is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer who served as State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court

Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida

The Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida is a Circuit Court comprising Clay, Duval, and Nassau Counties in northeast Florida.-External links:*...

 of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, covering Duval

Duval County, Florida

Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 864,263. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968...

, Clay

Clay County, Florida

Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 190,895. Its county seat is Green Cove Springs, Florida. Clay County is part of the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan area.- History :...

 and Nassau

Nassau County, Florida

Nassau County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 57,663. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 69,835. Its county seat is Fernandina Beach, Florida....

 counties, from 1991–2008. He was appointed to the post in 1991 by Governor Lawton Chiles

Lawton Chiles

Lawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the 41st Governor of...

 to fill the remaining term of Ed Austin

Ed Austin

T. Edward "Ed" Austin, Jr. was an American politician and attorney. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit from 1963 to 1968, and served as State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit from...

, who resigned to successfully run for mayor of Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

. He was elected to a full term in 1992, re-elected in 1996, and ran unopposed in 2000 and 2004. At a February 6, 2007 news conference, the 66-year-old lawyer announced that he would not run for re-election in 2008. He subsequently returned to private practice, and was succeeded as State Attorney by Angela Corey

Angela Corey

Angela B. Corey is an American lawyer currently serving as the State Attorney in Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties. The first woman to hold the position, she was elected in 2008....

.

Career

Shorstein grew up in Jacksonville and attended the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 in Gainesville

Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...

, where he received his bachelor's and law degrees. He was multiply honored for service in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 as a Captain in the Marine Corps

Marine corps

A marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...

 with a Bronze Star with Combat "V", a Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and a Presidential Unit Citation. After the war, he was hired by Public Defender Lou Frost

Lou Frost

Louis O'Melville "Lou" Frost, Jr. was an American lawyer who served for 36 years as the elected public defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit, which consists of Duval, Nassau, and Clay counties...

 and worked in that office before switching sides to the prosecution in 1970 as Division Head and Chief Assistant State Attorney. In 1974, Shorstein began two years as General Counsel for the City of Jacksonville, then switched to private practice for 15 years. In 1991 he was appointed State Attorney. Among the cases prosecuted during his term was the Brenton Butler case

Brenton Butler case

The Brenton Butler case was a 2000 murder case in Jacksonville, Florida. During the investigation of a shooting death outside of a motel, police arrested 15-year-old Brenton Butler and charged him with the murder. Butler subsequently confessed to the crime, and the case went to trial...

, in which the 15-year-old Butler was wrongfully accused of murder, and was later acquitted. Since leaving office he joined the firm Shorstein & Lasnetski, where he works with his youngest son, Paul. He had recently been considered for appointment as the United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 for the Middle District of Florida. As of June 10, 2010, President Barack Obama had selected career federal prosecutor Bobby O'Neill, out of Tampa, for the position.

Work in the Juvenile Justice Program

Harry Shorstein launched a new juvenile justice program in Jacksonville that takes a three-pronged approach to juvenile crime. To reduce juvenile crime, it encourages both early intervention in high risk populations and rehabilitation among offenders. For violent and repeat offenders, it promotes incarceration. From 1993 to 1996, juvenile crime in Jacksonville decreased dramatically, which a Florida State University

Florida State University

The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...

study attributed to the implementation of the plan. However, the same can not be said for the adult offender program, especially the murder rate, which has given Jacksonville the distinction of being Florida’s murder capital for fourteen of last nineteen years.