BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer
Anne Milgram Growing up in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, in a family steeped in public service, Anne Milgram knew early on that she would follow a similar path.
“I definitely grew up in a family that strongly valued public service,” said Milgram, who took office last month as New Jersey’s attorney general. “I was always very interested in government and public service.”
Milgram remembers her junior year in high school as a turning point. Leaving East Brunswick High School to serve as a congressional page at the U.S. House of Representatives, Milgram had her first taste of government work, and knew it was for her.
“It was a real job,” she said. “It was a real, sort of transformative life experience.”
Even at that young age, Milgram was able to rise above the competition of her peers to land the sought-after position. To qualify, students must be nominated by a member of the House or Senate, and maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
“In my senior year, I knew I was interested in government, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do,” Milgram said.
After graduating summa cum laude from Rutgers College, New Brunswick, with a degree in English and political science, Milgram was accepted to New York University’s law school. Unsure if she wanted to pursue a career in the field, which Milgram said now strikes her as rather funny, she went on to obtain a master of philosophy degree in social and political theory from the University of Cambridge in England.
From there, Milgram made the decision to pursue law, and graduated from New York University in 1996.
Since then, she has received several honors and awards for her work, including the Department of Justice Special Commendation for Outstanding Service in 2004, and the Director’s Award in 2006.
Perhaps most significantly, Milgram was nominated by Gov. Jon Corzine, and unanimously confirmed by the state Senate, as attorney general on June 29.
Despite her relatively young age of 36, Milgram, who now resides in Princeton, brings a variety of experience in government to her new position. That experience began straight out of college, when she served as clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Anne Thompson in Trenton, back in 1996. By the next year, she was working as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
From there, Milgram went to work for the U.S. Department of Justice, in the criminal section of its civil rights division in 2001. It was there that she became the lead federal prosecutor in the country for human trafficking crimes. In 2005, she moved on to serve as counsel to then-U.S. Sen. Corzine.
Before taking on her current post, Milgram spent nearly 18 months as the first assistant attorney general. During this time, she spent a month as the acting attorney general after Zulima Farber resigned in August 2006. Milgram then worked under Stuart Rabner, who became chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in June.
As attorney general, Milgram now heads up the staff of 9,600 in the Department of Law and Public Safety and manages the state’s criminal justice system and Division of State Police, while defending New Jersey against lawsuits.
She believes her past experience is serving her well.
“My main goals right now are to really continue the work we’ve been doing on gang prosecutions and continue the work we’ve been doing on corruption prosecutions,” Milgram said.
Another objective, Milgram said, is to strengthen the Division of Consumer Affairs, as it is an area that affects the most New Jersey residents. According to Milgram, the state has very stringent consumer fraud legislation, which serves as an asset in what she sees as an important aspect of her job.
As part of this work, Milgram has led the ongoing investigation into the student loan industry at colleges and universities throughout the state. Subpoenas were issued to 61 institutions of higher learning, along with 17 student-lending organizations and the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESA) in May to determine whether schools were putting certain lenders on the preferred lender list as a result of kickbacks from the loan companies.
“It’s really a question of whether it’s deceptive or misleading to students,” Milgram said. “It’s really a conflict of interest question.”
Milgram said she would like to push for the elimination of incentives offered by student loan providers, as well as the agreement on the part of colleges and universities to adhere to certain practices. She said part of the investigation is looking into other potential problems with student loans at colleges and universities in the state.
Further, Milgram said, the homeland security and public safety aspect of her job is clearly of great priority. She commended the work on the part of law enforcement officials in this area, which is a continuing focus for her.
Another area Milgram has focused on is Internet safety. Early this month, she announced that more than half of the 141 convicted sex offenders in the state who were identified as having profiles on the MySpace Web site were on either parole or probation. She is pushing for restrictions that would prevent such individuals from using the Internet.
“It definitely confirmed our worst fears,” Milgram said of the discovery.
The information was gleaned through subpoenas issued to MySpace by Milgram’s office, first in May to obtain names of the offenders, and again at the end of June to gain further information on them.
Milgram said the offenders’ profiles have been deleted. The investigation into the nature of their activities on the site is continuing, and she is reaching out to other social networking sites to do similar work.
She stressed the importance of parents being vigilant in monitoring their children’s online activities.
With corruption in local government being a major issue in New Jersey, Milgram is also seeking to make changes in that area.
“I believe very strongly that we need to have a culture of integrity,” she said. “It’s a job of enormous public trust, and it’s also a job you hold in the public trust.”
In order to bring about change, she said, it is necessary to examine the very structure of government.
One example Milgram cited as important to focus on is eminent domain. While she said she appreciates the value of the law when it applies to building that is necessary for the public interest, such as schools, she said procedural safeguards must be put into place to ensure private interests are not being served.
“My concern is that there is a real potential for abuse,” Milgram said.
At the Attorney General’s Office, Milgram has spearheaded investigations into college student loan rates, Internet safety, and consumer privacy rights, and has overseen compliance with state and federal election laws. She has testified before the federal Environmental Protection Agency for tougher enforcement of clean air laws, and she launched an affirmative litigation section in the Division of Law to aggressively pursue legal action to protect the public and improve the quality of life in New Jersey.
Milgram is the second youngest attorney general in the country, and in the history of New Jersey.
“I feel really, really lucky to have this opportunity,” she said. “From my vantage point, it’s about experience, and … I’ve been so fortunate just to have a wealth of experience.”