Man standing in a courtroom, wearing a blue suit.

Tackling crime at the root

“One life only.” That’s the message Emmanuel Nneji ’89 works to convey as the district attorney of Ulster County, in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Its meaning: Everyone has this one precious life, with the opportunity to make of it what you will—but if you use that freedom to take the life of another, expect the full weight of the law to fall on you.

Nneji was elected DA in November 2023, taking charge of an office he had served as a prosecutor for more than three decades. (In an ironic twist, his opponent in that election was the son of the now-retired DA who hired him in the first place, someone he considers a mentor.)

He has spent his first year in office in a rebuilding phase, hiring and training new attorneys to replace veteran prosecutors who have left, and planning for a move to a new central building that will bring together the staff now spread out in six locations. He has also stepped up to personally try four high-profile murder trials in just one year, winning convictions in all four.

As a longtime litigator, Nneji is comfortable being in the spotlight. But campaigning for the DA’s position, he says, was a whole new world. “I never thought I would run for office,” he says. “But the service that this office provides to the people of Ulster County matters to me, and the people who work here matter to me.” So he knocked on doors, appeared at meet-and-greets, participated in two debates, and came out on top.  

Now, as the public face of the DA’s office, Nneji is regularly in the public eye. His office puts out news releases about ongoing cases to keep the community informed, and he responds to media inquiries and frequently answers questions on air. “I’ll go to any local news outfit that’s interested in our work,” he says. “It’s been a whole new experience, but we need the community to believe in this office and feel confident in our work.”  

Like many communities, Ulster County has seen a spate of gun violence, though those numbers have diminished in the past year. Nneji says one of his major priorities is to vigorously prosecute all crimes of violence.

Public prosecutors respond to incidents of lawbreaking; they’re the conscience of the community in a civil society. But Nneji also sees a role for his office, and himself, in inspiring young people to choose a better way—not just responding to crime but forestalling it.

“I see young people, charged with serious crimes, walk into court with a swagger,” he says, “and they’re proud to be there, they think they’re a celebrity. Then when they come back for sentencing you see them crying like babies, and it breaks your heart. It hurts to see another human being in that situation. I have to hold them responsible for their behavior. But I want these young people to anticipate the consequence before they take action.”

So Nneji gets himself in front of young people—speaking to youth groups, schools, community organizations—and emphasizing, “When you take somebody’s life, that life is gone forever, but your life is gone, too, because you’ll be spending life in prison.”

He imparts similar life lessons to the teenage boys and girls he coaches in the Kingston Area Soccer League. “It means a lot to me,” he says. “I’ve benefited from the kindness and graces of other people, and I want to pay those back. It’s a silent reward to see these kids do well.” He also goes on the road with his travel teams, driving as far as Long Island and Syracuse. But even the best example can’t save everyone; Nneji is haunted by the fates of two of his players, one who ended up in court on a gun charge, the other who took his own life.

He’s determined to make the most of his new role—one that seemed unthinkable when he was scraping by as a law student, far from his family home in Nigeria, trying to cover the costs with his job at McDonald’s. He remembers that he had run out of money after his first semester at UB Law, and three professors—Alan Freeman, Elizabeth Mensch and Robert Steinfeld—pledged to cover his costs for the next semester if he couldn’t. “I had no idea. It was just out of the blue,” he says.

“But their vision for me to succeed, their well wishes and every ounce of generosity that they extended to me, worked. It helped me significantly. I will never, ever forget it, and I will always do everything I can to show that type of kindness to others.”