Inaugural Address by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris
I thank each of you for being here today. And from my heart, I thank all of you who have been part of this journey, who have worked so hard to make this moment possible.
One individual here deserves a special tribute. She is a woman who has given of herself unconditionally throughout my life. She is the most inspiring and courageous person I have ever known. Please help me honor Dr. Shymala Harris, my mother.
I also would like to show appreciation for the other members of my immediate family here today, my sister, Maya Harris West, my brother-in-law, Tony West and my fabulous niece Meena. Maya, Tony and Meena, I love you and I shall always be grateful for you.
Today, I take the oath of office humbled by the trust that has been placed in me by the people of
I salute former District Attorney Terence Hallinan for his many years of service. Terence promoted progressive criminal justice policies, diversified the district attorney’s office, and gave many fine young attorneys the chance to become prosecutors and seek justice for the people of this city.
I want to recognize a group of wonderful attorneys who have inherited the legacy of Earl Warren, who served from 1925 to 1939 as
I also want to thank everyone I have worked with in the San Francisco City Attorney’s office, a group whose dedication to public service and legal abilities are second to none. I also extend my appreciation and respect to former San Francisco District Attorney Arlo Smith, whose counsel I value deeply.
I have also been counseled by a brilliant team of experts in law and public policy who are serving on my advisory group. Their hard work is making the transition successful, bringing deep analysis and fresh ideas to reinvigorate the District Attorney’s office.
The greatest challenge facing a district attorney and the most serious work for us as a community is the struggle to give meaning to justice. Let’s put an end right here to the question about whether we are tough on crime or soft on crime. Let’s be smart on crime.
By being smart on crime, we can, and will, create a District Attorney’s Office that is compassionate and effective. That is progressive and professional. That is committed to justice for every San Franciscan.
To be smart on crime, we have to ensure each other’s safety from violence without doing violence to our constitutional freedoms.
The struggle to do justice is not new in
Mr. Brown ran on a reform platform. Drawing upon Earl Warren’s work in
Pat brown was also a vigilant protector of civil liberties. He wrote to President Roosevelt urging him not to deport Harry Bridges. He strongly opposed the evacuation and internment of Japanese citizens and established special local measures to protect Japanese Americans from racist attacks when they returned to
In Pat Brown’s words “where democracy lives, free people speak in strong voices.” Today, we must give voice to the struggle to protect our civil liberties in a troubled world. I pledge to you that I will work to make secure our guarantee of due process, privacy and the liberties enshrined in the bill of rights.
To be smart on crime, we need to begin, as Pat Brown did, by bringing professional management and cutting-edge prosecution practices to the District Attorney’s Office. I have the highest respect for the dedicated attorneys who work there today and i intend to create a world-class office where they can do their best work. (I would like to ask all the staff of the San Francisco District Attorney’s office to stand and be recognized.)
I want to tell you how grateful I am for the opportunities and support I have been given by Louise Renne. When Louise became
As my first hire, I am proud that Russ Giuntini, a respected leader in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, has agreed to serve as my chief deputy. Russ has earned a reputation in
As I begin my work as your District Attorney, I will immediately put in place a management system that will improve our conviction rates for serious and violent felonies. Nowhere in the criminal justice system is professionalism and modern technology more important than in the investigation and prosecution of murder. In the next sixty days, I will complete an audit of all backlogged homicide cases. I recently met with presiding Judge Donna Hitchens, Judge Mary Morgan, head of the criminal courts, and our Public Defender Jeff Adachi. I have asked them to work with me to create a homicide court to move these backlogged cases forward. We owe this to our city and to the families of homicide victims.
Protecting public safety requires close coordination between prosecution and law enforcement and I am eager to forge an effective working relationship with the San Francisco Police Department. I will create this partnership in a manner that maximizes our shared mission to protect the city’s most vulnerable citizens and in a manner that will maintain the public’s trust in the integrity of their criminal justice system.
As a community that is smart on crime, we must reject simplistic approaches to public policy. Dr. Martin Luther King taught us that, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It takes much more than building prisons and locking away prisoners to keep our city safe. I will only use “3 strikes” when the third strike is a serious or violent felony. And I will never charge the death penalty.
At the same time, let me be clear that anyone who commits rape, molests a child, commits murder or does any other violent act will meet the most severe consequences and will be removed from this community so that they can do no more harm.
I am resolved to stopping domestic violence. a few years ago, when I joined the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, my friend Susan Breall, now a great judge on our court, asked me to march with her and other prosecutors. It was a march to protest the murder of a woman brutally killed by her husband. The march of attorneys in suits may have looked different from many protests but as San Franciscans outraged by violence, we took to the streets to demand an end to the senseless beating and killing of women and intimate partners. Ii want to ask my friend Judge Breall, and all of you, to march with me again this year and to march with me every year until the day when our march becomes a parade in celebration of the time when domestic violence is no longer the leading cause of murder of San Francisco women. I will not compromise in this fight.
I also will not compromise in my resolve to protect our loved ones who need medical marijuana. I have seen marijuana relieve pain and lengthen the lives of people dear to me. For those who need medical marijuana, I want you to know that Ii will defend your rights and vigorously oppose any encroachment on them by outside agencies.
I look forward to working with leaders like my great friend Assemblyman Mark Leno to implement proposition s and ensure a safe supply of medical marijuana for those who need it most.
Let us also commit to protecting the wellbeing of our seniors. Too many elderly citizens are victimized by physical and financial abuse and fraud and I will expand my office’s ability to investigate and prosecute individuals who prey upon our vulnerable elders.
Nowhere is my commitment to fight violence stronger than when it comes to violence against children, most terribly, gun violence. Tragic shootings of young people have become epidemic. Can it really be true that the news of a child being shot in
I have had the honor of working as a prosecutor in both
We lost Dick last year but his wisdom and memory live on in my heart. Ending gun violence was his passion and that commitment will live on in our work.
And so, one of my first priorities is to get guns out of the hands of youth. I will strictly enforce laws that provide longer prison sentences for crimes committed with guns, and vigorously prosecute adults who furnish guns to children. My office will also launch new gun violence prevention initiatives in
To further protect our children, I will create a new unit within the District Attorney’s Office, the Child Sexual Assault unit, to investigate and prosecute every sex crime committed against a child. I will also ensure that prostituted and exploited children are treated as the victims they are. I will not allow our most vulnerable citizens to continue being forced into lives of abuse.
As vigilant as we are against violent crime, the role of the District Attorney is also to investigate and prosecute people who commit fraud and criminal acts that place the public’s health and safety at risk. I am announcing today the selection of a new chief investigator, Lou lLndini, a friend with unquestioned integrity and outstanding credentials both as an attorney and a peace officer. Lou will begin his work by reinvigorating the handling of corruption cases.
A community that is smart on crime also recognizes that it isn’t just violent crime that impacts our quality of life.
I do not believe it is compassionate to ignore quality of life crimes – not for the neighborhoods plagued by them nor for those who commit them. Many quality of life offenders are people with mental illness and addiction. It serves neither our neighborhoods nor those individuals if we turn a blind eye when they commit crimes. I will work to move these offenders into effective treatment and I will advocate to increase access to quality housing and services.
I also will work to bring accountability and professionalism to our diversion alternatives. We best serve our neighborhoods and the defendants themselves when diversion programs are rigorous, offering real opportunities, treatment and training so that offenders exit the criminal justice system for good. I have asked Sheriff Michael Hennessey to partner with me to create the first “citywide office of crime prevention, rehabilitation and reentry.” sooner or later, usually sooner, offenders cycle through the system and wind up right back on the same street corners. We must ensure that people being released from prison and jail are surrounded with the services, support and supervision they need to successfully rejoin community life.
I also pledge my personal, close attention to the urgent effort to reform and modernize
In 1966, speaking at the
Robert Kennedy’s boldness of vision, sense of hope and dedication to justice will inspire and infuse our work as we build a world-class District Attorney’s Office in