The Chronicle Endorses D.A. Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris was elected district attorney in 2003 by steering a sensible course between the devoutly progressive incumbent Terence Hallinan and the more conservative attorney Bill Fazio.
Harris rejected the labels of "tough on crime" and "soft on crime." Her oft-repeated pledge has been to be "smart on crime."
In the past four years, Harris has run the office with a smart blend of prosecutorial passion to put violent offenders behind bars and a social worker's determination to identify and address some of the root causes of crime. She has successfully pushed to increase the resources to her office and to bring the operations to the 21st century by making sure her attorneys have e-mail and the tools of information technology.
While conviction rates overall are up, Harris readily acknowledges that one of the city's most vexing problems is the number of homicides that remain unsolved. There is, she said, "no one fix." Under her tenure, 85 percent of those who are arrested in connection with a homicide have been charged - and 87 percent of those have been convicted.
The big problem in this city, of course, is the few homicide cases that actually reach the district attorney.
One factor is the reluctance of witnesses to come forward, which has become a point of emphasis for her office. Harris helped push state legislation that increases the amount of funding for the Witness Relocation and Assistance Program. She has also supported City Attorney Dennis Herrera's controversial use of civil injunctions to keep gangs from congregating in certain neighborhoods.
Harris has also been one of the leaders among district attorneys in trying to reform the "three strikes" law to assure that these strikes - which trigger long prison sentences - are serious and violent felonies.
For Harris, the natural tensions between a district attorney and police officers were aggravated early in her term when she refused to seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing Officer Isaac Espinoza. She has since worked hard to smooth out relations with the SFPD. The killer, David Hill, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
It's remarkable for a district attorney to run unopposed in a city with so many lawyers with political ambitions. It's a testament to Harris' performance in office and her skill at consensus building.
She has earned a second term.
