Kamala Harris - For California Attorney General 2010

50 politicos to watch

By Jennifer McClellan, Politico
July 10, 2009

ONES TO WATCH OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY

Kamala Harris

Even in California, a state with a deep and diverse bench of Democratic talent, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris stands out.

A two-term prosecutor whose innovative approach to law enforcement has made her a rising star in progressive politics, she is both the state’s first female African-American district attorney and the nation’s first Indian-American district attorney.

On Harris’s watch, felony conviction rates hit a 14-year high and elementary school truancy fell 23 percent after she began prosecuting the parents of chronically truant children.

 “I call it the ‘smart on crime’ approach,” Harris told POLITICO. “We’ve got to be efficient, swift and certain after it occurs, but we also have to do what we can to prevent crime before it occurs.”

Harris has drawn fire from San Francisco police, who accuse her office of inflating conviction rates and bringing too few cases to trial. And in 2004, Harris, who opposes the death penalty, angered many by refusing to seek execution for the killer of a city police officer.

But that hasn’t stopped Harris from establishing herself as the front-runner in California’s 2010 race for attorney general.

Source: politico.com

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