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Voters chose Kamala Harris' full view of the law

bleubitz — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:05:51 -0800

From a political standpoint, Kamala Harris' upset victory over Steve Cooley for state attorney general was remarkable. He was the district attorney from Los Angeles, which allowed him to start the campaign with a deeper support base and the opportunity to chide the San Francisco district attorney as a caricature of the leftist city she served.

Most analysts regarded Cooley as the surest bet on the Republican ticket, even in a Democratic state. He kept to a meat-and-potatoes platform that emphasized the office's crime-and-punishment duties - accentuating his eagerness to inflict the death penalty - and to dial back what he regarded as Attorney General Jerry Brown's aggressive interpretation of his discretion to enforce and ignore laws passed by legislators and voters.

It looked to most pundits, even Democrats, like a winning formula for Cooley.

California voters, however, had other ideas. They chose Harris, the 46-year-old career prosecutor with the more thoughtful and expansive vision of the role of an attorney general. As with Brown, Harris said she would not defend laws she regarded as blatantly unconstitutional (such as Prop. 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage) and would help assure the implementation of the state's landmark climate-change law. Harris pledged to enforce the state's death penalty law despite her personal opposition to it - but she repeatedly and correctly reminded voters that it was not the most pressing criminal-justice issue in the state.

Her top priority would be to try new approaches to reducing the state's unacceptably high recidivism rate, which represents a serious peril to public safety and a steady drain on the state budget.

Her election to statewide office compounds the intrigue at San Francisco City Hall, where the Board of Supervisors have begun the scramble to appoint a mayor to succeed Lt. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. Now the mayor - either Newsom or his successor, it's to be determined -will have to appoint someone to fill the last year of Harris' term.

The drama is the cost of having two bright, ambitious leaders who made the case that they were ready for higher office.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/26/ED6L1GH49D.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 23 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Race For Attorney General Still Too Close To Call

bleubitz — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:29:02 -0800

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Republican Steve Cooley maintained his lead in the tight race for California attorney general Monday, although the last unresolved contest for statewide office remained too close to call nearly a week after Election Day. Cooley, Los Angeles County's district attorney, was up three-tenths of a percentage point over Democrat Kamala Harris with about 2 million ballots remaining to be counted.

A win by Harris, the San Francisco district attorney, would give Democrats a sweep of statewide offices in a race that has drawn national attention because of California's influence. The tally has been up and down by thousands of votes since election night.

Click here for additional text and video

Within a three-hour span Monday, Cooley's lead rose to 44,000 votes, then dropped to 19,000 as more results came in, according to the secretary of state's office. The lead has changed hands twice since election night with nearly 8 million ballots tallied so far. The roughly 2 million remaining late, damaged or provisional ballots must be counted before the Nov. 30 official vote canvass.

Harris had led in the early days after the election following a strong showing by Cooley on Election Day. Harris spokesman Brian Brokaw said Cooley's surge reflects late mail-in ballots being counted in conservative areas in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. "It's sort of unfolding the way election night unfolded, with the reddest (most conservative) counties being counted first," Brokaw said. Los Angeles County had yet to count 412,000 ballots as of Friday, according to the most recent statewide tally posted Monday by the secretary of state's office. On Election Day, Harris led in Los Angeles County by a 14-point margin. Several San Francisco Bay area counties also had large numbers of ballots uncounted. San Diego County, which favored Cooley, still had 218,000 votes outstanding.

"There's still a lot of ballots to be counted in counties carried by both Cooley and Harris, so it's premature to say who's won," Cooley spokesman Kevin Spillane said. "It's going to continue to fluctuate over the next few days, and maybe longer."

Attorney General Campaign Update

bleubitz — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:19:16 -0800

We all remember the first few hours after the polls closed last Tuesday night. Because the first ballots counted were from heavily Republican counties, Steve Cooley opened an 8-point lead that led Cooley to declare himself the victor, yet by Wednesday morning Kamala Harris was ahead.

As the counties tabulate late-arriving absentees and provisional ballots, we’ll see many abrupt swings in the vote totals. The current count shows Cooley with a small lead for the same reason he appeared to be ahead early on Tuesday evening – the overwhelming majority of the ballots that have been counted since November 2nd have come from conservative counties where Cooley won by large margins. For example, the current vote tally reflects results from Orange County, which represents only 8 to 9 percent of the statewide vote; yet Orange County accounts for nearly one-fourth of all the votes that have been counted post November 2nd. The majority of the counties where Kamala surged on Election Day, including many counties where she defeated Cooley by a two-to-one margin, have yet to tally their uncounted ballots in any significant numbers.

Furthermore, few counties have yet counted provisional ballots, which traditionally have leaned towards Democratic candidates. You can learn more about the provisional balloting process at the Secretary of State’s website. Voters can also check the status of their ballots --contact information is available here.

While the ultimate outcome may not be determined for several weeks, our supporters wasted little time in organizing and activating one of the largest volunteer vote-monitoring teams in California statewide election history to ensure that every vote is counted. As of this morning, we have recruited more than 1,000 volunteers who are being dispatched county-by-county to ensure the integrity of the ballot counting process. We are incredibly grateful to our friends and supporters who are volunteering their time to help protect the vote, and to everybody that has supported us throughout this process.

Kamala Harris clings to narrow lead over Steve Cooley for attorney general

bleubitz — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:16:40 -0700

With nearly 7 million ballots counted, Democrat Kamala Harris holds a razor-thin lead over Republican Steve Cooley in the race for state attorney general.

Fewer than 38,000 votes separate the two candidates as thousands of late absentee and provisional ballots remain uncounted. Cooley, the Los Angeles County district attorney, jumped out to an early lead as the votes were being counted across the state Tuesday night.

Cooley declared victory and scheduled a victory press conference for Wednesday morning. But as the race tightened, Cooley's campaign announced he was canceling the press conference until the race had a more definitive result.

Harris, who trailed in most public opinion polls leading up to election day, is trying to complete a Democratic sweep of statewide offices. All other statewide offices went to Democrats, including the three currently held by Republicans -- governor, lieutenant governor and insurance commissioner.

"Steve Cooley, who declared victory and went home, should be up biting his nails," state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francsico) said shortly before 1 a.m. to a dwindling crowd of Harris backers in San Francisco. "It's going to be a story long into tomorrow, but my own assessment and opinion is, we win this race!"

If her victory holds, Harris would become the first African American and first woman ever to hold the job of California attorney general. Cooley ran on a strong law-and-order message, while Harris emphasized environmental protection in her campaign. Harris proved to be a prodigious fundraiser, and received campaign help from President Obama in the closing weeks of the campaign.

--Anthony York

Calif. AG Race Has National Energy Implications

bleubitz — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:05:20 -0700

The winner of California's race for attorney general will have a tremendous amount of influence over state and federal environment and energy policy, although the race doesn't particularly hinge on environmental issues.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris (D) is the environmentalists' clear favorite over Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley (R). A Field Poll taken at the end of September had them in a statistical dead heat, with Cooley at 35 percent to Harris' 31 percent and with 34 percent undecided.

The job is widely seen as the second-most influential position in California. And although politicians in many states have used the position of attorney general to springboard to national prominence -- among them Govs. Charlie Crist (I-Fla.), Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.) and Chris Gregoire (D-Wash.); former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-N.Y.); Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.); and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, former attorney general of Colorado -- California's attorney general wields unusual power.

Current California Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown (D) used the office to regulate greenhouse gas emissions even before the state's landmark global warming law, A.B. 32, took effect. He sued local governments for failing to take carbon dioxide into their long-term development plans under the California Environmental Quality Act, winning a landmark case against San Bernardino County and a $7 million settlement with ConocoPhillips over emissions from a planned refinery expansion (E&ENews PM, Sept. 11, 2007).
Brown has also been instrumental in defending the state against lawsuits stemming from its low-carbon fuel standard and in defending the use of state and municipal funds to back property-assessed clean energy loans, which have come under fire from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (Greenwire, July 15).
Alice Kaswan, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, said she expects the next attorney general to have a heavy A.B. 32 burden, as well, assuming a proposition on next week's ballot to postpone the law fails. The state Air Resources Board is due to release cap-and-trade regulations within the next two weeks, in preparation for emissions trading to begin in 2012. "I expect there'll be litigation, probably from both sides of the fence," she said. "The attorney general's office is going to have a significant workload."
California's attorney general also plays a larger role than most in national politics. If a federal climate bill resurfaces, the attorney general will be involved in issues of state pre-emption and shaping the legislation itself. "The question is what will happen to state programs," she said. "Also, California's experience in developing climate programs has given the state a lot of expertise, so the attorney general will be involved in sharing that information with other states and federal policymakers."
The Sierra Club originally endorsed state Rep. Pedro Nava (D) for the job, citing his membership on the Ocean Protection Council and eight years on the California Coastal Commission. Bill Magavern, director of Sierra Club California, said there is "not a huge" difference between Nava and Harris, who received the group's endorsement after the primaries.
"We were impressed by her in the interview and think she would be an outstanding attorney general," he said. "She has made a solid commitment to CEQA, including using it to help local governments plan to grow more sustainably with a lower carbon footprint." Cooley makes no reference to the environment on his campaign website and declined to answer during an Oct. 5 debate whether he supported Proposition 23, the ballot initiative to suspend A.B. 32 until unemployment falls to 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters.
"I'm not approaching this issue from an ideological position, as my opponent seems to be," Cooley said. "The will of the people may be Prop 23, or it may be A.B. 32. I will implement their will if they pass it, and I will implement A.B. 32 if they don't pass it."
When asked if he would continue enforcing local land-use planning under CEQA, Cooley sharply criticized Brown's actions. "I would review every single threatening letter that he's sent to different parts of the state of California," he said. "It may very well be that Attorney General Brown has exceeded his authority and created a very, very bad jobs environment for legitimate businesses and development here in California."
While using terms like "dynamic," "forward-thinking" and "energetic" to describe Harris, most newspapers have endorsed Cooley. "Were we searching for an attorney general in whom we would find ideological kinship or visionary leadership, Harris would be it," the Los Angeles Times said in its endorsement. "But what the next four years require most of all in the office is strong, capable, nonpartisan, professional supervision."
That echoes most voters' perception of the position, said Rick Frank, a former California deputy attorney general and director of the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at the University of California, Berkeley. "I think, for better or worse, most Californians view the AG as the state's top cop," he said. "They have a fairly narrow and focused view of the attorney general, and most voters don't know or don't care that the AG has many responsibilities above enforcing the death penalty."
Harris is seen as softer on crime than Cooley, due to her staunch opposition to capital punishment. The Virginia-based Republican State Leadership Committee, whose donors include Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and Devon Energy Corp., began running an ad last week criticizing her decision not to seek the death penalty in 2004 against a man who killed a San Francisco police officer.
Other oil companies have been taking an active interest in the campaign, as well, with Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Valero Energy Corp. and Venoco Inc. all contributing to Cooley. Harris has raised about $4 million to Cooley's $4.6 million, but her donor list is full of Hollywood heavyweights like Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Aaron Sorkin.
The last-minute ad campaign underscores industry's sophisticated appreciation of the attorney general's role, Sierra Club's Magavern said. "The ads focus on the death penalty, but why these businesses care about the attorney general have nothing to do with the death penalty and everything to do with enforcement of environmental and consumer laws," he said.
Kahn reported from San Francisco.

Democratic Nominee for Attorney General Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Leaders Unveil Homeowner Relief and Protection Plan

bleubitz — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 18:14:03 -0700

As Attorney General, Harris Pledges to Fight Predatory Lending and Mortgage Fraud

(Los Angeles) San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris joined Los Angeles elected and community leaders today to announce a four-part plan to protect California homeowners from the scourge of predatory lending and mortgage fraud. DA Harris joined Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Assemblymember Mike Davis and President and COO of FAME Corporations Denise Hunter at the steps of LA City Hall to announce the plan.

The Homeowner Relief and Protection Plan calls for legislative reform and enhanced enforcement to strengthen oversight of lending practices, stamp out fraudulent activities, and give homeowners a chance to get back on their feet.
Read more

'Female Obama' Kamala Harris, California AG Candidate, Targeted By Big Business

bleubitz — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:25:07 -0800

Corporate cash is flooding into the California attorney general's race, a sign both of the growing emphasis that big business is putting on state-level legal action and the particular threat posed by up-and-coming multiracial Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

So-called "down-ticket" races on state ballots rarely draw big national money, but huge corporate interests are funneling more than $1 million through a Republican campaign committee based in Virginia to buy anti-Harris campaign ads on Los Angeles County television stations.

The ad from the Republican State Leadership Committee -- one of the many such entities revolving in GOP political guru Karl Rove's orbit -- targets Harris, currently the San Francisco district attorney, for her opposition to the death penalty. But it's not hard to figure what its funders really care about. The committee has lately been getting its biggest contributions from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, major health insurers, big tobacco and manufacturing interests.

State attorneys general are increasingly at the front lines of major political issues that affect big-business bottom lines. For instance, after last year's passage of President Obama's health care reform bill, the political battle shifted to the state level, where a bevy of conservative attorneys general are suing to block the law.

Edwin Bender, executive director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics, notes that the attorney general races may be attracting a lot of campaign money because of the important role they will play in the future of campaign money.

"In the wake of the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, which overturned laws in 24 states," Bender told HuffPost, "you have a new situation in which I think attorneys general are going to be looking at the campaign finance laws of their states, to try to determine if there's anything they can or need to do."

Republican State Leadership Committee spokesman Adam Temple didn't return HuffPost's calls, but here's how he explained the organization's opposition to Harris in an interview with the Sacramento Bee: "At a time when the federal government is overreaching, attorneys general often are on the front lines."

State attorneys general are also heavily involved in the key social issues of our time. After California voters approved an anti-gay-marriage ban, it was overturned by a federal district court judge. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown (currently the favorite in the governor's race) both said they would not use state resources to defend the ban. So has Harris. But her opponent, Republican Steve Cooley, currently the Los Angeles County district attorney, has said he would.

And one unique factor in this race is Harris herself, considered by some Democrats to be the "female Obama." At 46, she is a charismatic, telegenic and multi-racial politician who is credited with an ability to connect with people of widely different backgrounds.

She was the first African-American woman elected to be district attorney in California, and talks as much about prevention as about prosecution. (See the recent Los Angeles Times story, "Kamala Harris is a different kind of prosecutor.")

If she wins next Tuesday, she'll be the first woman, the first African-American and the first Asian-American (her mother is Indian; her father Jamaican) to be elected California attorney general. And every California attorney general in recent history has used the job as a stepping stone to the governor's race.

Stopping -- or even delaying -- the rise of someone like that is just the kind of thing Rove delights in.

Or, as spokesman Temple told the Bee about the possibility of dampening Harris's political future: "If that is a byproduct of defeating her, we're perfectly happy with that."

Harris is the only Democratic statewide candidate currently trailing in the polls. Seeing an opportunity to make political lemonade, her campaign has called attention to the ad as an example of "out of state ideological interference" which they say is illegal, to boot.

In a Monday conference call with reporters, the Harris campaign charged that the ad violates state rules for an "independent expenditure" political campaign ad, which requires the disclosure -- in the ad itself -- of top contributors.

"What's happening here is absolutely unprecedented in attorney general races in California," Harris's political strategist, Ace Smith, told reporters Monday.

"There's a bunch of people in Washington led by Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie [the former Republican National Committee chairman who now runs the Republican State Leadership Committee] who don't like what the Democratic attorneys general have been up to.

"They are targeting Kamala Harris, but more importantly, they are supporting Steve Cooley.... They know that he is the guy who's going to go easy on the tobacco companies and oil companies."

This is not the first time the group has spent large sums on an attorney general race, however. Its donations to the 2008 campaign in Missouri of a state senator named Mike Gibbons totaled a whopping $1.2 million, or nearly one third of his total take. He lost.

Freed by those Supreme Court campaign finance rulings, the committee no longer needs to donate its money; it can now spend it directly on its own campaign commercials. Since it is a "527" organization, it still must at least conform to some basic reporting requirements, an obligation its new and more opaque "501c(4)" siblings do not share.

Even in California, $1 million is a lot for a down-ticket race. Harris has raised about $4 million total in 2010; Cooley has raised about $4.5 million.

Dan Morain: High stakes, national spotlight in campaign for attorney general

bleubitz — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:31:27 -0800

Suddenly, California's race for attorney general has become nationalized – and the out-of-state players who have stepped into the campaign say a great deal about the candidates and the power of the office.

Consider this: A political organization based in Virginia, headed by influential Republicans and funded by tobacco, insurance and gambling interests is airing an ad to elect Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, the Republican running against San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris.

The buy is large – more than $1 million. The ad is slick and attacks Harris at her weak point, the death penalty and a decision she made as district attorney not to bring capital charges against a man who killed a San Francisco cop.

It may be the first major foray by a national organization into a race for California attorney general. The point it makes is clear: The person who holds the job of California attorney general matters, not just to Californians.

Lest there be any doubt, President Barack Obama dropped by the Atherton home of former California Controller Steve Westly and headlined a small fundraiser for about 40 people for Harris on Thursday.

It's not often that a president takes time to raise money for a single down-ballot candidate. But it makes sense. To win in California, Democratic leaders need to energize Democrats, including African Americans. Harris is the one African American Democrat on the statewide ballot.

There's also the matter of reciprocity. Harris and Obama are friends. She helped Obama raise money in San Francisco when he was running for the U.S. Senate in 2004. In February 2007, Harris traveled to Springfield, Ill., to witness Obama's announcement that he would run for president.

She spent a week walking through the cold and snow in Des Moines, Iowa, knocking on doors for Obama in the days leading up to the first caucus in January 2008. She and I stood next to one another listening to Obama's victory speech on the night he won the caucus.

Republicans believe that Cooley, viewed as a moderate who is popular in Los Angeles, can win.

This battle in particular has serious political overtones. Republicans believe Harris would become a formidable candidate for higher office in California, and perhaps nationally, if she is elected attorney general on Nov. 2. A defeat would not fit with such ambitious plans.

"If that is a byproduct of defeating her, we're perfectly happy with that," said Adam Temple, spokesman for the Virginia-based group Republican State Leadership Committee.

But Temple added that's not the main goal. Rather, the organization is pushing for Cooley's election because he is "a conservative Republican," who would "provide a firewall between the federal government and the state."

"At a time when the federal government is overreaching, attorneys general often are on the front lines," Temple said.

By Election Day, the Republican State Leadership Committee will have spent roughly $20 million on races for statewide offices, including legislatures and attorneys general across the country.

The group's chairman is Ed Gillespie, who was counselor to President George W. Bush. Gillespie and Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, helped create American Crossroads, which is spending millions to help Republicans take control of the House and Senate. American Crossroads has given $600,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee.

Take a look at some corporate donors, culled from the organization's public filings and from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, and you'll see the significance of the office of attorney general:

• Blue Cross/Blue Shield, $918,000. Cooley has given ambiguous answers about whether he would join state lawsuits over federal health care legislation. Harris embraces the legislation.

• Reynolds Tobacco and Altria, the world's largest cigarette maker, have given a combined $1.15 million. The attorney general enforces terms of the $200 billion-plus settlement of the states' litigation against the tobacco industry.

Cooley's campaign manager Kevin Spillane said Cooley would not be influenced by donors who help elect him. He added that no one in the Cooley campaign knew that the Virginia-based group was entering the race. That's the nature of independent campaigns. They launch attacks, often vicious. If the attacks are over the top, candidates who benefit avoid taking heat.

In this election, like most, attention has been focused on high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate. But occupants of the other statewide offices matter. If you have any doubt, take a look at how the sophisticated players spend their time and money.

Kamala Harris is a different kind of prosecutor

bleubitz — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:34:39 -0800

The Democratic candidate for state attorney general opposes the death penalty and has stressed prevention as well as punishment while San Francisco's district attorney. But convictions have increased dramatically in her office.

By Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times
October 20, 2010

San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris stood at the pulpit and spoke of redemption and second chances, the first of many clues that she is a different kind of prosecutor.

The Democratic candidate for California attorney general was on a recent campaign swing through Long Beach churches, and blamed California's lock-'em-up law enforcement policies for creating a "broken system'' of overcrowded, revolving-door prisons that do little to make neighborhoods safer.

"Everybody will make mistakes, and for some that mistake will rise to the level of being a crime,'' Harris, 46 on Wednesday, said to the congregation at the Greater Open Door Church of God in Christ. "Yes, there will be consequence and accountability, but after that … isn't it a just society that says we are going to create a role and opportunity for folks to earn their way back among us?"

Harris' Republican opponent in the race, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, seizes on comments like that to cast Harris as a far-left liberal, a "radical" too concerned about the welfare and rights of criminals whom many California voters would rather leave behind bars.

There's no doubt Harris has vulnerabilities. An opponent of capital punishment, she refused to seek the politically popular death penalty for a cop killer in 2004, and again last year for an illegal immigrant accused of gunning down a father and his two sons. In May, her office was chastised by a San Francisco judge for failing to disclose information about a police drug-lab scandal.

But Harris, the first African American woman elected as a district attorney in California, doesn't appear worried. The near-decade she spent in courtrooms convicting murderers, rapists and child molesters shows she's tough on crime, Harris argues, and she campaigns relentlessly on her office's increased conviction rates, crackdown on gun-related offenses, and emphasis on environmental and financial crimes.

Beneath Harris' disarming ability to connect with people of widely different backgrounds is the thick skin of a San Francisco politician who has flourished in a city known for gleefully devouring its elected leaders. No one opposed her when Harris ran for reelection in 2007.

Harris' interest in politics and public service was cultivated at an early age. She talks of "marching for civil rights in a stroller'' in the 1960s in Oakland and Berkeley, nudged along by two politically active professors, a Jamaican father and a mother from India.

Her parents divorced when Harris was a toddler and her mother, a breast cancer researcher at the University of California, raised Kamala and her sister Maya to be proud African American women during a tumultuous time in the United States. (Her sister is a Ford Foundation vice president and is married to Tony West, head of the Department of Justice's Civil Division). Harris was a member of the second class to integrate Berkeley's public schools.

"My mother had a saying: 'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last,' '' Harris recalls.

Harris worked for Walter Mondale's presidential campaign while at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and within years of returning to the West Coast to attend UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco she immersed herself in California Democratic politics. (She's also backed Barack Obama since he was an Illinois Senate candidate). The prosecutor's decision to hop across the bay in 2000, leaving the respected Alameda County district attorney's office after eight years for the dysfunctional, yet higher profile one in San Francisco, was perceived by some as a political maneuver.

At age 39, Harris won a bruising campaign in 2003 to unseat two-term incumbent San Francisco Dist. Atty. Terence Hallinan. Harris had briefly worked for him before she became disillusioned with his leadership and left for the San Francisco city attorney's office. Hallinan attacked Harris as a cog in the political machine of her mentor and one-time boyfriend Willie Brown, the former Assembly speaker and the city's mayor at the time.

Under Hallinan, a rigid liberal, conviction rates hovered around 50%, by far the lowest in the state. Prosecutors lacked simple necessities such as e-mail accounts. And Hallinan had infuriated the Police Department by filing corruption charges against the command staff, a case that was quickly tossed out of court.

"She inherited all that mess,'' said defense attorney Bill Fazio, a former prosecutor who ran against Harris and Hallinan in 2003. "And I must say, even though she's had some problems, she cleaned up a lot of it.''

Under Harris, San Francisco's conviction rate has risen above 70%, state Department of Criminal Justice records show, still below the 83% state average but enough of an improvement to become a centerpiece of her campaign.

Harris also took over and retooled the county's diversion program, called Back on Track, which offers nonviolent, first-time offenders job training and other life skills as an alternative to jail. She worked with schools to crack down on the parents of chronically truant elementary school students, children vulnerable to growing up into a life of crime.

"A district attorney will usually not take the lead on prevention. Historically, they are putting people in prison, not keeping people out of prison, and that's what makes her unique,'' said Joan Petersilia, co-director of the Stanford University Criminal Justice Center and expert on the state prison system.

Back on Track came under fire in 2009, however, when the Los Angeles Times reported that Harris' office had allowed illegal immigrants into the program, training them for jobs they couldn't legally hold. One of the immigrants, accused drug dealer Alexander Izaguirre, was in the program in July 2008 when he snatched the purse of a woman and hopped in a car that ran her over.

Harris said she quickly corrected the "glitch" and illegal immigrants no longer are eligible. She has dismissed criticism by Cooley and others that it was related to San Francisco's "sanctuary city" policy protecting immigrants.

One of Harris' greatest tests as D.A. came only four months into the job, when San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza was gunned down by a gang member in April 2004. Sticking to a campaign promise never to pursue the death penalty, Harris just days after the slaying announced that she would not seek a death sentence for the killer, David Hill, 22. He was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

"She made the decision after just three days. My son wasn't even in the ground yet,'' said Carol Espinoza of Daly City, the officer's mother, who has endorsed Cooley.

Democrats U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, then-state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer and then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown all criticized Harris' decision. Harris' relationship with San Francisco police officers has never recovered. She remains steadfast, however, that capital punishment is both unjust and immoral.

"I feel it's a flawed system. With the advent of DNA, we know that people have been convicted and sentenced to death who later proved not to be guilty of the crime. That's at the top of the list of my concerns,'' Harris said in a recent interview.

Animosity about the case was rekindled in 2008, when Harris declined to seek the death penalty against Edwin Ramos in the slayings of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. Ramos, an illegal immigrant and reputed member of the notorious MS-13 gang, allegedly opened fire after he pulled alongside the Bolognas' car. Ramos is awaiting trial.

Harris also was singed by recent scandal at the police lab after a technician was accused of stealing cocaine and other drugs in evidence, leading to the dismissal of hundreds of cases. Amid the scandal, it was revealed that the district attorney's office had failed to provide defense attorneys with information on the credibility of prosecution witnesses, specifically the disciplinary records of police officers.

"I don't think it was an intentional attempt to keep the information from being disclosed, but it certainly was negligent,'' said San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi. "This is something that cuts at the heart of the criminal justice system, because if you're not playing by the rules, you can't trust the system.''

Harris said the problem has since been corrected, and noted that the Los Angeles County district attorney's office didn't adopt its disclosure policy until after it faced similar criticism in the wake of the Rampart scandal.

"Being a D.A., period, is a hard job,'' Harris said. "You have responsibility to make very important decisions based on the worst of human behavior, based on what you truly believe is the right thing to do. And that's always a difficult job.''
phil.willon@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

La Opinión: Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:37:58 -0800

The state attorney general faces numerous challenges on a variety of fronts. California’s top law enforcement authority needs a broad vision ranging from citizen protection to environmental compliance and, of course, public safety. Kamala Harris is that person.

The San Francisco District Attorney stands out for her passion in fighting to reduce recidivism. California has the nation’s highest rate of repeat offenders; 70% of convicts return to prison for another crime after having served their original sentence. This phenomenon has a major economic and social impact on our state. The Back on Track program—a public-private partnership—is an example of Harris’s level of commitment to this cause.

In the past we have supported Harris’s rival, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, for his judicious enforcement of the three strikes law, among other issues. Nonetheless, we believe that Harris brings a broader and more pragmatic approach to the state office.

The death penalty is. currently California law that must be implemented by the state attorney general regardless of his or her beliefs. On this issue, we disagree with Cooley on the effectiveness and power of this punishment as a deterrent.

In our comparison of the two candidates, Harris is the stronger. She is able to naturally expound on issues of environmental justice, consumer protection, fighting corporate fraud, and recidivism without being "weak" on crime. Vote for Kamala Harris for state attorney general.

Join Kamala Harris at the Grand Opening of the LA Campaign Headquarters

bleubitz — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:16:28 -0700

Please join us as we open our new LA Campaign Headquarters at 5442 Crenshaw Boulevard. The grand opening will be held this Sunday, October 17th, from 3 - 6 p.m., and will feature music, food and community leaders. The office will be open daily and will be busy with volunteers working to elect Kamala Harris as California's next Attorney General. The office will be open weekdays 2-8, and weekends 10-8.

Who: Democratic nominee for Attorney General Kamala Harris
Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass (tent)
Assemblymember Mike Davis
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas
Danny Bakewell, Sr., Publisher of the San Francisco Sentinel
Eric Bauman, Chair of the LA Democratic Party

What: Celebrate Grand Opening of the Kamala Harris for AG Office at 5442 Crenshaw Bouleveard

When: Sunday, October 17, 3 to 6 p.m.

Battle of the big-city DAs

bleubitz — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:40:26 -0800

The race for California attorney general, among the closest of the "down-ticket" statewide contests, is a bruising battle of big-city district attorneys.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and the first person of color to hold the office. The Democrat has been a prosecutor for her whole career and is in her second term as San Francisco's "top cop." She has been shrewd about building political networks, particularly through her work on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley has been with that office for his entire career and has led the office since 2000. The Republican is a former reserve police officer and is endorsed by most of the state's major law enforcement groups.

Harris' 2009 book, "Smart on Crime," lays out her philosophy that it's not about being "tough" or "weak," but rather about punishing criminals while preventing crime before it happens. The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance cited Harris' "Back on Track" initiative as a model of a "promising approach for prosecutors nationwide who want to redirect low-level, nonaddicted drug sellers away from incarceration and into productive, crime-free lives." She also says she created new prosecution units focused on child assault, public integrity and environmental crimes, and took on white-collar crime and elder abuse.

San Francisco's criminal conviction rate has risen under Harris, though critics say her office cherry-picks cases. She says that's nonsense, and that her office is trying more cases than ever.

Police groups and even some fellow Democrats have criticized Harris for never seeking the death penalty; tempers flared in the cases of a man later convicted of murdering a police officer in 2004 and a man still awaiting trial for a 2008 triple-homicide. Harris says she reviews each case on its own merits, but she's personally opposed to capital punishment and believes life imprisonment without parole is more cost-effective.

"My position on the death penalty is clear "... and the same as four of the last nine attorneys general, including the current one," she said. "I will follow the law and maintain the responsibility of the Attorney General's Office to deal with these cases."

Cooley and Harris both have called for reforming the Three Strikes Law, but Cooley said that's no longer necessary because most prosecutors have set policies to use the law's full force only against violent repeat offenders. "There's not the need that there was several years ago; appropriate discretion is being utilized."

His emphasis on public-corruption cases -- which he said he would maintain as state attorney general -- gave him a leg up on the Bell city officials' salary scandal, although Harris has accused him of accepting a legal-yet-exorbitant amount of gifts from political well-wishers.

"There's room for improvement" over current state Attorney General Jerry Brown, he said, such as making a more "neutral, objective effort" to write ballot measure titles and summaries, as well as setting policies and reviewing regulations to nurture economic growth. "We have to make sure the Attorney General's Office is not being used to continue our horrible economic situation as measured by our joblessness rate."

Cooley took Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to task for not defending Proposition 8's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage against a federal lawsuit -- a decision with which Harris agrees.

Cooley said an attorney general must defend the law of the land regardless of personal beliefs, in this case especially because the California Supreme Court deemed the ban constitutional. It's "the human and civil rights issue of our generation," he said, and Brown and Schwarzenegger "have denied the ability to advance that cause for short-term political reasons" by perhaps derailing the case from its path to a final resolution before the U.S. Supreme Court.

He declined to describe his own beliefs on the topic "because I don't want it to be an issue as I discharge my duties as attorney general," but said he supported creating civil unions for same-sex couples.

Cooley said the Attorney General's Office "uniquely should be managed, and its policies decided, in a nonpartisan way: It's a law enforcement position. It's a public law office "... and you don't need to come in there with a strong ideological set of values and have that office move things in that direction." Harris, he said, "is very, very partisan; that's been rather evident during the course of this campaign and during her stewardship of the San Francisco DA's office."

But Harris said voters should know where candidates for such an influential office stand on key issues. She cited Cooley's refusal to complete a questionnaire from the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice California; Cooley's campaign said that group is too partisan to render unbiased opinions, but he always has backed abortion rights.

Harris also noted Cooley hasn't spoken out on Proposition 23, which would roll back California's greenhouse gas emissions law, or said much recently about his vow to join other attorneys general in suing to repeal national health care reforms. He "can't have his cake and eat it too," she said, accusing him of partisanship but "taking a silent approach where he thinks it might cost him votes."

American Independent candidate Diane Templin, 63, of Escondido, is a civil and family-law attorney and a real estate broker. Green candidate Peter Allen, 49, of Berkeley, is a California Public Utilities Commission attorney. Libertarian candidate Timothy Hannan, 63, of Kenwood, is a real-estate and business attorney, arbitrator and mediator. Peace and Freedom candidate Robert Evans, 65, of Oakland, is a criminal defense and tenant-rights attorney.

Profile: Kamala Harris

NAME: Kamala Harris
PARTY: Democratic
AGE: 45
HOMETOWN: San Francisco
OCCUPATION: San Francisco district attorney
EDUCATION: B.A., Howard University; J.D., University of California Hastings College of Law
BACKGROUND: An Alameda County deputy district attorney from 1990 to 1998, Harris then managed the San Francisco District Attorney's Office's career criminal unit. In 2000, she joined the San Francisco City Attorney's Office as chief of its community and neighborhood division, overseeing civil code enforcement matters. She beat incumbent District Attorney Terence Hallinan in 2003 and ran unopposed for re-election in 2007.

La Opinión: Endorsements influence candidates for Attorney General

bleubitz — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:43:20 -0800

Dolores Huerta backs Harris, Pete Wilson supports Cooley

Note: The following is an in-house translation of the Spanish Language article Editorial posted below.

In the upcoming November elections, California voters will determine, along with the Governor's office and other political seats, who will serve as Attorney General, i.e. the state's attorney. The main contenders for the office are Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, the Republican nominee, and his counterpart in San Francisco, Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

Both candidates are endorsed by prominent politicians. Notably, Harris is backed by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and Cooley is supported by former California Governor Pete Wilson.

Wilson's backing for Cooley has been a deciding factor for some leaders like Dolores Huerta, who has chosen to endorse Harris, mainly due to concerns over immigration issues. "I know Steve Cooley, and I respect him, but when I see Pete Wilson by his side, heading his campaign, that's where I lose respect for him, because he's aware of what Wilson's relationship has been with the immigrant community," Huerta said yesterday.

The co-founder of the farm workers' union, UFW, recalled that Wilson was in favor of proposals to eliminate bilingual education in California schools and end affirmative action in universities. He also supported Proposition 187, which sought to deny medical and educational services to undocumented immigrants.

"Cooley has been organizing with attorneys in other states to repeal recent health care reform legislation, which would leave nine million of our people without insurance," said Huerta.

"We can accomplish things in a more intelligent manner with fewer resources, while both increasing public safety and implementing health care reform," Harris said on her part. "I challenge my opponent to try to eliminate health care reform."

According to Kevin Spillane, spokesman for the Cooley campaign, the Republican candidate does not seek to revoke health care reform, but is concerned about the "billions of dollars it would add to California's deficit.

"This is a cynical attack by Harris. Cooley's record shows he is popular among Latinos, not only because he has supported diversity in his office, but because he maintains strong ties with the community," said Spillane. According to some polls, Cooley is predicted to win by a narrow margin of three percentage points, although there are still many undecided voters.

Harris, who is in favor of secure borders, advocates that "we recognize that there are 12 million undocumented immigrants who are already here [in the United States], and help them transition toward compliance with the law, without jumping ahead in the line."

In many races, the support of Pete Wilson for certain candidates has caused organizations to endorse the Democratic nominee. This is the case with the AFL-CIO of Los Angeles, which has chosen to support Jerry Brown because of Meg Whitman's affiliation with Wilson, who is still linked to anti-immigrant proposals.

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Respaldos influyen en los candidatos a procurador

Dolores Huerta da su apoyo a Harris y Cooley tiene el de Pete Wilson

Los votantes de California determinarán en las elecciones de noviembre, junto al puesto de gobernador y de otros asientos políticos, quién deberá ocupar el cargo de procurador general, es decir, el abogado del estado.

Entre los principales contendientes que se presentan a la candidatura están el actual procurador del condado de Los Ángeles, el republicano Steve Cooley, y su homóloga en San Francisco, la demócrata Kamala Harris.

Ambos cuentan con respaldo de políticos destacados, como la líder de la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi, en el caso de Harris, y del ex gobernador de California, Pete Wilson, en el caso de Cooley.

Sin embargo, es este último respaldo el que ha hecho decantar a algunos líderes como Dolores Huerta por la candidata de San Francisco, ante la preocupación sobre temas migratorios.

"A Steve Cooley lo conozco y lo he respetado, pero cuando miro que se pone al lado de Pete Wilson para que encabece su campaña, ahí es donde le pierdo el respeto, porque él sabe cuál ha sido el papel de Wilson con la comunidad inmigrante", dijo Huerta ayer.

La cofundadora del sindicato de campesinos UFW recordó que Wilson estuvo a favor de las propuestas de eliminar la educación bilingüe en las escuelas de California y la política de acción afirmativa en las universidades, además de respaldar la proposición 187 con la que se buscaba negar los servicios médicos y escolares a los inmigrantes indocumentados.

"Cooley se está organizando con otros procuradores en otros estados para luchar contra el plan de la reforma de salud aprobado, que dejaría a nueve millones de nuestra gente sin seguro", dijo Huerta.

"Podemos hacer muchas más cosas de forma inteligente con menos recursos, a la vez que aumentamos la seguridad pública en el estado e implementamos la reforma de salud", apuntó Harris por su parte. "Reto a mi oponente a que trate de eliminar la reforma de salud".

De acuerdo con Kevin Spillane, portavoz de la campaña de Cooley, el candidato republicano no busca hacer ningún intento de revocar la reforma de salud, aunque dijo que le preocupan los "miles de millones de dólares que supondrían de más en el déficit de California".

"Esto es una ataque cínico por parte de Harris. Cooley se basa en su propio récord y tiene una fuerte aceptación entre los latinos, no solo porque ha apoyado la diversificación en su oficina, sino porque mantiene fuertes lazos con la comunidad", indicó Spillane.

Según algunos sondeos, las encuestas dan por ganador a Cooley, con un estrecho margen de tres puntos porcentuales sobre su rival demócrata, aunque habría aún muchos votantes indecisos.

Harris, quien se muestra a favor de asegurar las fronteras, es partidaria de que "se reconozcan a los 12 millones de indocumentados que están aquí [en el país], y haya una transición hacia un estado legal cumpliendo las leyes y sin saltarse la fila".

Desde otros sectores, el respaldo de Pete Wilson a ciertos candidatos también ha hecho inclinar la balanza hacia el aspirante contrario a la hora de anunciar apoyos. Este es el caso de la Federación de Sindicatos de Los Ángeles, quien apuesta por Jerry Brown para la gubernatura ya que, entre otros factores, Wilson respalda la campaña de Meg Whitman y el sindicato vincula ese nombre con propuestas antiinmigrantes.

San Francisco District Attorney Is Tireless in State Campaign

bleubitz — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:47:20 -0800

LOS ANGELES — The lively gospel singing had barely died down at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church on Sunday when the 800-strong congregation welcomed to the pulpit Kamala D. Harris.

The room was warmed up, and so was Ms. Harris, the San Francisco district attorney, who had rushed to the church after addressing another congregation, of 2,000 people, just 20 minutes earlier.

As Ms. Harris, the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, entered the final stretch of what has become an uphill battle against Steve Cooley, a Republican who is the district attorney in Los Angeles, her strategists have sent her crisscrossing Southern California every weekend, feverishly courting black voters with a powerful personal story about her upbringing in the civil rights movement.

“The election is in 37 days,” Ms. Harris told the congregation, her voice rising. “You know, there was a time when folks said we couldn’t vote, and others who said we won’t, and we’ve got to prove them wrong.”

Party officials hope she can not only keep the attorney general’s office in Democratic hands, but also drive enthusiasm and voter turnout that will help Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom become governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.

“She’s one of the most exciting parts of the ticket,” said Eric Bauman, the vice chairman of the state Democratic Party and the chairman of the party in Los Angeles County.

Mr. Bauman called Ms. Harris’s background — she is the daughter of a black economist and an Indian biologist — “a blessing from God.”

“This is a county where the majority are people of color, and as they get our mail with her picture on it, they’ll realize they can elect a woman of color to attorney general, something we’ve never done,” Mr. Bauman said. “I have every intention of taking full advantage of it.”

Ms. Harris, 45, has been considered a rising star in the Democratic Party ever since she became district attorney in 2002 with the backing of Willie L. Brown Jr., the former San Francisco mayor and longtime speaker of the Assembly.

In 2008 she laid the groundwork for a statewide race by being co-chairwoman of Barack Obama’s California campaign and fund-raising extensively on his behalf in Southern California. After his victory, Ms. Harris began appearing on national television, with journalists like Gwen Ifill and Matt Lauer referring to her as the “female Obama.”

To her supporters, running for California attorney general, an office that has never been occupied by a woman, was a logical next step. And it is lost on no one in political circles that since 1971, every attorney general of California has run for governor.

To Republicans, she seemed an obvious rising threat.

“When you looked at Kamala Harris, you would say, ‘This is Barack Obama,’ ” said Bill Whalen, the former speechwriter for Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican. “This could potentially be the first woman governor of California — and the first African-American governor.”

And yet, in the polls, Ms. Harris is trailing Mr. Cooley, a moderate Republican with bipartisan support here in California’s most populous county.

Unlike Mr. Cooley, Ms. Harris opposes the death penalty, and she infuriated law enforcement groups when she declined to seek the death penalty for David Hill, who gunned down a San Francisco police officer in 2004.

Ms. Harris has also been hobbled in the past year by two scandals in San Francisco. One involved the theft of drug samples by a crime lab technician, which led to the dismissal of hundreds of drug cases and the shutdown of the lab. The second involved the failure of prosecutors to disclose the misconduct records of police officers who testified in court, as required by law.

Ms. Harris said in an interview that she accepted responsibility for the lab scandal as “the chief elected law enforcement official” in the city, but added, “My opponent characterizes it as the D.A.’s crime lab when it is in fact the police department’s crime lab.”

She also said she had put into effect a “model” policy on disclosure to defense attorneys of police officers’ backgrounds.

Ms. Harris talked of being “smart on crime.” She promoted programs she has started that combat white-collar crime and complex mortgage fraud, environmental offenses and, above all, student truancy in San Francisco, which she said led to violent crime later in life.

Her plan to file criminal charges against parents who have chronically truant children has drawn criticism in San Francisco, with some groups arguing that it unfairly singles out working-class, minority parents. But before black audiences on the campaign trail, her emphasis on the value of education consistently draws approving murmurs, and she is able to cast aside criticisms of the truancy program as typical of liberal San Francisco.

While she wades deep into Cooley territory every weekend, her campaign has been sharply criticizing Mr. Cooley over the air, accusing him of accepting thousands of dollars of gifts during his tenure as Los Angeles district attorney. The Harris campaign has also sought to tar him with the public-official pay scandal in the city of Bell, which was exposed by The Los Angeles Times and has since led to multiple indictments.

Mr. Cooley dismissed the criticisms, saying it “shows her level of desperation.”

His campaign manager, Kevin Spillane, added that Ms. Harris would be doomed once the Cooley campaign hit back with ads highlighting her failures in San Francisco.

Scandals aside, Ms. Harris’s struggles also underscore a perennial Achilles heel for candidates from San Francisco seeking statewide office: Their opponents often portray the city’s officials as extreme liberals unfit to govern the entire state.

But Ms. Harris, whose public presence in San Francisco is that of a coolly aloof criminal-justice wonk, is proving adept at recasting herself for California’s widely diverse constituencies.

At the pulpit, the normally flinty prosecutor drops her final r’s and g’s. Her voice rises and falls; her cadence gains rhythm.

She has crafted a narrative of a career rooted in civil rights and justice. Her parents, she frequently tells her audiences, met as active members of the civil rights movement at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1960s.

“Among my heroes in my education were the architects of the civil rights movement, and they were, of course, the lawyers,” Ms. Harris said. “They were Thurgood Marshall, and Charles Hamilton Houston and Constance Baker Motley, who used the skill of this great profession to translate the passion of the streets to the courtrooms of our country.”

And at every stop, she trumpets her affinity for her alma mater, Howard University, which is always a crowd-pleaser.

Her weekly stumping has taken her from the cavernous evangelical megachurches to the most storied black pulpits. It has also taken her to the edge of the desert, where the N.A.A.C.P. of San Bernardino hosted a town-hall-style meeting for her on a recent Saturday.

After Ms. Harris was whisked back to Los Angeles for yet another fund-raiser, Waudieur Rucker-Hughes remained behind in the emptying room, picking through a fruit salad while digesting Ms. Harris’s talk.

“She grew up in civil rights. I didn’t know that about her,” Ms. Rucker-Hughes said. “I’m going to get up in church tomorrow and talk about her. I’m going to spread the word.”

State Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris touts her experience

rsumner — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 15:22:19 -0700

Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, touted her experience in linking education and crime prevention during a town hall meeting in San Bernardino on Saturday afternoon.

Harris' comments and audience questions alike focused mostly on the work she's done as San Francisco's district attorney to keep first-time offenders from going back to prison.

"The criminal justice system is costing (the state) a lot and I don't think we're seeing the return on that investment," she said, citing California's high recidivism rate. "We need to focus our resources on those coming out."

Harris, who has served as district attorney of San Francisco County since 2004, told more than 70 people gathered at Inghram Community Center that the criminal justice system shouldn't soften consequences for criminals, but at the same time said the system should focus on prevention and early intervention.

She touted a program she started, called Back on Track, that puts nonviolent, low-level drug offenders between the ages of 18 and 24 into job training and education programs.

Though Saturday's town hall was sponsored by the NAACP chapters of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, audience members asked few questions about civil rights issues, steering more toward education, crime prevention and crime intervention. Hardy Brown, publisher of the Black Voice News, a co-sponsor of the event, said that didn't surprise him.

"We're very concerned with prevention and intervention programs for our young people," he said.

Brown said too many young men and woman have been "locked up and they've thrown away the key," which makes it hard to turn around communities.

Harris also took questions about her position on California's "three-strikes" law - she didn't take a firm stance on if she would push to change the law as attorney general - and on Proposition 8, the state's gay marriage ban - she said she opposed it.

Asked how she would help change California's image as a state that's either unfriendly or hostile to businesses, Harris said the state's attorney general can go after businesses that break the law without sending a message that the state is anti-business.

"It's a false choice to say if you go after a bad business, you're anti-businesses, of if you're pro-consumer, you're anti-business," she said. "We cannot fall prey to those ideological perspectives."

Harris will face Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, the Republican candidate for attorney general, in November's election.

Cheryl Brown, president of the Riverside and San Bernardino chapters of the NAACP, said Cooley was invited to Saturday's town hall but he did not attend.

Obama gives a campaign boost to Kamala Harris

bleubitz — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:16:15 -0700

President Obama on Saturday used the power of his e-mail list to drum up support for fellow Democrat Kamala Harris, the San Francisco district attorney, in her bid to become California attorney general.

As he has done for Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who is running for governor, and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who is seeking reelection, Obama sent a note to Californians on his massive e-mail roster to boost Harris' campaign, praising her programs to curtail repeat offenders and the creation of new environmental protection and child sexual assault units.

Obama’s support wasn’t too surprising -– aside from sharing party affiliation, Harris was an early backer of Obama’s presidential bid. (PBS news host Gwen Ifill also once referred to Harris, the first elected African American district attorney in California, as the "female Obama.")

"She is someone who understands the needs of all Americans, and I need allies like that fighting for change across the country," Obama said in a written statement, which the Harris campaign happily sent out to supporters and the media.

-- Phil Willon

San Francisco Chronicle: Kamala Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:24:29 -0700

California's approach to crime and punishment is not working. Its overcrowded prisons are straining the state budget when the state can least afford it. Seventy percent of released inmates end up back in prison within three years. Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney, has pledged to target that recidivism rate as her No. 1 priority if she is elected attorney general. It is the right move for public safety, the right move for fiscal responsibility and the right focus for an attorney general who would be faced with many competing demands on the office.

A career prosecutor, Democrat Harris is analytical, innovative - and pragmatic - in her approach to crime reduction. She noted that the average prison sentence is just 24 months, which suggests two conclusions. One, many people are being sent to prison for less than serious crimes. Two, "they are coming out," she said.

"We have a revolving door of crime in California," Harris said.

The interruption of that cycle between the streets and a $50,000-a-year stay in the state penitentiary should be this state's No. 1 law enforcement priority.

In San Francisco, Harris initiated a Back on Track program to provide job training and other life skills to first-time offenders ages 18 to 24. That program generated controversy when it was revealed that some of the participants were undocumented immigrants, one of whom robbed and assaulted a woman in Pacific Heights. The screening process has since been tightened.

As Harris noted, any new approach to dealing with a criminal population carries an inherent risk of a high-profile failure even if its overall effect has been positive. Participants in Back on Track, for example, have far lower recidivism rates that the average for first-time felons. As with the problems with the Police Department's crime lab, Harris has shown a determination to confront and fix problems.

A willingness to innovate and take on difficult challenges is one of characteristics that distinguishes her from the Republican nominee, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley.

The attorney general's portfolio includes a wide array of responsibilities that include corporate fraud, public corruption, the environment and consumer protection. Harris' work in San Francisco suggests she is eager and able to balance these demands in the public interest. She took over a district attorney's office with "a lot of broken systems" and added units on child assault, public integrity, environmental justice and mortgage fraud.

Harris also worked hard to repair relations with the Police Department after they were strained by her decision not to pursue the death penalty in the fatal shooting of Officer Isaac Espinoza in 2004. Ultimately, her judgment that the evidence did not support a capital case was vindicated when shooter David Hill was convicted of second-degree murder. He is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Cooley's campaign has tried to make an issue out of Harris' opposition to the death penalty. But she has made it clear that she would enforce the law, including fighting appeals by Death Row inmates.

California's more pressing need is to find ways to reduce the prison population without jeopardizing public safety. Kamala Harris has made it her top priority. She is our choice for attorney general.

This article appeared on page A - 15 of the San Francisco Chronicle

State should follow San Francisco example on truancy prevention

bleubitz — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:38:30 -0700

Recently, a San Francisco judge presiding over Truancy Court asked why a 9-year-old boy had missed more than 60 days of school. The boy said he couldn't get his alarm clock to work. The courtroom fell silent. How is it the responsibility of this 9-year-old to figure out how to get to school every day? Shouldn't the alarms instead be going off for the caretakers -- his parents and the schools?

This boy is one of many children across California who lack the family and community support necessary to stay in school. Chronic elementary school truancy is widespread. Nearly 40 percent of the truant students in California are in elementary school. Children are sometimes missing more than half of the school year.

Unless we start holding everyone accountable, from the parents to the schools to law enforcement, too many of our children will end up falling behind and learning more from the streets than the classroom.

This is why state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and I recently joined together to craft SB 1317, the Chronic Truancy Reduction bill. SB 1317 makes it a misdemeanor for parents to allow their children to be continually truant after the school districts have offered help and given warnings.

The bill also authorizes local jurisdictions to mandate family services to get children back in school. It holds everyone accountable: The schools must intervene when families are having trouble, and law enforcement holds parents accountable when all else fails. SB 1317 has passed the state Legislature and is on the governor's desk.

We know this approach can work. In San Francisco, four years ago, I announced to school administrators that my office intended to prosecute parents for truancy. Half of the room applauded while the other half was upset, concerned that law enforcement cannot solve what is often a complicated social problem.

We forged ahead, recognizing that inaction was tantamount to complicity, and developed a three-phase approach to truancy reduction. We engage in public education and early intervention for families showing signs of trouble. Most of the time, attendance improves. But when it does not, my office prosecutes parents in a specialized Truancy Court that combines close court monitoring with family services to address underlying issues such as transportation, housing, substance abuse or special education needs.

Our "carrot and stick" strategy has worked. In the past two years, the number of elementary school truants has dropped by 33 percent.

Critics suggest that law enforcement should not be concerned about truancy, claiming it's a social issue, not a public safety problem. They are wrong. When it comes to breaking the cycle of crime, we can either pay attention to the signs of trouble now, or we can pay the price later.

And we pay that price in more ways than one. Elementary school children who are chronically absent from school today become the high school dropouts tomorrow. High school dropouts are disproportionately likely to end up in the criminal justice system as either victims or perpetrators of crime, or both. This cycle costs us a lot in terms of our public safety and diminishing public resources.

It is estimated that, as Californians, we pay $1.1 billion every year for the extra burdens that dropouts place on our criminal justice and public health systems. And the victims of crime and impacted communities pay the highest price of all.

If we are serious about changing the factors that lead to crime, crowded prisons and depleted budgets, we need to get serious about getting our young children in school.

KAMALA D. HARRIS is district attorney of San Francisco and a candidate for state attorney general. She wrote this article for this newspaper.?

The Road to Sacramento - Attorney General Candidates Forum: Kamala Harris

bleubitz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:11:46 -0700

Listen or watch online here.

California's attorney general is the state's top law enforcement official, second only to the governor in power and importance and holding broad authority to regulate, investigate and prosecute in the enforcement of civil and criminal laws. We present a special broadcast featuring attorney general candidate Kamala Harris. Harris appeared in a forum moderated by KQED's Rachael Myrow, and co-sponsored by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and host company Microsoft. The program was recorded on August 26.

Kamala Harris at Silicon Valley Leadership Group sound bite

Kamala Harris at SVLG from Kamala Harris on Vimeo.

The Advocate on Prop 8 And Kamala Harris

bleubitz — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:33:02 -0700

Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney and candidate for California attorney general, refuses to support Prop. 8 in court, but will her opinion come into play in the appeal?

By Neal Broverman, The Advocate

Whether the candidates for governor and attorney general of California really have strong feelings about marriage equality or they just think can use the issue to get elected to office, all four have made their stances clear. Democratic attorney general Jerry Brown won’t defend Proposition 8 in court, while his GOP gubernatorial opponent, Meg Whitman, would if given the chance. Los Angeles County Republican district attorney Steve Cooley, running for attorney general, also would defend Prop. 8, while San Francisco DA and Democratic candidate for attorney general Kamala Harris will not.

“It would be inappropriate for a state on the verge of bankruptcy to use all of those resources to defend a law found to be unconstitutional,” Harris tells The Advocate.

It’s virtually impossible for Harris or Cooley (or Whitman) to get involved in the appeal of federal judge Vaughn Walker’s August 4 decision to overturn Prop. 8. A three-judge panel of the ninth circuit court of appeals will decide this winter if proponents of Prop. 8 even have standing to appeal, since the defendants in the case involving the gay marriage ban — current governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and current attorney general Jerry Brown — refuse to argue with Walker’s decision. The three judges will delve into the matter during the week of December 6, but whoever is elected the new governor and attorney general won’t take office until January — too late to defend, or not defend, Prop. 8. The next AG or governor will likely not be allowed even to file amicus briefs, according to some legal experts.

Harris says she may be able to voice her opinion when it comes to other jurisdictions trying to intervene in the Prop. 8 appeal, as California’s conservative Imperial County hopes to do.

“I can imagine a scenario where the attorney general could render an opinion as to the feasibility of a county having jurisdiction to appeal,” Harris says. “Another role of [attorney general] is to use the position as a bully pulpit in support of people who need a voice.”

It’s not clear what would happen should the Prop. 8 case make it to the U.S. Supreme Court at a time when California has a governor and an attorney general supportive of the 2008 voter-approved initiative. The legal director of Lambda Legal, Jon Davidson, is well-versed on this case. but even he doesn’t entirely know what to expect.

In an interview on The Huffington Post, Davidson says, “What I am not sure about, and have not had time to research, is whether, when a government official or body fails to appeal to one level of a court system, a new government official who wants to appeal on his or her own behalf or on behalf of a government body is entitled to do so. I would guess not.”

Even if the future leaders of California are locked out of the fight over Proposition 8, Harris says the cause of marriage equality will be aided by having support at the highest levels. “We have to have the right person in office in California,” she says.

Kamala Harris Appears on SCPR's Patt Morrison Show

bleubitz — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:56:04 -0700

It’s certain to be one of the more interesting races in this Fall’s election season: a conservative southern Californian white male district attorney who supports the death penalty, versus a liberal northern Californian African and Asian-American female district attorney who opposes the death penalty—both vying for state Attorney General. Patt begins our 2010 Attorney General coverage with current District Attorney for San Francisco and candidate Kamala Harris. Harris answers Patt’s questions and yours about her career and initiatives—most notably treating truancy among children in elementary school as a crime committed by the parents and what she sees as a more efficient, cost effective plan to substitute life in prison without possibility of parole for the death penalty. We’ll also ask her thoughts on the Prop 8 rulings of the past month and whether, in her eyes, current Attorney General Jerry Brown has any obligation to defend the will of the 52% of Californians who voted to ban same-sex marriage.

Guest:

Kamala Harris, district attorney of San Francisco, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, and author of Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer

Kamala Harris on Patt Morrison Show sound bite

Blacks Seek Top State Posts in Fall Elections

bleubitz — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:33:25 -0700

BY KEVIN CHAPPELL, Jet Magazine

Statewide office has been an elusive goal for African-American politicians, who have historically been more successful in winning regionally elected positions in state and federal govemment.

Even with the breakthrough of the first Black president, not much has changed. This primary season, there are only a handful of Blacks seeking to become their party's nominee for U.S. senator, governor and state attorney general - and few are seen as strong contenders for a win in the general election in November.

In Florida, Rep. Kendrick Meek is struggling to hold off Palm Beach billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene in the state's Aug. 24 Senate Democratic primary. Before Meek, 43, - who succeeded his mother, Carrie Meek, in the U.S. House - can make history as Florida's first Black senator, he has to beat Greene, who has been touting the value of his business experience during tough economic times.

Meek says he hopes to continue his family legacy of public service. "Whether it's making sure students can learn or reworking mortgages to keep families in their homes, it's my privilege to fight for Florida:' Meek said on his Web site.

If Meek does win the primary, he faces a tough general election Nov. 2 against Marco Rubio, the Republican nominee, and the state's incumbent governor, Charlie Crist, who is running as an independent but is expected to win votes from Democrats.

In California, Kamala D. Harris, the current district attomey in San Francisco, is vying to become the state's first person of color, and first female, attorney general. After winning the Democratic Party's nomination in June, Harris, 45, now faces a strong challenge in November by the GOP's nominee, Steve Cooley, who is currently the district attorney in Los Angeles County.

"This election in California represents a huge opportunity for our state," Harris told JET. "Voters are making significant decisions about the direction of the state for the next eight years ... I believe Californians have the unique opportunity right now to usher in a new era of change and innovation."

Harris said that she would be tough on crime by being "smart on crime .... I will continue _ .. to demonstrate the linkage between gang crime and truancy, and to get tough on truancy by holding parents accountable when their kids don't show up for school."

In Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick is chasing history. If he wins a second term, it would be the first time an African-American go;vernor has done so. The general election is shaping up to be a close three-way race against Republican Charles Baker and Tim Cahill, an independent.

In Georgia, state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond won the Democratic nomination for Senate, but faces an uphill battle against Republican incumbent Johnny Isakson.

David Bositis, senior political analyst for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C., believes that Patrick and Harris may be the only two African-Americans with a legitimate chance of winning.

"It isn't an exceptional year in any way when it comes to African-American candidates:' he said. "It's not like there were tons of Black candidates who were poised in the right position. You don't run for senator or governor unless you have held a lower office that prepared you for it."//

California truancy bill would crack down on parents of truant schoolchildren

bleubitz — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:14:44 -0700

By Katy Murphy, Oakland Tribune

Posted: 08/18/2010 02:19:03 PM PDT

OAKLAND -- The word "truant" might bring to mind a teenager with a spray can. But younger children miss school each year, too, with alarming regularity. If a bill clears the state Legislature this month, parents could face jail time and a hefty fine.

In the Oakland school district, more than 5,000 children in kindergarten through eighth grade -- or 18 percent -- missed at least five full days of school without excused absences this past school year, according to district records. About 2,000 missed 10 days or more. Some of their parents, after repeated warnings, were sent to truancy court in Alameda County and charged with an infraction.

Contra Costa County's nine elementary school districts reported that 5,600 children -- or 22 percent of their combined enrollment -- had at least three tardies or unexcused absences in 2008-09, according to data posted by the California Department of Education.Senate Bill 1317 would make truancy a misdemeanor, at least for the more serious offenders -- those whose children have missed 10 percent of the school year. Other states, such as Florida and Texas, have similar laws on the books.

The legislation was drafted by Kamala Harris, the San Francisco district attorney and candidate for state attorney general. She oversees a truancy program that she credits with a dramatic rise in school attendance in San Francisco. She's a Democrat, as is Mark Leno, the state senator from San Francisco who introduced the bill, which has received bipartisan support."I think that everyone realized that for too long, issues that affect children were seen as small issues -- maybe because children are small -- instead of taking these on as big issues," Harris said. "You know who that chronically truant 6-year-old is going to be? The 'menace to society' that everyone will be knocking on our door about, asking me to prosecute."

Under a recent amendment, school districts would be required to provide "language accessible support services to address the pupil's truancy," referring a parent to the justice system. Parents sent to court will be allowed to enter a guilty plea in exchange for a "deferred judgment." That means the charge will be dismissed if their child's attendance improves and they have followed court orders, which may include parenting classes and substance abuse treatment.

Teresa Drenick, a deputy district attorney for Alameda County, said parents often wind up in truancy court because "their life issues have gotten so overwhelming to them that getting their child to school becomes a very low priority." Many have physical or mental health problems, move from home to home, and rely on public transit to get their child to school. Some are grieving the loss of a family member. Others suffer from domestic violence and homelessness.

Drenick says it is important for the court to step in when parents have not responded to appeals from the school district. "At that point, maybe the parent needs the criminal justice system to enforce the law in order to get the children the help they need to be students," she said.

After all, she said, school attendance habits often start in elementary school. Most of the high school truants she encounters in court, Drenick said, missed lots of seat time when they were younger. As they fall further behind in school, they become embarrassed and discouraged when they go to class and seek out peers with similar attitudes about school. Their attendance then worsens, she said, as do their prospects for high school graduation and gainful employment.

Since the county's truancy court opened in 2004, Drenick has charged about 500 parents of nearly 1,000 children with infractions. She said she sees only a handful of repeat cases each year, and at least 80 percent of the families show significant improvements in attendance.

"By and large, in our program, the infraction has been enough," Drenick said. Still, she added, a misdemeanor would give the district attorney "more teeth and more tools."

But some have concerns. Safe Passages, a 12-year-old intergovernmental partnership that advocates for Oakland's poorest children and families, withdrew its opposition after the recent amendment to the bill. Its legislative analyst, Isabelle Mussard, says the organization still has concerns about the further criminalization of families.

Adrian Kirk, who directs the Oakland school district office that works with truant children and their families, said he feels the bill is too punitive. Sending your child to school is such a basic thing, he said. If a parent is not doing so, they must have serious problems -- problems that the threat of punishment is not necessarily going to solve.

"Where's the solution?" he asked. "The circumstances of their lives haven't changed one iota, and now we're going to punish them harder."

If the bill becomes law, Kirk said, "More people will wind up going before the DA. More people will wind up having to pay a fine. People will end up going to jail."

Meanwhile, he said, the problem will continue.

Read Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog at www.ibabuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/katymurphy.

what's SB 1317?

The bill would allow prosecutors to charge the parents of "chronically truant" children with a misdemeanor. Penalties include a fine of as much as $2,000 and/or imprisonment of as long as one year. It applies to the parents and guardians of children who are 6 and older and in kindergarten through eighth grade.

CHRONIC TRUANCY, DEFINEDSB 1317 defines chronic truancy as missing at least 10 percent of the school year with unexcused absences. Under a recent amendment, school districts would be required to provide "language accessible support services to address the pupil's truancy" before referring a parent to the justice system.

Harris says Calif. AG opponent should oppose oil initiative

bleubitz — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:15:32 -0700

SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for California attorney general, is calling on her GOP opponent Steve Cooley to side against Texas oil companies.

Harris, in a statement released Monday, asked Cooley to officially take a stand against Proposition 23, the initiative meant to repeal the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

"Texas oil companies and other oil interests have spent nearly $6 million on a measure that would be an economic and environmental disaster for California. For months now, Steve Cooley has refused to denounce Prop 23, and instead says he would work to undermine California's landmark greenhouse gas laws as attorney general," Harris said in a statement.

"Our state deserves an attorney general who is on the side of our economy and the environment, and not Steve Cooley, who sides with out-of-state oil interests over Californians."

Harris called on every attorney general candidate, both Democratic and Republican, to officially oppose the initiative back in March.

According to Harris' campaign, Cooley has refused to join the opposition -- which includes Republican Gov. Schwarzenegger -- for nearly six months. Her campaign said he has repeatedly stated his openness to repealing Assembly Bill 32, the state's landmark greenhouse gases law, if he is elected attorney general.

Harris pointed to a recent public appearance at a Northern California Lincoln Club by Cooley. Cooley was asked to take a position on Prop 23.

"I have not taken a position yet. But with AB 32, I am more of a 'go slow' approach. I am very concerned by some of the actions by (current California Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Brown under Prop 32, some very aggressive actions. Some very large job-creating projects throughout the state were caught in this suit... local officials, some projects were dropped," he said at the Lincoln Club event.

He continued, "I want to review every one of those decisions (Brown's) made, see if his decisions were motivated by his gubernatorial aspirations or was he acting outside his appropriate jurisdiction."

Harris' campaign contends Cooley, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, has a "troubling record" when it comes to his handling of environmental crimes.

She points to Cooley's closing down of the environmental crimes division of the district attorney's office, leaving only one prosecutor assigned to handling such cases.

Meanwhile, Harris touted her creation of San Francisco's first ever Environmental Justice Unit. According to her campaign, Harris has prosecuted cases ranging from illegal dumping to air pollution crimes to illegal poaching.

Her campaign, in its statement Monday, also noted she was the first candidate for California's attorney general -- Democratic or Republican -- to publicly oppose the repeal of AB 32.

Fraud case puts permitting under fire

bleubitz — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:52:39 -0700

For two decades, civil engineer Jimmy Jen has had a shady reputation: a grand theft conviction, suspected serial arson and flagrant disregard for city regulations.

That reputation grew Wednesday when District Attorney Kamala Harris announced that 56-year-old Jen and colleague Jian Min Fong have been charged with some 243 felony counts of forging approximately 500 city documents and defrauding 100 property owners during the course of 20 years.

According to Harris, Jen is an “on-again, off-again licensed engineer” who at least once had his license revoked by the state.

He was often hired as an “expediter” by owners of single-family homes, along with buildings such as the Alexandria Theater on Geary Boulevard, to facilitate the labyrinth permitting process at City Hall, particularly at the Department of Building Inspection.

Rather than hiring a licensed engineer to review the construction projects he was hired to obtain permits for, prosecutors allege he simply had stamps made impersonating two other licensed engineers, who apparently knew nothing about the fraud.

The case brings to light questions that have been raised before about The City’s construction-approval process because allegedly none of the forged signatures on the 500 documents were checked for authenticity, and the engineers being impersonated were not contacted with questions about the projects.

Jen and Fong, 40, will be arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court on Friday.

Harris did not confirm if there was collusion within the Department of Building Inspection or with city officials, but she said the investigation is ongoing and there are “questions remaining.”

Asked why none of the forgeries were detected, department spokesman William Strawn said the agency receives some 60,000 permit applications a year and unless there is a major question about the engineering of a project, they rarely have cause to contact the civil engineer or surveyor. He said department officials largely “rely on the accuracy and truthfulness of the
documentation.”

“We are certainly cooperating with [the District Attorney’s Office] to find out if missteps took place or if we need to tighten up our scrutiny so these kinds of things don’t happen in the future,” Strawn said.

It’s not the first time Jen has been suspected of wrongdoing.

He was associated with four suspicious building fires in San Francisco between 1990 and 2009. Jen owes The City an estimated $1.5 million after a judge ruled against him in 2004 for illegal construction and illegal conduct in San Francisco. And in the mid-1990s, he was convicted of grand theft for purchasing items with a phony credit card.

District Attorney Kamala Harris Calls Prop 8 Decision "Monumental Step Forward in the Fight for Equality"

bleubitz — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:55:39 -0700

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris, the Democratic Nominee for California Attorney General, released the following statement after a Federal Judge struck down Prop 8:

“Today’s historic decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger was a monumental step forward in the fight for equality.

“From the moment Attorney General Jerry Brown issued his analysis that Prop 8 violates the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution, I have proudly concurred with him. That position has been confirmed by Federal Judge Walker's opinion today and stands in a proud line of jurisprudence reflected so boldly in 1948 when California's Supreme Court ruled that a ban on interracial marriage violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, a conclusion finally reached in 1967 by the United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia.

“Attorney General Brown, Judge Walker, and I have all sworn to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. So, if I am given the privilege to serve as California's next Attorney General, I will not defend the anti-gay Proposition 8 in Federal court. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my opponent in the California Attorney General's race, who promises to put the full weight of the state of California behind a defense of this discriminatory amendment.

“I pledge my support as this fight continues to another court and if necessary, the Supreme Court. I will continue to advocate for the defeat of Prop 8, whether we win that battle in the courts or at the ballot box. We may well face a lengthy battle on this issue but, as Dr. King said in 1967, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.’”

City officials ramp up efforts to curb truancy at problem campuses

bleubitz — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:10:44 -0700

San Francisco Examiner

With the school year only two weeks away, roughly 56,000 students are expected to flood the doors of San Francisco campuses. However, at least 9,000 will stay away.

They are the kids who are chronically or habitually truant.

City officials say they are redoubling efforts to tackle the empty-seat syndrome that sucks millions of dollars in federal funding from the district, despite schools being forced to cut “attendance liaisons” who were working with schools where truancy is highest.

In addition to the school district, Mayor Gavin Newsom and District Attorney Kamala Harris have been making personal phone calls, knocking on doors and writing letters to parents whose kids are habitually truant. In some instances, legal action has been taken against parents and students.

During the summer, the District Attorney’s Office — for the first time ever — took 16 students to court who had been chronically truant during the spring semester.

The office hopes this drives home how serious The City is about truancy this school year.

“We can go into the schools and say this is really happening and it has a deterrent impact,” Assistant District Attorney Katherine Miller said.

But the schools cannot rely on prosecution as the only measure to cut truancy. Schools are looking to restructure how they track truant students, especially in light of the recent budget squeeze.

Schools this year were forced to cut the attendance liaisons, whose sole purpose was to track down and work with kids at risk of skipping school. Now, the district is looking to form teams, which could include retired teachers, to help manage attendance at schools that suffer from high truancy rates, Board of Education Vice President Hydra Mendoza said.

She said this year the district and The City will track which services are most utilized by kids who have been deemed truant. City and school officials will then look to redirect funding or spend more money on those programs that would better serve students who are struggling with truancy, which is often related to family problems, Mendoza said.

Also, the Mayor’s Office is expanding the Truancy Assistance Resource Center. The center is where kids are taken when they are found lingering on the streets during school hours.

Tracking students The SFUSD and city officials are hoping a multipronged effort by various agencies will keep more students in their seats and off the streets.

56,000 Students in city schools in 2008-09 school year

3,000 Students considered habitually truant in ’08-09

6,000 Students considered chronically truant in ’08-09

10-19 Absences to be considered habitually truant

20-plus Absences to be considered chronically truant

30 Parents cited in the past three years by the District Attorney’s Office for truancy

16 Kids cited for truancy this year

DA Harris Kicks Off 27th Annual National Black Prosecutors Association Conference

bleubitz — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:36:28 -0700

SAN FRANCISCO — District Attorney Kamala D. Harris welcomed over 150 prosecutors from across the country to San Francisco to mark the 27th Annual National Black Prosecutors Association (NBPA) Conference.

"It is an honor and a pleasure to host the National Black Prosecutors Association's 27th Annual Conference in the City of Saint Francis," said District Attorney Kamala D. Harris. "I am proud to be able to share the innovations in public safety that we have developed right here in San Francisco and all the best of what our City has to offer with this dedicated group of colleagues and friends."

The week-long conference kicked off its first full day with welcome remarks from District Attorney Harris and NBPA President and Assistant US Attorney from the Southern District of Florida Carmen Lineberger. Marin County Deputy District Attorney Otis Bruce was the master of ceremonies for the morning welcome session, which was followed by a round table discussion with chief prosecutors.

Norman S. Early, Jr., Past President and Co-Founder of the NBPA and former Denver, Colorado District Attorney moderated the panel of distinguished chief prosecutors which included the District Attorneys from Philadelphia, PA, the Bronx, NY and California's San Francisco, Alameda, Marin and Los Angeles counties. The US Attorneys from Minnesota and Ohio also participated in the two-hour discussion.

The annual awards luncheon followed with Alameda County Superior Court Judge the Honorable Brenda Harbin-Forte receiving the Norm E. Early, Jr. Founders Award for her professional achievements and service to the legal profession by working to expand the role of black prosecutors. The Honorable Teri Jackson of the San Francisco Superior Court and the Honorable Gail Bereola of the Alameda County Superior Court and Presiding Judge of that county's Juvenile Court shared the distinction of being named recipients of the Thurgood Marshall Award. The honor is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated concern for human and civil rights through service and social activism. The NBPA bestowed its Trailblazer Award on Judy Johnson, Executive Director of the State Bar of California for showing outstanding achievement in local service to the legal community. The Honorable Andre J. Birotte, Jr, United States Attorney for the Central District of California delivered the luncheon's keynote address.

As hosts of the 27th Annual NBPA Conference, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and NBPA members from surrounding Bay Area counties and the national organization offered attendees professional development, ongoing training and networking events that underscored the 2010 conference theme: "Beyond Tough on Crime: Bold Innovations for Safe Communities."

The Monday, July 19, 2010 afternoon conference sessions included panels on San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris' "Smart on Crime" initiatives to combat truancy and recidivism. San Francisco prosecutors and staff presented on Back on Track, an initiative which is recognized as a statewide and national model for a cost-effective, proven method to break the cycle of crime. Run in partnership with Goodwill Industries, the Family Service Agency, New American Media and other public, private and community-based service providers, Back on Track is an innovative reentry initiative designed by DA Harris to improve public safety by helping young, low-level, non-violent drug offenders make a permanent exit from the criminal justice system.

Prosecutors in Atlanta and Philadelphia have taken steps to replicate the innovative approach in their jurisdictions. During the Thursday evening session, attendees will have the opportunity to witness the graduation of the next cohort of Back on Track participants. These graduates will join the over 100 young people who have successfully met Back on Track's rigorous demands. The initiative combines strict accountability with training and opportunity. Averaging a 10 percent recidivism rate, compared to a 54 percent recidivism rate among drug offenders statewide, Back on Track offers a viable model for improving California's criminal justice system and cutting crime. Back on Track costs about $5,000 annually per participant, compared to $35,000 to $50,000 for jail or prison.

Conference participants also attended afternoon sessions on automobile and insurance fraud, the reliability of forensic science and interaction between civilian prosecutors and the military. The sessions were led by law enforcement leaders from the United States Navy, state police agencies and county prosecutors' offices. Student attendees had the opportunity to participate in a seminar on interviewing techniques. District Attorney Harris closed the day's session with a reception at the San Francisco War Memorial.

Events for the remainder of the week include sessions on a range of topics: elder abuse, ethics, racial justice, prosecutorial leadership, the prosecution of gang and homicide cases, handling hostile witnesses, cold cases, domestic violence, counterterrorism, hate crimes and firearms identification and tracking. Additionally, a job fair will be held for students and the members of the Oakland Police Department slain last year will be honored for their service with the Profiles in Courage Award.

The National Black Prosecutors Association is the only professional membership organization dedicated to the advancement of Blacks as prosecutors. Founded in 1983, the Association's membership is comprised of over 800 prosecutors nationwide. It includes both chief and line prosecutors nationwide. In addition to prosecutors, the association's membership includes law students, former prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel.

The NBPA is emerging as the international association of Black law enforcement professionals with a reputation for providing education and leadership in the legal profession through its intensive training sessions and multi-disciplined networking.

Former Software Company Workers Accused Of Embezzling $2.6 Million

bleubitz — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:33:10 -0700

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two former employees at a San Francisco software company were arrested and charged Wednesday with embezzling more than $2.6 million.

Maria Lourdes B. Dionisio, 46, of Pacifica, and Hannah Yau, 56, of Fremont, are accused of fraudulently issuing themselves checks over a four-year period at Autonomy, Inc...., District Attorney Kamala Harris said. See the video here.

Dionisio was a payroll clerk and Yau a financial analyst at the firm.

Harris said the women "essentially ended up being foxes that guarded the henhouse," padding their salaries with bonus checks amounting to about $1.3 million each.

The company began an investigation after Dionisio was fired for unrelated reasons in May, Harris said. She said that when Dionisio filed for unemployment insurance, she listed an annual salary of nearly $450,000, far more than her base salary of $63,000.

Dionisio is alleged to have drafted the checks. Prosecutors said Yau also received checks and failed to notify the company of the theft.

Both women were arrested Wednesday morning, according to police Capt. Al Casciato of the economic crimes unit.

Prosecutors have charged Dionisio with grand theft, embezzlement and computer crimes, all felonies. Yau is charged with grand theft and embezzlement.

If convicted, Dionisio could face up to five years and eight months in prison, and with allegations of excessive taking, Yau could face up to six years and eight months in prison, according to the district attorney's office.

Both women are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Thursday morning in San Francisco Superior Court. Bail has been set at $1 million each.

District Attorneys Throughout California Endorse Kamala Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:54:20 -0700

SAN FRANCISCO – The Kamala Harris for Attorney General campaign today announced that District Attorneys from throughout California have endorsed Harris's candidacy.

The following District Attorneys today endorsed Kamala Harris for Attorney General:

· Colusa County District Attorney John Poyner
· Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos
· Imperial County District Attorney Gilbert Otero
· Marin County District Attorney Edward S. Berberian, Jr.
· Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott
· Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse
· Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein
· Plumas County District Attorney Jeff Cunan
· Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee
· Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua
· Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen

As San Francisco’s District Attorney since 2003, Harris has used her nearly 20 years of prosecutorial experience to focus intensively on fighting violent crime. This work is paying off --- according to the California Department of Justice, the office’s overall felony conviction rate is at its highest point in nearly 15 years.

Harris has also been tapped by her colleagues to serve in leadership positions in both the California District Attorneys Association and the National District Attorneys Association.

Harris is also endorsed by Los Angeles Chief of Police William Bratton (Ret.), San Diego Chief of Police William Lansdowne, San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón, San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey, former Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner, former Los Angeles District Attorney and California Attorney General John Van de Kamp, and many other law enforcement leaders around the state.

For more information about the campaign, please "like" us on facebook: http://facebook.com/kamalaharris

California Professional Firefighters Endorse Kamala Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:38:17 -0700

Harris wins first major statewide public safety endorsement of General Election campaign

The Kamala Harris for Attorney General campaign today announced the endorsement of the California Professional Firefighters.

“As firefighters, we stand with those who stand up for public safety and California’s first responders,” said California Professional Firefighters President Lou Paulson. “Kamala Harris has met this test throughout her two decades as a prosecutor. We believe she will continue to stand with us, and with all of public safety, as Attorney General.”

“I am honored to earn the support of California’s firefighters,” said Harris. “I join all Californians in expressing gratitude for their dedication to public safety and for the many sacrifices they make, and I look forward to standing with the firefighters in this campaign.”

California Professional Firefighters is the state council for the International Association of Fire Fighters, representing more than 30,000 front line first responders in over 180 local affiliates. CPF is the first statewide public safety organization to endorse a candidate for Attorney General in the General Election. Both Harris and her Republican opponent Steve Cooley sought and interviewed for the CPF endorsement.

Become a facebook supporter of Kamala Harris at: http://facebook.com/KamalaHarris

Kamala Harris, the “Female Obama,” Wins Primary for California Attorney General

rsumner — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:13:58 -0700

Overlooked among Super Tuesday's big wins for women, Kamala Harris may be the most ambitious of them all. Dayo Olopade talks to the exotic prosecutor vying to break California's last glass ceiling.

This year's "Super Tuesday" of primary elections across the country featured plenty of women to watch: Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln fought off a tough challenge from fellow Democrat Bill Halter; Nikki Haley, the Indian-American conservative battling allegations of "inappropriate sexual contact" will face a runoff for governor in South Carolina; and in California, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Hewlett Packard executive Carly Fiorina emerged victorious after expensive, blistering primary campaigns.

But maybe the most interesting woman to watch is Kamala Devi Harris, the district attorney for San Francisco, whose Democratic primary win puts her on course to become the first African-American and Asian-American woman elected attorney general in California. Born to one of the first black economics professors at Stanford University and an Indian physician at a time when interracial marriage was still illegal in parts of America, she has already made history. Now, Harris' challenge is to break through one of the last glass ceilings in California.

"She's running for what is considered one of the more nontraditional jobs as a woman," says Debbie Walsh of the Center for American Women in Politics "So she has to be even better."

The state has always been hospitable to women candidates--as both senators and the speaker of the House can attest. But there has never been a female attorney general--no less one with as exotic a background as Harris'. Sound familiar? Gwen Ifill, author of The Breakthrough, spotlighting a new class of African-American politicians, summed it up for David Letterman: "They call her the female Barack Obama."

The 46-year-old Harris, who shares Obama's greyhound physique and progressive politics, has long been one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party. Jonathan Parker, political director of Emily's List, calls her "a superstar for the future." And like Obama, she represents a new generation of public servants who easily cross lines of race and culture. Her varied endorsements--from Tyra Banks to the League of Conservation Voters--tell the tale. And she's run a thoroughly modern campaign: When her chief opponent, former Facebook security officer Chris Kelly, attacked her record on crime on YouTube, she fired back using widespread complaints about Facebook's privacy policies.

Sheathed in a black wool suit and several strands of pearls, Harris weighed the notion of making history in the lobby of the Willard Hotel in Washington earlier this spring. "As with anything there are advantages and disadvantages," she said. "But I'll tell you the advantages certainly stand out to me." When Harris marched in a parade for Martin Luther King Day, an African-American man broke through the crowd with his three children, crying, "Look, that's our DA." Likewise, her campaign kickoff was packed with young women proud that one of them was making change. "I was raised to be an independent woman," she continued, "not the victim of anything."

Like the technocrat-in-chief, Harris believes in "smart government." When she saw the statistics connecting violent crime, high school dropouts and elementary school truancy in San Francisco, she decided to begin prosecuting the parents of kids skipping class--an approach that reduced truancy rates by 23 percent. Harris' "back on track" pilot program, which has cut recidivism among drug offenders by supporting them in job training and education, has been embraced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a model for California. The career prosecutor likens campaigning to the courtroom. "Running for office is similar to being a trial lawyer in a very long trial," she says. "It requires adrenaline and stamina; it requires being in shape mentally and emotionally. It's a marathon."

Indeed, Tuesday's primary vote could be just the first lap for Harris. The AG seat has long been a springboard to higher office; governors Christine Gregoire, Jennifer Granholm and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano have also made the jump from top cop to their state's governor's mansions. In California, the springboard is a state tradition: "Very few extremely ambitious state level politicians would want state attorney general to be their last job in California government," says Frank Zimring, a professor at University of California Berkeley School of Law. "But lots of people would like it to be their first."

Harris is similarly ambitious; according to one California political observer, she has "a healthy ego--but tell me a politician who doesn't." Still, she has her work cut out for her--not least being elected in November. Harris will face tough competition from the Republican nominee, Los Angeles County district attorney Steve Cooley.

The battle of prosecutors will also be a referendum on reform within the largest and arguably most troubled criminal justice system in the country. California's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has mandated that the state reduce its jailed population by 40 percent, and Harris has taken up the cause of prison reform in a state whose overloaded prisons and harsh sentencing guidelines--including the controversial "three strikes law"--have become a pressing political and budgetary issue. "We're turning California's prisons into very expensive retirement communities for former burglars," says Mark Kleiman, UCLA professor and author of the prizewinning book When Brute Force Fails. "Three strikes is a big part of that problem." (California spends more than three times the national average on over-50 prisoners annually.)

There are other tough legal and political fights ahead, on issues from reforming immigration laws to defending national health-care legislation and civil rights for gays. On "three strikes," Harris will be shielding her left flank--Cooley has sponsored legislation reforming the politically popular but practically untenable law. Harris has long opposed the death penalty, though she said she would enforce it as AG. Cooley feels otherwise. Harris disagrees with the controversial Arizona statute that encourages police to demand proof of citizenship for suspects--and supports a path to citizenship for immigrants currently living in the U.S. illegally. "We can't be ostriches on this issue," she said at a recent candidate's forum.

The rising star may still fall victim to California's "unpredictable" politics, says Gautam Dutta, executive director of the Asian American Action Fund, which endorsed Harris and primary candidate Tom Lieu. Harris has already faced criticism for inflated conviction rates in San Francisco, as well as her role in mismanaging the city's crime lab--from which a technician allegedly stole cocaine. There have also been high-profile problems with the "Back on Track" initiative, such as when an illegal immigrant enrolled in the program was subsequently arrested for assault. Irked Bay Area police officers gunning for Harris set up a Facebook page slamming her as "more of a career politician than the crime-fighting attorney her campaign is making her out to be."

Heading into November, Harris must balance the tough-on-crime image essential to winning statewide with the liberal tendencies she shares with her sister, who served as executive director of California's ACLU, and brother-in-law, whom Obama appointed to the embattled civil rights division of the Justice Department. "It's not a crime to be a liberal in California," says Dutta. However, "she's running for what is considered one of the more nontraditional jobs as a woman," says Debbie Walsh of the Center for American Women in Politics "So she has to be even better."

Primarily, she needs to build a winning brand. "She's well thought of where she's thought of, but she doesn't have a strong statewide identity," says Zimring. And for that, the comparisons to the president might come in handy. Like Obama, Harris must balance administration and advocacy within a broken system. In his 2010 state of the union address, the president spoke about a "trust deficit" between ordinary citizens and their government. That's certainly the case in California, where state officials have dismal approval ratings and the budget deficit now tops $30 billion. Managing the broken bureaucracy is almost as tough as steering the United States through two wars, an oil spill and an anemic economic recovery.

Rather than taking a page from recently deposed Alabama gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis, who ran away from the White House, Harris might try to capitalize on the president's still-strong numbers in California. "She distinguishes herself by being an African American, by being a Democrat, and by being young," says Zimring. "The more you cast it as a statewide political office instead of a niche in the Justice Department, the better she looks against Cooley."

Harris, who announced her ambitions just days after Obama's sweeping victory in November 2008, isn't so sure. "So many people trip in front of them because they're looking over there or up ahead," she says. "I'm knocking wood all the time."

Kamala Harris wins AG primary

rsumner — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:52:58 -0700

Career prosecutors Steve Cooley and Kamala Harris won the GOP and Democratic primaries for attorney general Tuesday, paving the way for a tough November race between the moderate Republican district attorney from Los Angeles and the liberal San Francisco prosecutor.

Harris, whose campaign has been dogged by fallout from a scandal at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab, beat out a crowded field of challengers that included three state assemblymen, a former Los Angeles city attorney, and Silicon Valley executive Chris Kelly, who poured $12 million of his own money into the race.

"This campaign was about who we are and who we can be as a state," Harris said during a speech Tuesday night at the Delancey Street Foundation. "I am humbled to accept the Democratic nomination ... it is time we get tough and smart on crime.

Harris won by a wide margin over Kelly - who was virtually unknown by voters until the last month or so.

Harris and Kelly dominated the airwaves and media coverage in the crowded Democratic field. Only one of their challengers, former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, ran television ads; while Assemblymen Ted Lieu, Pedro Nava and Alberto Torrico relied on direct mail, Internet ads and endorsements.

San Jose Mercury News Endorses Kamala Harris

bleubitz — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:53:32 -0700

Perhaps the most intriguing race in this fascinating California primary is for attorney general, where six qualified Democrats and three qualified Republicans are vying to become the state's top cop. It's no surprise. Earl Warren, George Deukmejian and Pat Brown all used the office as a launching pad to the governor's office.

The next attorney general will be front and center in California's water wars, decide whether to support or fight health care reform and whether to challenge the federal court order to reduce the state's inmate population. The job comes with a staff of 5,000 and a $700 million budget.

The candidates we hope will advance from the June primary to the November runoff are experienced district attorneys, San Francisco Democrat Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Republican Steve Cooley.

Harris faces strong competition from three termed-out state Assemblymen — Alberto Torrico of Fremont, Pedro Nava of Santa Barbara and Ted Lieu of Torrance — as well as former Facebook security officer Chris Kelly of Palo Alto and former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

What sets Harris apart is her smart, well-reasoned approach to issues faced by the attorney general and her seven years of experience as a no-nonsense district attorney making tough decisions under fire (as only San Francisco can produce fire).

Harris wants to put a greater emphasis on reducing recidivism and deterring gang activity, but she is not soft on crime: San Francisco's conviction rate is higher now that it has been for any time since 1995. Her hard-line approach to truancy, including prosecuting parents as a last resort, is helping to get kids off the streets and into the classroom. Truancy is a strong predictor of crime and other problems in adulthood.

Harris has been dogged by personnel issues in San Francisco's crime lab, including a technician suspected of stealing cocaine. But her office does not manage the lab, and she has taken responsibility for solving weaknesses that surfaced in the system.

Lieu is also an exceptional Democratic candidate who has run a clean, issue-oriented campaign and has an intriguing background. A Stanford graduate, military prosecutor and legislator, he would fight for environmental and consumer protections that Californians support.

Cooley, the Los Angeles County district attorney, is a thoughtful rather than doctrinaire Republican of the type Californians should encourage. Rigid conservatives will support state Sen. Tom Harman or former Chapman University law school dean John Eastman.

Cooley became DA in 2000 and has been re-elected twice, thanks in large part to his successful, unforgiving prosecution of corruption cases and his commitment to openness and transparency in government. He's an excellent prospect for attorney general — and a Cooley vs. Harris matchup in November would give Californians a win-win choice for this race.

Kamala Harris on AirTalk

bleubitz — Fri, 28 May 2010 10:25:29 -0700

A new poll shows San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris leading the Democratic race for AG. A career prosecutor, Harris has raised her department’s conviction rate. But a recent scandal has led her department to dismiss more than 600 drug cases. A superior court judge concluded that the DA's office failed to fulfill its constitutional duty and violated defendants' rights. Can Harris maintain her lead? Might she become California's first female Attorney General?

Holding parents responsible for truancy

rsumner — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:10:35 -0700

There is a bill working its way through the California Legislature that gives parental responsibility a whole new meaning.

SB1317 sailed through the Senate with surprisingly little opposition considering how controversial it is likely to be once the public gets wind of it. It would hold parents of children in kindergarten through eighth grade criminally liable when their kids are chronically absent from school.

The parent of a child truant 10 percent or more of the school year could be jailed for up to one year and fined $2,000 only if they ignore repeated warnings.

The parenting blogs went into a hissy.

California strips away parental rights! shrieked one blogger. How will kids get to school if you put their parents in jail? Other critics of the bill claim that it would unfairly punish single parents. Are we to presume they can't be expected to be held responsible for their children's school attendance because there is only one parent in the home? Then there is what I call the knee-jerk liberal argument: Kids who are truant don't go to school because of underlying social problems like bad schools and family dysfunction etc. So if they are hanging out on street corners instead of going to class, who can blame the parents? I'm not saying these aren't issues, of course they are. But is the answer to merely throw up our hands and let kids roam streets?

The most interesting opposition argument comes
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from the California Public Defenders Association. It claims the proposed new truancy law would unfairly punish single parents of children who are afraid to go to school because it's too dangerous for them to travel gang-infested streets to get there.

So it's too dangerous for them to walk to school? But not too dangerous to hang out on those same street corners instead of going to class?

On the face of it, the bill, sponsored by Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, does seem rather harsh.

Yet when you consider the statistically demonstrated connection between the high school dropout rate and violent crime, you realize that chronic truancy is a public safety issue.

Kids generally become truant before they drop out of school altogether.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who sponsored the get-tough truancy bill, says fighting truancy might very well be the single most important thing that we can do to impact the future of crime in this country.

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts has also cited chronic truancy as a major contributor to the city's violent crime rate.

A recent UC Santa Barbara study found that truancy costs the state $1.1 billion in juvenile hall costs. Three-fourths of the state's violent crimes are committed by high school dropouts.

The statistics are very clear between the children who are high school drop outs and those will be victims or perpetrators of violent crime, Harris says."

Four years ago, Harris established an anti-truancy program in San Francisco. At the time, 5,500 students were habitually truant.

She began sending letters out to all parents in the fall informing them that their children are required by law to attend school.

Prosecutors have mediations with parents of habitually truant students and their parents to try to improve their attendance, which usually works. Amazing how an effective a visit from the DA can be.

A specialized truancy court is a last resort for those who still don't get the message. When necessary, family services provides drug counseling and other services for parents and children.

The fear of prosecution has apparently been a major deterrent. Harris says truancy in the city went down 23 percent in one year. The San Francisco District Attorney prosecuted 20 parents. None have gone to jail.

The new truancy bill would create similar truancy courts, based on the San Francisco model, statewide.

The point isn't to throw parents in jail. It is to put the spotlight on truancy as a serious public safety issue.

The fact is, most children have at least one adult who is in some way supposed to be responsible for that child's well-being. At its most basic level, that means ensuring that that child attends school.

It's just a shame that it takes the threat of jail to make some people live up to that responsibility.

The Arizona Immigration Law: Politics over Policy

rsumner — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:32:18 -0700

Never let bad policy get in the way of good politics. That's the cynical motto of the growing class of political copycats bent on replicating Arizona's controversial new immigration law in other states, including California.

Arizona's law, SB 1070, requires local police to act as federal immigration agents. Now police officers in Arizona can detain someone if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that she's an illegal immigrant.

Despite a broad, national backlash, the urge to score political points on the fringe seems irresistible. Last week, a California Assembly candidate promised to introduce an Arizona-style immigration law if he's elected. And in ten more states--Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Missouri, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Maryland--politicians looking for a boost have called for laws that would mirror Arizona's law.

California cannot afford an Arizona-style immigration law. It is bad policy and the worst kind of politics.

Protecting public safety was supposedly a main justification for Arizona's law. As a career prosecutor for nearly two decades, I can tell you that transforming our local police officers into immigration agents will seriously harm our crime-fighting efforts. We have the nation's largest population of immigrants, with nearly 10 million California residents born abroad. If they don't report crimes, for fear of being interrogated about their immigration status, crimes will go unsolved and criminals will walk free among us. I've personally prosecuted hundreds of serious and violent crimes--robberies, murders, and rapes--where the case depended on an immigrant who was scared to come forward, but, because they did, we got a conviction.

We need to encourage, not discourage, people to report violent crimes. In every community, there are predators who literally stalk immigrants precisely because they count on them to "keep quiet" if they're victimized. In domestic violence cases, abusers routinely threaten their spouses that they'll "turn them over to immigration" if they report the abuse. Other criminals rob their neighbors, scam people out of their homes, and sexually abuse children, counting on the fear of police to keep victims from reporting the crimes. Turning police officers into immigration agents will only push them further into the shadows and make them reliably easy victims for criminals.

But, of course, the predators don't stop there. The same people who victimize immigrants quickly turn their attention to other victims, as well -- citizens, bystanders, and others. Ultimately, then, it is our community that wins when people report crime, and ours that loses when they don't.

We also can't afford to divert scarce local law enforcement resources to enforcing federal immigration laws. Law enforcement budgets have been cut to the bone across California; many cities are laying-off police officers, firefighters, and prosecutors. We need to focus every resource on fighting violent crimes. We don't have extra officers--or local tax dollars--available to moonlight as immigration patrol, which is a federal responsibility.

There's no doubt that the federal government needs to pass meaningful immigration reform and that we have a serious illegal immigration problem in California, but "politics now, think later" measures like SB 1070 aren't the solution.

United States Senator Dianne Feinstein Endorses Kamala Harris as California’s Next Attorney General

rsumner — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:07:36 -0700

(SAN FRANCISCO) – Today California’s Senior Senator Dianne Feinstein announced her endorsement of Kamala Harris as California’s next Attorney General.

“Over the past seven years as San Francisco’s District Attorney, Kamala Harris has demonstrated a proven track record of innovation and change,” said Senator Feinstein. “Kamala has increased conviction rates, created San Francisco’s first ever Environmental Justice Unit and Child Assault Unit, and launched an early intervention program that has been used as a national model. Kamala will bring her innovative approach to the California Attorney General’s Office and she is my choice for California’s top cop.”

“I am deeply honored by Senator Dianne Feinstein’s endorsement of my candidacy for Attorney General,” said District Attorney Harris. “Senator Feinstein is a hometown hero and has the resounding respect of California law enforcement. As the first woman from California to serve in the United States Senate, her endorsement of my candidacy to become California’s first female Attorney General makes me especially proud. As Attorney General, I look forward to building upon her pioneering work of reducing gun violence in our communities and protecting California’s environment.”

Senator Feinstein endorsed Kamala Harris in both of her races to serve as San Francisco District Attorney and officiated DA Harris’ swearing in ceremony upon her re-election in 2007.

Senator Feinstein joins a growing number of California leaders to endorse Kamala Harris, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Kamala Harris has also received the endorsement of every newspaper that has endorsed to date in the Attorney General’s race: the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee and Modesto Bee, San Francisco Bay Guardian, the Bay Area Reporter, and the Los Angeles Metropolitan News.

For a full list of endorsements of Kamala Harris, go to http://www.kamalaharris.org/endorsements.

Our First TV Ad: Drastic Repair

bleubitz — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:11:20 -0700

Today, our campaign released our first TV advertisement:

Please help us keep this ad on the air by making a contribution today. Your help is sincerely appreciated.

Sacramento Bee Endorsement: State needs a strong attorney general

rsumner — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:42:27 -0700

California's attorney general is the state's top cop, or so the cliché goes. In fact, this state's attorney general ought to be the most important law enforcement officer this side of the occupant of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C.

The job requires passion for justice, deep knowledge of the law, administrative skill, and a willingness to set aside partisanship in pursuit of what is best for the state.

With a budget of $740 million, and 5,300 employees, the attorney general oversees a high-tech crime lab relied upon by police across the state, a bureau of law enforcement officers, lawyers who defend the state's interests in civil cases, and prosecutors who specialize in arcane criminal law and procedure and, importantly, press death penalty appeals.

At his or, perhaps, her best, the attorney general should use the law to defend Californians' interests against white-collar criminals, polluters and consumer rip-offs, and to guard the public against corrupt public officials.

HARRIS IS BEST OF SIX DEMOCRATS

Democratic voters face the daunting task of selecting one of the six serious candidates running for California attorney general.

But ultimately, the choice is clear. Only one candidate has overseen a major district attorney's office, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. Experience counts.

Harris is a charismatic politician who has spent two decades as a prosecutor, having worked as an Alameda County deputy district attorney before moving across the Bay. She was elected San Francisco's top prosecutor in 2003 and re-elected in 2007.

As district attorney, she has focused on gun violence, gangs, perpetrators of domestic violence, and more. She has made a mark by advocating crime prevention and reducing recidivism, helping to establish a program aimed at dissuading young people from entering lives of crime.

She would bring that same focus to the state Department of Justice.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Office is modest in size, 128 attorneys and a budget of $39.5 million. On the far larger statewide stage, Harris could use her political skills to transform the Department of Justice into the innovative and aggressive agency it should be.

Her tenure as San Francisco district attorney has not been without controversy. Most notably, she infuriated San Francisco police by declining to seek the death penalty against a criminal who murdered a police officer. She stands by that decision, saying the jury convicted the killer of second-degree murder, a crime for which the death penalty does not apply. Harris opposes the death penalty but says she "would follow the law" as attorney general.

Like many people who seek the attorney general's office, Harris would be a natural to run for some higher office. There is nothing wrong with ambition. But first she must win a tough primary and what would be a bruising general election.

Her opponents include three assemblymen, former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, and former Facebook counsel Chris Kelly, who is using his wealth to fund his campaign.

Kelly forthrightly addresses questions and takes stands that would resonate with most voters. His status as an outsider is appealing, and he is no neophyte in the world of politics. He would not be beholden to moneyed interests.

Assemblyman Ted Lieu of Torrance has a compelling personal story, a solid legislative record, and has prosecutorial experience, working as a military prosecutor. He has proved that he can buck his caucus, and carried ambitious legislation aimed at banks. If he falls short in this race, Lieu should not give up on politics.

Assemblyman Pedro Nava of Santa Barbara has experience as a deputy district attorney. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico of Fremont worked as a labor lawyer for unions before winning his assembly seat.

Delgadillo earned our endorsement when he ran for attorney general four years ago, back when his career was promising. But his tenure as Los Angeles city attorney ended ignominiously. The job of attorney general is too important to entrust to a politician seeking redemption.

In this crowded field, Kamala Harris deserves the nomination. Some of her stands would leave her open to attack. But she would be a worthy general election candidate, and bring experience, energy and an innovative spirit to the office of California attorney general.

SF Chronicle Endorsement: A focused vision for Attorney General

rsumner — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:39:17 -0700

California's attorney general has the widest portfolio of responsibilities of anyone outside the governor's office. Crime, environment, corporate fraud, consumer protection. This list goes on. Not surprisingly, the Democratic candidates for attorney general presented an array of contrasts in both their emphasis and their knowledge of the issues. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris stands out in this field both in her grasp of the issues and the clarity of her priorities.

Harris said her No. 1 goal would be to reduce the recidivism rate of inmates leaving prison, which contributes to an overcrowding crisis, adds to the state deficit - and erodes public safety. As she noted, California releases 120,000 inmates a year. Seventy percent of them return to prison within three years.

"It's one of the biggest challenges that can be fixed in our state," Harris said.

In San Francisco, Harris' "Back on Track" program for first-time offenders between ages 18 and 24 has produced impressive reductions in recidivism through job training and other life skills. It also generated a touch of controversy when it was revealed that some of the participants were undocumented immigrants, and thus could not legally fill the jobs they were being trained to do.

Harris did not flinch at questions about the problems. The program screening was tightened, she said. Besides, she added, innovation in law enforcement necessarily involves an element of risk.

The worst risk of all to public safety is to accept a 70 percent recidivism rate.

Her opponents include Rocky Delgadillo, the former Los Angeles city attorney; Facebook executive Chris Kelly, who has poured $8 million into his campaign; and three termed-out Assembly members - Alberto Torrico, Ted Lieu and Pedro Nava. Delgadillo, who lost to Brown in the 2006 primary, comes closest to Harris in applicable experience - but does not have nearly as well developed a vision for the statewide office.

Harris has clearly raised the level of the San Francisco district attorney's office in the last six years. Its conviction rate has reached a 15-year high. The office has had some unsettling lapses, such as its inability or unwillingness to identify the problems with the lax treatment of young drug dealers under the Sanctuary City ordinance, or the colossal mess in the Police Department's crime lab. The best that could be said in each case is that she was not well served by some of her subordinates. But Harris has demonstrated her ability to confront and correct problems, and to learn from them. She is the Democrats' best choice for attorney general.

This article appeared on page E - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle

LA Times Endorsement: Kamala Harris in Democratic race for state attorney general

bleubitz — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:29:35 -0700

The Democratic field for attorney general of California is crowded but mixed, divided among several capable candidates and several who do not have the background or vision worthy of the office. Those who merit serious consideration by voters are San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris, former Facebook executive Chris Kelly and Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance). The Times sees strengths in all three, but endorses Harris.

To dispense with the bottom of the field first: Rocky Delgadillo was a deep disappointment as Los Angeles city attorney and has done nothing since to suggest that he would do better in a higher office. Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) has a legislative record to be proud of but offers no compelling vision for the office he's seeking. Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) is focused almost exclusively on his campaign to pass an oil extraction fee in order to fund education, a perfectly defensible notion but one that has little to do with being attorney general. Attorney Mike Schmier has neither ideas nor experience worth noting.

Among the leading candidates, Lieu is a thoughtful legislator with a solid record in Sacramento. He proposes innovative ideas for building on the current duties of the attorney general's office while recognizing its essential functions — defending the state, enforcing its laws and protecting its residents. He also has waged an uncommonly civilized campaign, evidence of his character and decency.

Kelly's background makes him a unique candidate in this field, though one familiar in this election cycle: the public-spirited business leader. He views the office as a platform for protecting consumers, among other things, and would bring fresh ideas for improving the state's technological capacity. He hews to most Democratic Party tenets — support for same-sex marriage, environmental protection and the death penalty — while suggesting that he would not be captive to the party's leading constituencies, such as labor, because he comes from outside the political establishment.

California considers bill to punish parents for children’s truancy

bleubitz — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:27:30 -0700

If the bill becomes law, parents of chronically truant elementary school children could face a year in jail or a $2,000 fine.

"These children will invariably be what will end up in our criminal justice system," San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris testified.

Harris, who sponsored the legislation, told legislators that elementary school truants usually become high school dropouts – and face worse problems.

"A few years ago we did an assessment," Harris said. "I asked someone to figure out for me who were our homicide victims who were under the age of 25. Ninety-four percent, it turns out, were high school dropouts."

Harris also emphasized that three quarters of California’s inmates are high school dropouts.

A few years ago, the district attorney launched a truancy reduction initiative in San Francisco. She says it’s pretty successful. Harris, who’s running for state attorney general in this year’s election, says she wants specific tools to punish parents who allow their kids to ditch school. But she also wants to help them.

"The idea is not to send a parent to jail," agreed Senator Mark Leno (D-SF). Leno says the real point of his bill is to compel counties to reduce truancy. "We want to bring all the stakeholders to the table to deal with the problems the family is dealing with."

The bill would require schools to show that they’ve notified and counseled a truant student’s parents over a period of time – to no avail.

Courts could defer judgment if the parent agrees to get additional counseling, help with drug or alcohol addiction, or take parenting classes.

Counties would also be required to assist families with housing and childcare, if necessary, to get children back in school.

Harris gets endorsement from Pelosi

rsumner — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:29:33 -0700

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who's gunning for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General, scooped up a big endorsement today: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"Kamala Harris has shown that she knows how to keep a community safe and has the vision on innovative approaches to prevent crime and save resources," Pelosi said in a written statement. "As a veteran prosecutor, she will bring her talent and experience to the California Attorney General's Office. Kamala will work every day to make sure that insurance companies follow the new health insurance reform law and that California's consumers get what they are paying for."

The endorsement will likely play well in the liberal Bay Area, but could have the potential to hurt Harris in more conservative areas of the state if she makes it through the primary. (Of course, being aligned with the Speaker may be the least of her worries against a Republican opponent.) Harris also secured Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's endorsement last weekend while she was on the home turf of opponent Rocky Delgadillo, the city's former City Attorney.

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Endorses Kamala Harris as Attorney General

rsumner — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:18:30 -0700

Mayor of California’s Largest City says Harris his Choice for California’s Top Cop

(LOS ANGELES) – Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today announced his endorsement of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris in her candidacy for California Attorney General. The Mayor announced his support in a press conference with DA Harris on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall.

“Our state is in a very challenging time right now, and we need leaders in California who have a proven track record of getting things done and the ability to fix problems with new and innovative solutions,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “Kamala Harris is such a leader. Kamala has spent her entire professional life in the trenches as a courtroom prosecutor, and she has raised conviction rates in her community to the highest in 15 years. She has launched initiatives in her community that are helping to prevent crime, save money and serve as models for other District Attorney’s offices throughout the country. She has the proven ability to work with her colleagues throughout the state to pass innovative legislation that has helped to modernize our penal code. She will take on the mortgage companies and others who commit financial fraud, she will go after corporations who break labor laws, she will bring reforms to our criminal justice system so we don't spend tens of billions of dollars annually on a broken prison system.”

“I am honored to have the endorsement of Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa,” said DA Harris. “As Mayor of California’s largest city and a longtime respected leader in our state, Mayor Villaraigosa knows what we need to ensure California is on track for the future. Mayor Villaraigosa’s leadership serves as an example of bringing people together to tackle big problems – most notably in job creation, the environment and transportation -- and he is a national leader in decreasing the crime rate for his community.”

In 2005, Villaraigosa ran for Mayor of Los Angeles on a platform of bringing the City together to take on the big challenges. He was elected on May 17, 2005 and sworn in as Mayor on July 1, 2005.

During his first term, Mayor Villaraigosa built the police force to its largest size in history, oversaw the steepest reduction in crime since the 1950’s, and developed Los Angeles’ first comprehensive anti-gang strategy.

With the launching of GREEN LA, the Mayor set Los Angeles on the path to becoming one of the greenest big cities in the nation. The City has met the Kyoto targets for reducing greenhouse gases four years ahead of schedule and put into place the most aggressive green building program of any large city.

Teaming up with transportation leaders throughout Los Angeles County, Mayor Villaraigosa led the effort to pass a once-in-a-generation investment in the mass transit system of Los Angeles. With the passage of Measure R, LA County is poised to invest in $40 billion in new transit, rail and highways. On March 3, 2009, Mayor Villaraigosa was re-elected and took the oath for a second term on July 1, 2009.

“Today I join a growing number of Los Angeles leaders selecting Harris as our next Attorney General, including former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, City Council President Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel. Just this week, California SEIU and the California Nurses Association also endorsed Harris. All who support Kamala will be working the phones, pounding the pavement and doing whatever it takes to make sure she wins, because California needs her.”

As San Francisco’s District Attorney, Harris has used her nearly 20 years of prosecutorial experience to focus intensively on fighting violent crime. This work is paying off --- according to the California Department of Justice, the office’s overall felony conviction rate is at its highest point in nearly 15 years.

In addition, as she enters her seventh year as San Francisco's District Attorney, the "Smart on Crime" approach Kamala has pioneered continues to serve as a model for the nation to reform our criminal justice system. Kamala's Back on Track initiative, for example, has achieved nationwide recognition for its successes in reducing recidivism among a population of first-time, low-level, nonviolent drug offenders by giving them important life skills and re-entering them back into productive society. And in her fight against school truancy, San Francisco schools have showed a 23 percent drop in the number of elementary schoolchildren skipping classes.

SF district attorney tags Tagged.com with $650,000 settlement

rsumner — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:49:50 -0700

Four months after settling similar cases with New York and Texas, social network Tagged Inc. has agreed to pay the San Francisco District Attorney's office $650,000 for sending millions of illegally "deceptive" e-mail messages in a 2009 campaign to build membership.

The San Francisco company sent 40 million to 60 million e-mail messages from April to June 2009 to prospective members, falsely claiming a friend had sent a photograph or private message, District Attorney Kamala Harris said.

The e-mail "misled" consumers into creating a new membership that also gave Tagged access to their entire contact list, Harris said. Like a "pyramid" scheme, the company then used the newly acquired contacts to send more recruitment messages, Harris said.

Tagged Inc. agreed to pay Harris' office $400,000 in civil penalties and $250,000 in investigative costs. The settlement also includes a permanent injunction requiring the company to fix its procedures to provide consumers with clear disclosures and a way to revoke previously granted access to their personal information.

"Companies, whether they are on main street or in cyberspace cannot be allowed to deceive their customers and their consumers,'' Harris said.

Last November, Tagged paid $500,000 to settle a similar case brought by New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and agreed to pay $250,000 to settle with the state of Texas, which had also launched an investigation.

The company previously said it has already voluntarily overhauled its registration procedures.

The firm said Tagged co-founder and chief executive officer Greg Tseng would not comment on the latest settlement beyond a post on the company blog that said the firm had "voluntarily ceased the membership drive before being contacted by the press or any governmental authority. Nonetheless, the campaign attracted the attention of San Francisco's District Attorney Kamala Harris."

Although Tseng said most joined or declined without lodging a complaint, "a small but vocal minority expressed that we were too ambitious in our recruitment efforts.'' Tseng said he was pleased to settle with San Francisco and "thrilled to put the dispute behind us."

Launched in 2004, Tagged claims that it is the third largest social network in the U.S. with about 80 million registered members, although only 25 percent are in the U.S. the company points to numbers from research firm ComScore that rank Tagged as fourth among social networks in total monthly visits and daily average visits, third in total minutes and page views and first in average time per session.

Ironically, Tagged in January announced it won a $201,975 default judgment against an Internet spammer who sent its members "false and misleading" e-mail with links to an adult dating site.

California Nurses Association Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:31:40 -0700

SAN FRANCISCO – Today the California Nurses Association, a leading labor organization that represents thousands of California nurses in hospitals, clinics and home health agencies throughout the state, announced their endorsement of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris as their candidate to be California’s next Attorney General.

“The nurses of California are proud to endorse Kamala Harrisfor Attorney General, because we are confident that she will play an important role in the national drive to guarantee healthcare for every one of our patients. She is the type of leader we need for the future of California,” said Malinda Markowitz, RN, co-President of California Nurses Association.

“Improved education, dedicated and trained staff, and a commitment to sensitively dealing with child abuse, including sexual abuse, is long overdue in our criminal justice system, and nurses applaud Kamala Harris for having created such a program in San Francisco,” commented Zenei Cortez, RN, co-President of CNA.

“The California Nurses Association represents thousands of hard-working nurses throughout California, and I am honored for their support,” said District Attorney Harris. “The California Nurses Association (CNA) has always been willing to take such bold stands and to follow up with action. They have worked for health care reformeven when it was not popular, and when the odds seemed devastatingly long. This is why I am proud to earn the endorsement of these nurses who have done so much to change the debate in California and in Washington.”

The California Nurses Association is the second labor association this week to endorse Harris. SEIU –California, representing thousands of public employees throughout the state, also announced their support of Kamala Harris this week. Other labor organizations who have previously endorsed Kamala Harris for Attorney General include United Farm Workers Co-Founder Dolores Huerta, California Federation of Teachers, United Educators of San Francisco, Carpenters Local 22 and San Francisco Firefighters Local 798.

SEIU California Endorses Kamala Harris

rsumner — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:46:43 -0700

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California, a coalition of more than 700,000 working Californians, today announced its endorsement of Kamala Harris for Attorney General.

“I am deeply honored to earn the support of the men and women of SEIU California,” said Harris. “Through SEIU’s invaluable Walk-A-Day program, I met an incredible woman named Wendy Ko who has the emotionally and physically taxing job of providing round-the-clock care to her elderly mother. I have the greatest admiration for the work SEIU members do on a daily basis around our state, from home care workers like Wendy to the janitors, security officers, public employees and many others represented by SEIU. I look forward to working with SEIU members to fight the radical Republican attempts to roll back health care reform and standing side by side with SEIU on other issues of crucial importance to working people.”

“We looked for candidates who understand the importance of living up to our commitments to the elderly and people with disabilities. We need leaders who will fight to preserve the lifeline of quality home care for our parents, grandparents, and people with disabilities,” said Ana Duarte, Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU United Long-Term Care Workers (ULTCW), which represents 180,000 home care workers in California.

SEIU California is a coalition of over 700,000 janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees represented by SEIU local unions throughout California.

SEIU California joins labor leaders and organizations including United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, California Federation of Teachers and United Educators of San Francisco, Carpenters Local 22 and the San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 in supporting Harris for Attorney General.

Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

rsumner — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:42:36 -0700

Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel today announced her endorsement of Kamala Harris for California Attorney General.

"Kamala Harris understands that law enforcement is a critical part of reviving our economy in California," said City Controller Greuel. "Kamala is a battle-tested prosecutor who is rated as one of California and America's top prosecutors. Her lifelong commitment to fighting violent crime will help keep our children, homes and neighborhoods safe, and I am proud to endorse her to be the next Attorney General of California."

"Wendy Greuel is a trailblazer in her city and has a proven record as a problem solver in Los Angeles,” said Harris. “I am proud to have the City Controller’s support for my candidacy, and I look forward to working with her to make our communities safer."

Wendy Greuel was sworn in as City Controller of Los Angeles on July 1, 2009, the second woman to be elected to a citywide office in the City’s history. Prior to her election as City Controller, Greuel served on the Los Angeles City Council for seven years, where was known for cutting wasteful government spending and creating jobs.

Dem AG candidate Kamala Harris aims to get out front on AB32

bleubitz — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:15:19 -0700

In a move suggesting California's greenhouse gases bill will become a central issue in the 2010 elections, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris -- a Democratic candidate for State Attorney General -- will be the first statewide candidate to call Tuesday for all candidates in the race to defend AB32, the landmark measure.

Harris is appearing Tuesday alongside California League of Conservation Voters leaders in the wake evidence showing Texas oil companies are emerging the generous contributors behind efforts to gather signatures for an initiative which would suspend the landmark law.

Supporters of the initiative -- dubbed the "Valero Initiative" by critics -- have until the end of April to collect 433,000 signatures to get it on the ballot.

Republican Assemblyman Dan Logue was among the drivers of teh measure, when he called for efforts on the 2010 ballot to suspend the law, which he's criticized as a job-killer; he has said that California should block implementation of AB32 until the unemployment rate drops below 5.5 percent --- where it was at the beginning of 2008.

Already, both Republican gubernatorial candidates -- former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and State Insurance commissioner Steve Poizner -- have called for suspending AB32, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2006; Poizner has also indicated he's in support of the initiative effort.

Harris told The Chronicle Monday she's calling on AG candidates on both sides of aisle to "play a pivotal role in vigorously defending and enforcing AB 32" because it is a non-partisan issue.

"Leadership by a Republican governor put in place a law that makes California a leader in the country in prioritizing our environment and saying the best way to have a safe and healthy community is to address these emissions," she said. "And what we've got is a threat to that that could result in California's next governor -- and the next Attorney General -- playing a very key role to defend AB32."

Democratic strategist Steve Maviglio, who's working against the iniative efforts, says new reports show nearly 90 percent of the $1 million in funding being contributed to the initiative is from oil companies -- and 70 percent of the funding originates in Texas, including from Valero, which has donated $500,000.

So far, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association -- which doesn't make its donors public -- has also contributed $100,000, reports show.

But, as our friends at Calbuzz have reported at length, any efforts to undo AB32 carry with them a considerable political risk -- especially since Dems and independent voters back the measure.

Calbuzz Monday reported results from a February Fairbanks Maslin poll that found "after voters are read the Attorney General's title and summary for the measure to repeal AB32, they oppose it 46-37%" -- and their opposition is even stronger when they realize oil companies are behind it.

Harris doesn't mince words about that out-of-state funding pouring in to back the measure: "Californians have spoken about what they want for California -- and we'll take kindly to having Texas get out of it,'' she told us.

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

rsumner — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:22:04 -0700

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti today announced his endorsement of Kamala Harris for California Attorney General.

"District Attorney Kamala Harris has a proven record of innovation and success, demonstrating that the best way to keep our communities safe is to be both tough and smart on crime," said Garcetti. "As California Attorney General, Kamala Harris will help make Los Angeles and cities across the state safer, cracking down on violent crime, protecting Californians from financial fraud and internet predators, and making our state a better place to live."

"Councilmember Garcetti has been an effective and passionate leader in Los Angeles,” said Harris. "I'm honored to have Eric Garcetti's support for my candidacy, and I look forward to working with him to make our communities safer."

As the third-term councilmember serving the 13th Council District in Los Angeles, Garcetti has shown that a commitment to the street-level health of the community is a necessary first step in creating positive change. His unique combination of pothole politics and vision has won measurable results in the 13th District, showing how local solutions can show the way to make Los Angeles safer, create transportation solutions, and ease the city’s housing crisis.

Kimberly Emerson: Kamala Women's Day Festival

rsumner — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:52:54 -0700

Yesterday, under a blue, warm almost-Spring sky, a couple of hundred women, children, and yes, a handful of men, gathered at the Sony Studios backlot to support Kamala Harris, DA of San Francisco and the only woman of five Democratic candidates running for California Attorney General. It was more than a fundraiser, however. It was a celebration of Women's History month, of great women past and present, of women's ability to change their societies for the better, and of one woman's quest to do just that.

With the June 8 primary fast approaching, I appreciated the event, not only because I am a woman and enjoyed being celebrated, but because I witnessed how admirably Kamala is forging her run for the Golden State's top law enforcement position. Kamala gets out and shares with the people of California whom she is and what her plans are. She earns her support through her openness and accessibility, her thoughtful answers to hard questions, her experience and her vision.

Her ability to attract support across California was reflected in the diversity of yesterday's event. Out celebrating with her were actress Alfre Woodard, LA City Council President Eric Garcetti, all-girl step group "Ladies First Step," TV journalist and author Shaun Robinson, motivational speaker Panney Wei, talented performers from the Lulu Washington Dance Theatre, Cuban spoken word artist Gabriela Garcia Medina, singer Celeste Prince, youngsters from the Phillips Performing Arts Theater, and even renowned, farmworker activist, Dolores Huerta, who closed the event leading the crowding in "Si se puede!" ("Yes we can!"). It was as varied and inspirational as a political festival can get.

The message of yesterday, shaped in one form or another by the performers and speakers, was that Kamala is taking the reins of leadership, refusing to submit to the status quo when the status quo is not working, setting forth a vision and fulfilling it, and understanding that if we positively impact our children, we save them for life.

In her own words, Kamala declared that she is "dedicated to being smart and not dedicated to process and tradition." She believes we "cannot be deterred by the inability of some to imagine a better world."

She sees a direct connection between public safety and public education, and advocates taking on "the challenge of a bogged down criminal justice system that is sucking up public resources and that is not working." Being merely strong on crime is no longer successful. She declared that we must be "smart" on crime, and that we cannot look at the crime itself and throw the proverbial book at it. We must look at and address the source of the problem.

Ms. Wei called Kamala a "female warrior" who wants to change the face of American politics. Ms. Woodard said that with Kamala, California has a "chance to set a new way of solving problems... to redirect the way we do business." She believes that being a woman and a prosecutor informs Kamala's work and gives her different sensibilities than a man.

Shaun Robinson told me that Kamala is a "great role model" for young girls, and is particularly impressed with the initiatives Kamala has taken towards addressing domestic violence, and towards changing age-old attitudes that women who are victims of trafficking and abuse somehow deserve the consequences they are dealt (prison, murder, disease).

Finally, spoken word poet Gabriela Garcia Medina, seemed to encapsulate the mood of the day when she spoke about wanting to be "The World's Greatest Magician," not by making rabbits appear and disappear, but by being a "practical magician" who can bring "light in the midst of darkness," who wants to "cleanse our communities from heroin and crack," and who hopes to "spark the imagination of children, and remind grown ups that it's never too late to believe in magic."

The enthusiastic crowd, on a day when winter seemed to be melted by the warmth of Spring's new beginnings, seemed to believe that Kamala Harris has that magic.

California Legislative Black Caucus Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

rsumner — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:43:54 -0700

Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson (D-Alameda), Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), today announced that the CLBC has endorsed San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris’s candidacy to become California’s next Attorney General.

“The California Legislative Black Caucus is proud to announce its endorsement of District Attorney Kamala Harris. Ms. Harris is an innovator who has a record of success in protecting vulnerable populations from criminals who seek to prey upon them, including child populations that are currently being marginalized by the epidemic of human trafficking,” said Assemblymember Swanson. “As District Attorney, she has increased conviction rates dramatically in San Francisco, while at the same time launching creative reentry strategies to prevent re-offenders. We are truly fortunate to have District Attorney Kamala Harris offer her candidacy for service to the State of California.”

“I am honored to receive the support of the Legislative Black Caucus,” said Harris. “As Attorney General, I will be a champion for distressed homeowners, families whose neighborhoods are under siege, and for those seeking a cleaner environment. We will bring predatory lenders, polluters, and people who perpetrate financial frauds to justice. And we need to vigorously enforce California’s civil rights laws to ensure that all Californians have a meaningful opportunity to live, work and worship freely and without fear of discrimination. I look forward to working with the CLBC through the duration of this campaign and beyond to achieve our many common goals.”

In December 2003, Kamala Harris was elected as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco's history, and as the first African American woman to hold the office in California. If elected Attorney General, Kamala Harris would become the first African American woman elected to statewide constitutional office in California history.

Bill could ban predators from social sites

bleubitz — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:59:26 -0800

Eileen Frere - KABC-TV

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Orange County authorities are finding ways to keep predators away from social networking sites to keep children safe.

Authorities say that California has the highest population of registered sex offenders in the country and they hope that a new legislation will help protect children from online predators.

Authorities hope it will be the newest tool to keep sex offenders off of social networking websites.

"Our children go there as a place where they will make new friends. They go there to play, they do it from the safety of their own homes," said Kamala Harris, San Francisco District Attorney.

Police and legislative leaders are calling for the passage of the Child Cyber Safety Act. It comes in the wake of the arrest of Matthew Castaneda, a 33-year-old suspected child rapist. Police allege he met a 12-year-old girl on MySpace.com last month and lured her to an Anaheim motel near Disneyland where he assaulted her.

Studies show that one in five children who go on computer chatrooms have been approached over the internet by pedophiles. Most have never told their parents.

"Currently, there is no legislation to stop predators from preying on our children on the internet. We need to make it a crime," said Norma Torres, California Assembly Member.

If the legislation passes, it would make it a crime for registered sex offenders to go on social websites. Violators would face jail or prison time. Some, however, wonder how it can be enforced.

"Much of our strategy will be online posing as children to catch people," said Chief Paul Walters, Santa Ana Police. "We want to be as proactive as possible."

Sponsors of the bill admit it is still in its early stages but say it's a step in the right direction.

"When we open that laptop, we are opening the front door to our home for the world to come in. But let's shut the door to proven predators," said Harris.

The exact details on the penalties are still being worked on. But one assembly member who introduced the bill says violators could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Protect Children From Online Predators

rsumner — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:34:35 -0800

Assemblymember Torres and I are working to protect California's children. If you would like to support this legislation, please sign our petition at kamalaharris.org/SafeInternet. Together, we can work to make the Internet a safer place for our children.

In 1994, Megan Kanka's parents thought their 7-year-old daughter was safe. After all, they were raising her in a quiet New Jersey town.

Her parents, Richard and Maureen, could have never predicted that on July 29, 1994, the neighbor living across the street — who was, without their knowledge, a registered sex offender — would lure Megan Kanka into his home, where he would sexually assault and murder her.

In the wake of this horrific crime, it became clear that the laws were not strong enough to protect our children from registered sex offenders. In 1996, Megan's Law was enacted, requiring every state in the country to notify the public when sex offenders are residing in their area.

The time has come again for us to band together. We must protect our kids from registered sex offenders trying to "friend" them online. That is why we joined forces to introduce the Child Cyber Safety Act of 2010. This legislation would make it a crime for registered sex offenders in California to use a social networking Internet site. Period. If they do, they go back to jail.

Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo are incredibly popular. Since 2007, the number of users has doubled. Social networking sites provide a new venue for sex offenders to establish relationships with children they will later assault.

Children no longer just play in their front yard, local playground or schoolyard. Today's kids play online.

And sex offenders know it.

In November 2009, 12-year-old Jane Doe's parents thought she was safe. Instead, their daughter met a 33-year-old man on MySpace who lured their child to an Anaheim hotel and sexually assaulted her. That same year, the parents of 14-year-old John Doe of Pomona did not realize that their son was in danger online. Instead, their son met a 47-year-old man online who later pleaded guilty to sodomizing him.

And the parents of more than 80 victims in Riverside from ages 11 to 17 did not know that a 32-year-old man was using a social networking site to manipulate their children into sending him nude photographs of themselves.

As the law is currently written, the defendants in these cases, if convicted, will be required to register as sex offenders in California. However, once they've served their sentences, there is nothing stopping them from jumping right back online and using social networking sites to locate new victims.

The man who murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994 was similarly situated. Having served time for attacking a 5-year-old child and attempting to sexually assault a 7-year-old, nothing stopped this registered sex offender from living in anonymity, able to troll his neighborhood for child victims.

We are not interested in waiting until the next child is victimized. The Child Cyber Safety Act would make registered sex offenders trolling social networking sites a crime.

Other states such as New York and Connecticut have employed efforts to require sex offenders to register e-mail addresses with the state or notify the social networking sites of their status so those profiles can be purged. However, according to the National Criminal Intelligence Service, Internet pedophiles are becoming increasingly adept at employing counter -intelligence techniques to protect themselves. They register fake names, create multiple e-mail addresses and use technology in other ways to conceal their identity.

In California, the birthplace of the personal computer, we must stay ahead of the online predator. Let's pass the Child Cyber Safety Act to keep registered sex offenders from contacting our kids online.

KAMALA D. HARRIS is San Francisco"s district attorney and a candidate for state attorney general. NORMA TORRES (D-Paloma) represents the 61st District in the Assembly. They wrote this article for the San Jose Mercury News.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

rsumner — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:04:45 -0800

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom today announced his endorsement of Kamala Harris for California Attorney General.

"As District Attorney, Kamala Harris has been an effective and dedicated partner in San Francisco’s efforts to tackle school truancy, crack down on financial crimes, and combat human trafficking and child predators,” said Mayor Newsom. "Kamala Harris' innovative ‘smart on crime’ approach, with its record of success in our city, is exactly what California needs in our next Attorney General."

"Mayor Newsom has been an exceptional leader in San Francisco and many of his groundbreaking initiatives serve as a model for our state and nation," said Harris. "I’m honored to have Mayor Newsom's support for my candidacy, and I look forward to continuing our work together to make our city and state safer."

As San Francisco’s District Attorney, Harris has used her nearly 20 years of prosecutorial experience to focus intensively on fighting violent crime. She increased felony conviction rates, expanded services to victims of crime and their families, created new prosecution divisions focused on child assault, public integrity and environmental crimes, and launched innovative initiatives to prevent re-offending.

This work is paying off – the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has more than doubled its trial conviction rate for gun felonies to 90 percent. Under her leadership, the office has sent 70 percent more serious and violent offenders to State Prison. According to the State of California Department of Justice, the office’s overall felony conviction rate is at its highest point in nearly 15 years. Due to the success of her innovative crime-fighting initiatives, Harris recently participated in the White House Conference on Gang Violence Prevention and Crime Control.

California League of Conservation Voters Endorses Kamala Harris for California Attorney General

rsumner — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:35:15 -0800

The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) — the non-partisan political arm of the environmental movement in California — today announced its endorsement of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris in her campaign for California Attorney General.

"CLCV is proud to endorse Kamala Harris to become California’s next Attorney General,” said CLCV Chief Executive Officer Warner Chabot. “As District Attorney, Kamala Harris has a record of protecting the environment through tough enforcement of our state’s environmental laws. Harris created the first ever Environmental Justice Unit in the SFDA's office to hold polluters accountable and protect the health of the city’s residents. As Attorney General, Kamala Harris will vigorously defend and uphold the state’s groundbreaking environmental policies, actively enforce the law to ensure that our citizens have clean air and water, and continue to lead the fight against global climate change."

The SFDA's Environmental Justice Unit has prosecuted cases ranging from illegal dumping of hazardous waste to fraudulent smog test operations. Harris has participated in local, statewide and federal efforts to protect the environment, most recently sponsoring legislation authored by Assemblyman Jared Huffman (AB 708), signed into law by the Governor in 2009 and taking effect in 2010, which imposes substantial new penalties for poaching in California.

"I am honored to receive the endorsement of CLCV," said Harris. "I will be an Attorney General who believes in strong, effective enforcement of our state’s environmental laws. California has long been a leader on the issue of environmental protection, and I believe it is essential that our state’s next Attorney General continue to lead the nation in protecting our environment and our citizens."

About the California League of Conservation Voters

The political muscle of the environmental movement in America’s leading environmental state, the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) is the nation’s oldest grassroots environmental political action organization. CLCV uses sophisticated campaign tools to help elect pro-environment officials – and to hold them accountable for passing legislation to protect health, communities and the environment. CLCV publishes the annual California Environmental Scorecard, which rates the actions of every state legislator and the governor on the state’s environmental priorities each legislative year. For the results of the 36th annual California Environmental Scorecard, and for information on CLCV’s election priorities and endorsements, visit

www.ecovote.org.

Bill to Ban Social Networking for Sex Offenders

rsumner — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:00:07 -0800

Sex offenders in California would be barred from using social networking Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace under a proposed law aimed at making the Internet safer for children as more and more of them flock to the Web.

Citing horrific cases in which children were sexually assaulted by men they met online, Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Pomona (Los Angeles County) introduced the bill last month, which would make it a crime for Californian's 63,000 registered sex offenders to use any social networking site. The proposed law defines those as a Web site "designed with the intent of allowing users to build networks or connect with other people and that provides means for users to connect over the Internet."

Assembly Bill 2208 is similar to legislation passed last year in Illinois, but doesn't go quite as far as a New York state law that additionally requires sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses and online aliases with state authorities, who can then turn over the names to the companies that run the social networking sites. After the New York law passed, 3,500 sex offenders were purged from MySpace and Facebook by the Internet companies.

All of the laws depend to some extent on the assumption that sex offenders will police themselves.

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who is sponsoring the measure, acknowledged that the proposed law isn't a fail-safe measure, but said it will offer a deterrent to sex offenders who do not want to return to jail. Harris, who specialized in child sexual assault cases as a courtroom prosecutor, said it will also create more public awareness around the issue and give law enforcement another tool.

"The carrot is don't get on these sites, and the stick is we will prosecute you," said Harris, who is running for state attorney general. "In my experience, these types of predators are a slimy group and they don't want to go to jail, and what we're telling them is that if you go online and start chatting with my 12-year-old niece, you're going to jail."

The number of users on social networking sites has doubled since 2007, Torres said, and many of those users are children. She noted that just last month, a 33-year-old man lured a 12-year-old girl to a hotel in Anaheim, where she was sexually assaulted.

Facebook attorney Chris Kelly, another attorney general hopeful, said the law is a good first step but noted that it is often difficult for social networking sites to identify sex offenders without knowing how they identify themselves online.

"It's a good start," he said. "But it needs to be strengthened."

VIDEO: SF Indicts Alleged Leaders of BNT Gang

rsumner — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:37:26 -0800

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris's Office Indicts 10 Alleged Members of BNT Gang

[WATCH VIDEO]

San Francisco Chronicle, March 1, 2010.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco grand jury indicted 10 alleged members of a Bayview-Hunters Point gang that has been linked to three homicides, including the slaying of a man in July in front of his girlfriend, mother and his three children.

In announcing a 30-count indictment - which was handed down Thursday but sealed as police tried to arrest the suspects - District Attorney Kamala Harris said authorities had "decapitated" the gang, known as BNT.

"These folks thought that we were not going to remember what they did," Harris said.

According to police and prosecutors, 25 to 50 people are in the gang at any one time, ranging in age from 14 to about 25. The gang operates in an area along Third Street near Kirkwood Avenue, selling drugs to make money and intimidating foes through violence, authorities said.

Three of the defendants - Cecil Terrell, 23, Antoine Fowler, 25, and Clark Benson, 25 - were charged with murdering a one-time friend, 21-year-old Lloyd Randleston, on Oct. 13, 2006. After luring him to a secluded area and asking him if he had stolen a gun from the gang, Fowler shot Randleston, prosecutors said.

Brian Yang, 20, was charged with murdering Gregory Chapman, a 46-year-old bus driver, during a robbery in 2008. Yang's fingerprint was allegedly found on the victim's sunglasses.

The case that pushed authorities toward convening a grand jury was the killing of 28-year-old Delvon Fields on July 16 as he drove with his family near Third Street.

According to prosecutors, 22-year-old London Shaw shot him. Shaw was indicted for murder along with Missy Davis, 20, who is accused of driving a rented getaway car.

Police Officer Len Broberg, who led the investigation of BNT, recalled arriving at the scene of Fields' slaying to find the victim's 6-year-old son crying.

"He kept talking about how he had to watch his daddy die," Broberg said. "These guys have been acting with impunity. Each time they get away with something, they get emboldened."

Police arrested five people, including Shaw, soon after Fields was killed. But prosecutors with Harris' office declined to file charges, citing insufficient evidence.

The next month, investigators launched the wider probe into the gang, which led to 77 witnesses testifying in front of the grand jury over three months.

Shaw did not have to be arrested after the indictment. He is in custody in Sacramento, where authorities say he and another BNT member fatally shot a 26-year-old man in June - using the same gun that killed Fields.

Also charged in the indictment were Cyril Hanna, 22; Julius Rhodes, 19; James Talley, 22; and 24-year-old Thomas Sims III. Charges against them include robbery, drug dealing and conspiracy.

Police said Hanna and Davis remain at large, with most of the others scheduled to make a first court appearance Tuesday.

EMILY’s List endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:57:43 -0800

EMILY’s List, one of the nation’s largest political action committees with more than 100,000 members, today announced its endorsement of District Attorney Kamala Harris’ candidacy for California Attorney General.

“Over the last two and a half decades, EMILY’s List has helped elect dozens of highly qualified women candidates in California at all levels of public office,” said Harris. “I am honored to have EMILY’s List by my side in this campaign to bring a smart on crime approach to California’s justice system.”

Since its founding in 1985, EMILY’s List has played an active role in many California elections, helping to elect the state’s two U.S. Senators, 21 Congresswomen and 39 women to state and local office.

In December 2003, Kamala Harris was elected as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco's history, and as the first African American woman and South Asian American woman in California to hold the office. If elected Attorney General, Kamala Harris would become only the sixth woman elected to statewide constitutional office in California history.

EMILY’s List joins other prominent local, statewide and national women’s organizations in supporting Harris’ candidacy, including Black Women Organized for Political Action, CALIFORNIA List, Los Angeles Women’s Political Committee, National Women’s Political Caucus, San Francisco Women’s Political Committee, and Women’s Campaign Forum.

Getting African American Children Back in School Before It’s Too Late

rsumner — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:22:51 -0800

Many of the landmark battles of our Civil Rights Movement hinged on the right to an education.

We all remember the images — the Little Rock Nine escorted to school by federal troops, or a deadly firefight between U.S. Marshals, soldiers and rioting segregationists intent on blocking James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi.

Adults and children lost their lives so that African American students could enter America’s school houses. Under the law, our battle was won. But today, in many respects, we are losing the war.

African American children are dropping out of school at alarming rates, with nearly half failing to finish high school. The pattern starts young and begins with chronic school absences. Many urban school districts across the country report that literally thousands of students are absent without an excuse each day. Often, more than 40 percent of these missing students are in elementary school.

In San Francisco, African Americans make up just 11 percent of the public school population, but account for nearly 40 percent of truant students. A study of African American third-graders in Philadelphia revealed that 39 percent had missed 25 days or more compared to 19 percent of white students. Nearly 60 percent of the children at the Minneapolis Truancy Center are African American, while they comprise a little more than 30 percent of the total student population.

So what does it mean that so many of our young African American children are not in school? It means they fall behind, and they fall through the cracks. Elementary school children who skip class today become tomorrow’s high school truants, juvenile delinquents and dropouts. Dropouts are those most likely to have poor health, be unemployed or work at low-paying jobs, and are more likely to end up on the streets as victims or perpetrators of crime.

The statistics speak volumes. In California, three-fourths of prison inmates are high school dropouts. In San Francisco, more than 94 percent of all homicide victims under the age of 25 are high school dropouts.

When it comes to giving our children a chance, we can either pay attention to the signs of trouble now, or we can pay the price later. The early signs of trouble are clear.

In 2007, the National Center for Children in Poverty issued a study finding that elementary school children who miss 10 percent or more days in a given school year are the most likely to have lower academic performance and risk permanently falling behind in subsequent school years. I believe that 10 percent or more is a “tipping point.”

Children who miss less than 10 percent have a chance to recover, while children who miss more than 10 percent begin to permanently fall off.

As a community, we need to do everything possible to identify children who have reached the tipping point and demand action to get these children back on track. We cannot afford to simply wring our hands. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and do the work necessary to make sure our children get to school and get the education they deserve — the education for which those who came before us fought and died.

After I was elected district attorney for San Francisco, I learned that 44 percent of the truant students were in elementary school. I decided to partner with the San Francisco Unified School District to combat elementary school truancy. Every fall, I sent a letter to all parents informing them that truancy is against the law and that I will enforce the law.

During the school year, prosecutors from my office hold mediations with parents and truant students at schools to equip them with services to improve their children’s attendance.

In most cases, attendance improves. But when it doesn’t, my office prosecutes parents in a specialized Truancy Court that combines court monitoring with tailored family services. We have service providers on hand to help resolve underlying issues such as unstable housing, substance abuse, mental health issues or unresolved special education needs.

Our strategy has worked. In the last year alone, truancy among elementary school students in San Francisco dropped by 20 percent.

The students in our Truancy Initiative are getting needed services, and they are back in school. While we ultimately don’t know what these young students will choose to do with their lives, we do know that now they have a chance.

It is up to us to get our children in school. We know what happens when they are not there. Let’s call on our locally- and state-elected leaders to recognize that the children in a community should be thought of as the children of us all.

We must recognize the tipping point and intervene early — before it’s too late.

The Mortgage Crisis is Not Colorblind

rsumner — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:37:44 -0800

Ask anyone to define the "American Dream" and almost surely, the reply will be: "owning a home." And for good reason - a home is equal parts family sanctuary and financial cornerstone. But for too many African-Americans, that part of the American Dream is still that - just a dream. And the recent mortgage crisis has made matters worse. But as we respond to today's headlines, I urge you to not forget yesterday's lessons.

Some basic numbers tell a familiar story: African-Americans own fewer homes than other Americans, and those homes generally have lower average value. This is, in part, the difficult arithmetic of our history. African-American communities have historically been poorer and more marginalized, meaning that securing competitive loans or even having access to major banks has been difficult.

Past is often prologue, and the housing market is no exception. In recent years, African-American communities have been deeply exposed to subprime and other risky mortgage products. Subprime and other mortgages that are associated with high default rates are often more common in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. And, although determining who gets what loan, and on what terms, is a complicated affair, recent reports have suggested that, even when income and other traditional credit criteria are similar, African-American borrowers are likely to pay higher rates for riskier loans than other groups.

And so, when the mortgage market collapsed, African-American homeownership went with it. Between 2004 and 2007 - the beginning of the mortgage meltdown - rates of African-American homeownership declined faster than for any other group. And it might get worse still, as African-Americans are less and less likely to even apply for a mortgage - applications from African-American borrowers fell by more than a third from 2006 to 2007.

To top it all off, the crisis has brought with it new forms of exploitation, including mortgage fraud and other schemes targeting vulnerable homeowners. Reports of mortgage fraud have risen steeply across the nation, as have criminal investigations into these crimes. In one common scenario that my office has increasingly seen in California, so-called "loss mitigation" companies promise to help distressed homeowners for an upfront fee that is sometimes in the thousands of dollars. Once paid, these firms do little or nothing, allow the loan to fall further behind, and walk away when banks foreclose on the home. For these fraudsters and others like them, African-American communities, where subprime and other high-priced or risky mortgages are more common, present major targets.

These crimes must not be tolerated. We must act, and government at all levels is responding. In May 2009, President Obama signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act into law, including a plan to provide free assistance to millions of distressed homeowners. By December, more than 650,000 homeowners had lowered their monthly
payments by securing a mortgage modification with help from the Administration's Making Home Affordable program. In California, authorities at the state and local levels are putting in place programs to crack down on mortgage fraud and support distressed
homeowners.

My office in San Francisco has established a new Mortgage and Investment Fraud Unit to target the middle men who play a central role in the fraud industry: the local lenders, real estate brokers, loan consultants and investment advisors who facilitate fraud against hundreds of people in our city. As a district attorney, I can act - I am acting - to combat fraud and exploitation of distressed homeowners. As an elected official, I must - we all must - keep the lessons of history alive.

February is Black History Month, when we celebrate our struggle, our achievements, our contributions to the world. But it is also a time when we can recognize our challenges. African-Americans own fewer homes with less value, and we often pay more to get them, and more to keep them. Until we lay a stronger foundation for sustained, and sustainable, growth in African-American homeownership, our communities will remain dangerously exposed to the next crisis. This must be our work. We have been dreaming long enough.

Book 'Em: Smart on Crime - Crimesider - CBS News

rsumner — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:05:14 -0800

NEW YORK (CBS) How can we break the cycle of crime that is filling our prisons to capacity year after year with the same prisoners?

In her new book Smart on Crime, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris takes on one of society’s most pressing issues: reforming our broken criminal justice system.

Smart on Crime challenges basic assumptions and proposes unconventional ways to fight crime:
- Break the Cycle: Harris says corrections institutions are failing their mission -- prisoners are leaving the system as increasingly hardened criminals, not rehabilitated citizens. She lays out the program she pioneered for first-time offenders, mixing tough love with job training to straighten out young lives.

- Start in First Grade: Thousands of children are chronically truant starting as early as the first grade, says Harris. She shows how law enforcement crackdowns on parents of truant children keep kids out of jail in the long term.

- Treat Children for PTSD: Harris argues that children with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder should be treated clinically. Without treatment, children who grow up surrounded by violence are likely to commit crimes themselves.

- High-Tech Policing: Harris explains how cutting-edge technologies, like “shot spotters” which can quickly identify the precise location of gunfire, license plate scanning equipment, and the GPS, can enhance the capabilities of law enforcement.

Harris offers a Freakanomics-like examination of our criminal justice system, and delivers a comprehensive agenda for social and economic change—while making the case for the transformative impact that comes from being Smart on Crime.

Interview with Kamala Harris by Barry Leibowitz, Senior Writer at 48 Hours | Mystery

What’s the biggest misconception Americans have about how to fight crime?

Harris: First off, this book is predicated on one main premise, which is that all Americans have the right to live in safe communities. Having spent nearly two decades as a courtroom prosecutor, I know that it simply is not enough to just talk tough about crime. I want us to be “smart on crime.” That means in order to make our communities safer, we have to take a strategic approach to changing the status quo, because our current system is failing all of us. In the book, I first address some of the myths and outdated approaches that I believe are failing. In the second half of the book, I outline the ways in which I believe we can chart a new course for tackling these long-standing problems.

Some of the biggest misconceptions that I address in the book have to do with the approach we as law enforcement take in order to protect the public. Fighting crime requires both enforcement and prevention. One approach does not exclude the other. If there is one lesson to be learned from the public health model, it is that prevention is the most effective and least costly way to stop any epidemic.

Without question, when a crime has been committed, we must respond and offenders must be held accountable. But if we want to address the overall problem of crime, and not just respond to individual cases and incidents of violence, we need to be more than reactive. We need to be proactive in stopping crime before it starts.

If you could change one thing about our criminal justice system, what would it be?

Harris: In California, one of the most serious challenges that we as law enforcement leaders face is our rate of recidivism, or re-offense, which is the highest in the nation. Within three years of being released from prison, 70 percent of offenders will end up behind bars again. If we can stop the revolving door that currently just cycles criminals in and out of prison, California can set the standard for public safety in America. In order to achieve this, however, we have to move past the false choice of being either “tough” or “soft” on crime.

I believe that it is time to instead get smart on crime, and recognize that the overwhelming majority of offenders will serve their time and return to the very same communities where they originally offended. If we don’t invest the time and resources needed to make sure that prisoners’ return to society is productive, we will continue to pay in terms of diminished public safety and wasted resources.

Why should people care about non-violent crime, when violent crime, including murder, is more devastating?

Harris: I am frequently asked that question, so let me start by saying this: as a career prosecutor, I believe those who commit serious and violent crimes should face swift and certain justice. I have personally tried some of the most horrific cases imaginable, and secured convictions that have sent some of the worst criminals to spend the rest of their days behind bars.

We must also recognize that “crime” is not monolithic. I have found that the “crime pyramid” is an effective way to visualize the totality of crimes committed in our society, and an effective way to communicate about how we can best fight crime. Visualizing this pyramid, at the top are the very worst crimes: murder, rape, violent assaults, crimes that rightly command our attention. While these crimes are so horrific and threatening, they form the very top of the pyramid because they constitute the minority of crimes – as only one fourth of all offenders sentenced to prison are violent offenders.

One of the main reasons we haven’t been able to effectively prevent nonviolent crime is that we have been using only the tools best suited to combating the offenders at the top of the pyramid. For several decades, the passage of tough laws and long sentences has created an illusion in the public’s mind that public safety is best served when we treat all offenders the same way: arrest, convict, imprison, parole, and hope they learn their lesson. But the numbers paint the true story, which is that most nonviolent offenders are learning the wrong lesson, and in many cases, they are becoming more hard¬ened criminals.

What do you tell critics who think trying to transform criminals into responsible citizens means you’re “soft on crime”?

Harris: Getting smart on crime does not mean reducing sentences or punishments for crimes. Being smart on crime means using the time and resources we now spend on offenders more productively to reduce their odds of re-offending.

For decades we have spent billions of dollars on ineffective solutions that have not improved public safety. I believe that especially in these tough economic times, it is critical that we evaluate the cost of action versus the cost of inaction. I strongly believe that for serious and violent criminals, we absolutely must hold them accountable for their crimes and send them to prison. But as I discuss in the book, we must take a smarter approach when it comes to combating nonviolent crime. And it is also essential that when we look at investing in innovative ways to fight crime before it occurs, we must weigh the short-term costs of action versus the long-term costs of inaction.

Is there any evidence your “Smart on Crime” approach works?

Harris: Absolutely, and I am proud of the successes we have had in San Francisco. Since I took office in 2004, we’ve raised the felony conviction rate to its highest level in 15 years. We’re winning convictions and making sure that offenders are held accountable. Roughly twice as many people were sentenced to state prison in 2008, compared to 2003. By creating a gun specialist team we’ve been able to achieve great success in felony gun trials, doubling the conviction rate from a little over 40 percent in 2003 to more than 90 percent.

Our innovative efforts to close the revolving door that cycles criminals in and out of the system – with an emphasis on first-time, non-violent low level drug offenders – have also achieved remarkable results. Police and prosecutors are deluged with low-level drug cases, and the public spends billions on prisons to warehouse these offenders. And, every year, prisons release hundreds of thousands of these offenders back into our communities. They have no plan, no skills, nowhere to go, and they pick up right where they left off.

That is why in 2005, I created an initiative called Back On Track. Back on Track is a reentry initiative designed to redirect young people who are mostly in their early 20’s, have no prior criminal records and were caught for low-level drug offenses. None of their cases involves gangs, guns, or weapons.

We give them a choice: they can go through a tough, year-long program that will require them to get educated, stay employed, be responsible parents, drug test, and transition to a crime-free life, or they can go to jail. Those who choose Back On Track plead guilty to their crime, and their jail sentence is deferred while they appear before a judge every two weeks for at least a year. They must obtain a high-school-equivalency diploma and hold down a steady job. Fathers need to get and stay in good standing on their child-support payments, and everyone has to take parenting classes. For people who hit all of these milestones, the felony charge is going to be cleared from their records.

The results speak for the wisdom of investing in reentry programs. For this population, the recidivism re-offense rate is above 50 percent. Four years into this initiative, recidivism has been less than 10 percent among Back On Track graduates. And the program costs only $5,000 per person, compared to over $40,000 a year for county jail. That saves our city roughly $1 million per year in jail costs alone. When you add in the total expense of criminal prosecutions to taxpayers, including court costs, public defenders, state prison, and probation, the savings are closer to $2 million. And we cannot even begin to quantify the value of these individuals’ future productivity, taxes and child support payments, or the brightened prospects for their children.

That is why both Governor Schwarzenegger and the US Department of Justice have recognized Back on Track as a model for both our state and nation.

Is there something the average citizen should do to help reduce crime?

Harris: There are a number of ways citizens can help reduce crime. First, citizens must protect and look out for one another. You should view yourselves as partners with law enforcement, helping with neighborhood safety efforts; supporting local organizations that fight domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse; coming forward to help police if you witness a crime. Being active in your own communities also means asking your leaders – law enforcement leaders, elected officials, policymakers, or otherwise: “what is your plan to prevent crime and break the cycles of crime?” – and then working together to forge solutions to longstanding problems.

What question should Crimesider have asked you that we didn’t … and what’s the answer?

Harris: A question I’m often asked is, “Why on earth would a District Attorney take on the issue of school truancy?” The answer is straightforward: I believe there is a direct connection between public safety and education. When I learned that more than 2,400 San Francisco elementary school children had missed as many as 80 days of a 180-day school year, I knew we were facing a school truancy crisis that had to be addressed.

There is a reason that we have compulsory education laws. As a product of California’s public schools, I believe that a child going without an education is tantamount to a crime. Two-thirds of inmates in our prisons were high school dropouts. Our children are being educated on the streets instead of in a classroom. Here’s what we did: we began by putting parents on notice, and then prosecuting those who failed to avail themselves of the offered services that would enable them to get their children back in school on a regular basis. Since we started this initiative with the San Francisco Unified School District four years ago, attendance among elementary school students has improved an average of 20 percent.

This is the type of smart on crime approach that can, and should, be adopted around the state and nation.

__________________________

_________
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About the Author

Kamala D. Harris was elected San Francisco’s District Attorney in 2003 and ran unopposed for reelection in 2007. She was born in Oakland, California, where she began her career as a prosecutor. Harris attended Howard University, and then the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She has been featured on the Oprah Show and in Newsweek as one of “America’s 20 Most Powerful Women.” In both 2004 and 2008, she helped develop the Democratic Party’s national platform for criminal justice. Harris served as co-chair of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in California.

VIDEO: Discussing Human Trafficking at the Commonwealth Club

rsumner — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:26:58 -0800

A few weeks ago, I discussed human trafficking at the Commonwealth Club, and what we are doing in San Francisco to fight it. Watch the video here.

You can watch more videos at the official campaign YouTube channel.

San Francisco DA Accuses Doctor of Fraud

rsumner — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:33:30 -0800

Prosecutors today charged a 66-year-old San Francisco man with 51 felony counts for allegedly practicing medicine without a license and defrauding dozens of patients out of about $75,000.

Timothy Syed Andersson, also known as "Dr. Syed," was arrested Tuesday, according to the district attorney's office.

District Attorney Kamala Harris said today that Andersson represented himself as a dermatologist and maintained a practice out of his home office in the Sunset District, where he allegedly treated patients for a variety of skin conditions with injections of unknown substances.

Harris said Andersson, who immigrated to the United States from Sweden but was originally from Pakistan, is not licensed to practice medicine in California or anywhere in the country. She accused him of "preying" on the city's South Asian immigrant community.

Harris' office has had contact with 38 alleged victims, including eight children, who were charged between $1,000 and $5,000 for treatment by Andersson, she said.

"By masquerading as a doctor and treating patients, the defendant betrayed those persons who trusted him to take care of them in their time of need," Harris said.

Andersson appeared in San Francisco Superior Court this morning but delayed entering a plea to 27 counts of practicing medicine without a license, 23 counts of grand theft and one count of perjury. Bail was set at $1 million and he remains in custody.

Andersson allegedly said he worked at the University of California at San Francisco and at Stanford University, and claimed he had authored several medical papers, according to Harris.

Harris also claimed that Andersson doctored photographs of celebrities such as Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Hurley to include himself in the pictures.

Andersson also used the name Tanweer Ahmad Syed and, as "Dr. Syed," advertised his services on Indian radio stations and the Internet, according to the district attorney's office.

"We will be looking for and we will track down people who prey on anyone in our community," Harris said. She advised patients to check their doctor's credentials by visiting the Web site of the Medical Board of California at www.mbc.ca.gov or by calling (916) 263-2382.

Among the alleged practices Andersson is accused of are using a syringe to draw blood from a female patient's legs to treat varicose veins; diagnosing several patients, including a 13-year-old child, with cancer; and repeatedly injecting patients with unknown substances.

Harris said none of the patients was seriously injured, but some required corrective surgery.

Andersson's trademark product, Syed Hypo-Allergenic Facial Cream, advertised on his Web site for $125 a jar, advertises ingredients such as green tea and seaweed extracts to combat the effects of aging.

Harris today called the product "a bunch of BS."

Andersson's attorney was in trial and not immediately available for comment today, according to his office.

Video Source: ABC News

TheGrio's 100: Kamala Harris, the future of California politics

bleubitz — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:36:17 -0800

By Donna M Owens

In 2003, San Francisco voters elected Kamala Harris to be the city's first female District Attorney. Overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term, Harris is now aiming for higher office: California Attorney General in 2010.

It's a natural progression for Harris, 45, a California native born to an Indian mother and Jamaican-American father. Harris attended Howard University, and then received a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. After graduating, Harris joined the Alameda County DA's office, where she focused on prosecuting child sexual assault cases. She went on to serve in the San Francisco DA's office, where she focused on fighting violent crime.

In her current role, Harris has increased conviction rates for serious and violent offenses, expanded services to victims and their families, and created new divisions in areas like child assault, public integrity and environmental crimes.

Harris has brought innovation to the office, too. This includes programs to help ex-offenders re-enter society and a team to implement tough gun charging policies. She's also launched outreach programs in local communities, and brought free legal clinics into immigrant-heavy neighborhoods.

The efforts seem to paying off: the DA's office says it has more than doubled trial conviction rates for gun felonies; put some 200 gang members behind bars, and convicted more than 1,200 domestic violence offenders.

Harris is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Black Prosecutors Association in 2005. She's also been featured on Oprah, and alongside the media magnate when Newsweek featured 20 of America's most powerful women in 2006.

An early Obama supporter, Harris was invited to speak at the White House in August. In another vote of confidence The New York Times cited her among 17 women likely to become the first female president of the United States.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PROFILES ON ALL OF THEGRIO'S 100

Smart on Crime Book Reception

bleubitz — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:27:41 -0800

Join us for a book reception in honor of the publication of Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer

Date: Thursday, February 11, 2010

Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Location: Eso Won Bookstore,4311 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

View Google Map

Refreshments will be served
Please RSVP to EsoWon@kamalaharris.org

California Federation of Teachers Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

rsumner — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:09:23 -0800

CFT Joins former CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin in backing Harris’ candidacy.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Federation of Teachers, which represents 120,000 faculty and other school employees in public and private schools and colleges, from early childhood through higher education, today announced its endorsement of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris’ candidacy for California Attorney General.

"There is a direct connection between public safety and public education, and I believe that California’s Attorney General can use her office to keep our streets safe by injecting innovative ideas into our justice system,” said Harris. “I am honored to earn the endorsement of CFT, and I look forward to working with CFT’s members to protect public education and public safety as California Attorney General."

CFT joins former California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin in endorsing Harris’ candidacy.

In 2007, Harris launched a citywide anti-truancy campaign focused on elementary school kids. After learning that nearly half of all of the chronically truant school kids in San Francisco were in elementary school, Harris sent letters to every parent in the district calling attention to the situation, held truancy mediation sessions with parents and began filing charges against parents who still failed to get their kids in school. The result: elementary schools improved their attendance rate the following year by an average of 20%, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, as "citywide efforts, including parental prosecution, appeared to be paying off."

SF launches anti-human trafficking coalition

rsumner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:25:05 -0800

City agencies and nonprofits have joined forces to fight human trafficking in San Francisco, launching Monday a coalition to raise awareness of the issue, develop policy to fight it and support its survivors.

Several factors combine to make San Francisco a hub of human trafficking, Mayor Gavin Newsom said. The city is a gateway for immigrants, a tourist destination and a place known for tolerance—all characteristics that feed and camouflage the problem.

"These women are forced to do what they are doing," Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, said of women found working in brothels disguised as massage parlors. "When you talk to them, they're frightened, they don't speak English well. Sometimes they are not even sure which city they are in."

Human trafficking involves forcing victims into prostitution or other exploitative labor for little or no pay, often keeping them isolated, confiscating travel documents or threatening them with violence.

The San Francisco Coalition Against Human Trafficking will allow city officials and community organizations to step up law enforcement and develop culturally competent outreach to victims.

Newsom and District Attorney Kamala Harris have been strong proponents of anti-trafficking measures. With law enforcement support, 36 massage parlors which were fronts for prostitution have been shut in the last three years, Newsom said.

Yee said he would be introducing a bill allowing seizure of property and assets of those found guilty of trafficking. Harris called for passage of a bill which would make it easier to prosecute child trafficking cases.

San Francisco's effort was reinforced Monday by the announcement of a $2.7 million grant from the California Emergency Management Agency to fight trafficking on the state level. The funds would create two new regional task forces and help support the six already in operation over the next three years.

The agency estimates California is among the top states for human trafficking.

VIDEO: Interview with KQED

rsumner — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:37:53 -0800

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris joins KQED to discuss solutions to crime, proposed in her new book, "Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safe." Watch the video here.

No felon should have body armor

bleubitz — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:24:42 -0800

A California appeals court on Dec. 17 struck down our state's ban on violent felons possessing body armor. The court said that law was too confusing for the average violent felon to follow. Specifically, defendant Ethan Saleem, on parole for manslaughter and wearing a 10-pound bulletproof vest, couldn't be expected to know whether his particular brand of body armor was illegal or not.

Let's be very clear: The only reason a violent felon would need body armor is if he or she expects to get shot or intends to shoot someone else. This court has stripped peace officers of a vital, and frankly basic, protection from violent felons like Saleem. Such protection was why the law was enacted in the first place.

In 1994, protected by full body armor, Victor Boutwell, a heavily armed carjacking suspect, killed San Francisco police Officer James Guelff and wounded another officer in a horrific gunbattle that lasted 32 minutes. Boutwell's full body armor allowed him to fend off 120 armed police officers before ultimately being killed by a San Francisco police sniper.

Less than three years later, in North Hollywood, two bank robbers clothed themselves from head to toe in homemade body armor and engaged in an infamous hourlong gunbattle with 350 members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The police officers' bullets literally bounced off the armored gunmen, and 11 LAPD officers and at least seven civilians were wounded in the shootout.

Following these two terrible tragedies, the Legislature passed the James Guelff Body Armor Act of 1998, a prohibition on violent felons possessing body armor. Sadly, in just a few keystrokes, the courts have undone a basic protection provided to police for 11 years.

Unfortunately, the streets of California have not gotten any friendlier for police officers since 1998. At a November summit of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police agencies, 50 percent of 166 police departments surveyed reported an increase in criminals using large-caliber handguns. Local police across the nation also reported that 37 percent have seen an increase in the use of assault weapons.

It is absolutely imperative that we undo this court's misguided decision and restore this important public policy. But we shouldn't stop there. There is exactly one type of body armor any felon should be able to own: none.

The recently struck-down law prohibited only certain violent felons from owning body armor. Drug dealers, people convicted of domestic violence and other felons were still free to own body armor. Felons can't own guns, and they can't own ammunition. They certainly shouldn't be able to shield themselves with body armor.

Since 1973, there have been nearly 3,000 incidents where police officers' lives were saved as a direct result of wearing body armor. Body armor serves one legitimate purpose: to protect the individuals who risk their lives to protect the public.

The law enforcement community banded together to call on the state attorney general's office to appeal this dangerous decision and, on Dec. 29, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said the state will take the case to the state Supreme Court. Now we need the courts and our leaders in Sacramento to show the same mettle.

The high court must overturn this lower-court ruling, and lawmakers must put forward legislation that not only clarifies but also strengthens the law. The ban on body armor should apply to all felons, not just violent felons. There should be no doubt that the safety of the men and women who patrol our streets comes above that of convicted felons.

Kamala D. Harris is the district attorney and George Gascón is the police chief of San Francisco.

Safety Tips for Holiday Travelers and Visitors

bleubitz — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:09:39 -0800

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- This is the time of the year where police normally see a higher rate of identity theft, and San Francisco officials are providing some safety tips for travelers.

"What we know during the holidays in particular is that we see that people are more vulnerable and so for that reason, there's a spike," said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris.

The holiday season is a time when people are more vulnerable because they are making more purchases and generally out more.

Harris said if you are planning to be away for the holidays, you should secure your mail.

"Arranging that the mail will be held by the post office and or at the very least, making sure that your mailbox is capable of being locked and will remain locked while you're away," said Harris.

And if you become a victim of identity theft, San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon said you have to report the crime.

"Start contacting all those institutions that you're dealing with where someone using your identity could actually impact your credit rating, could start getting into your bank account, into your credit account," Gascon said.

One tip: xerox the front and back of your ID and credit card for safekeeping.

KCBS’ Margie Shafer Reports

Announcing the Launch of myKamala 1.0!

rsumner — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:05:03 -0800

Today, we have officially launched myKamala.org to give our activists and supporters a place to organize and collaborate.

Spread the word about an event, share pictures and videos with fellow supporters, join an action group for Kamala, or form a new group focused on the issues that matter most to you.

Join in today at myKamala.org!

Secretary Norman Mineta Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:22:17 -0800

Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, who represented San Jose in Congress for over twenty years and served in the Cabinets of both Democratic and Republican presidents, today announced that he is supporting San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris for California Attorney General.

The need for political leadership that is at once visionary and practical, courageous and steady, innovative and experienced is crucial,” said Secretary Mineta, whose statement of support can be viewed in its entirety below. “I urge that voters of all philosophies, of various ideological stripes, partisan affiliation, and ethnic backgrounds pay careful attention to Kamala Harris’ record of accomplishment and her dedication to the pursuit of both order and justice. For those reasons, and others, I am happy and honored to lend my support to Kamala Harris in her campaign to become the state’s next Attorney General.”

“I am grateful to have earned the support of Secretary Mineta, an accomplished leader in our state and nation who has committed his life to public service,” said Harris. “I look forward to having Secretary Mineta by my side in this campaign.”

Norman Mineta served in Congress for over twenty years and in the Cabinets of President Bill Clinton as Secretary of Commerce and President George W. Bush as Secretary of Transportation. For almost thirty years, Mineta represented San Jose, California, first on the City Council, then as Mayor, and then from 1975 to 1995 as a Member of Congress.

Among his numerous accomplishments, Secretary Mineta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the US, and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, awarded for significant pubilc service of enduring value to aviation in the United States. While in Congress, he was the co-founder of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Chair of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission in 1999. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.

For more information on Harris, please visit www.KamalaHarris.org.

###

Statement by the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta

Endorsing Kamala Harris for Attorney General of California

December 10, 2009

California stands at a critical crossroads as we head toward the 2010 statewide elections. Perhaps not in my lifetime have the stakes been higher than they are today. The need for political leadership that is at once visionary and practical, courageous and steady, innovative and experienced is crucial. For those reasons, and others, I am happy and honored to lend my support to Kamala Harris in her campaign to become the state’s next Attorney General.

Kamala’s life story, which will become familiar to Californians over the course of the next several months, is an inspiration to us all – particularly to those of us in the Asian American community who share Kamala’s heritage, whose own parents came to this country in order to seek opportunity and gain a better life:

§ In December 2003, Kamala Harris was elected as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco's history, and as the first African American woman in California to hold the office. She was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term in November 2007. She has been a tough and capable prosecutor for over twenty years.

§ Kamala was born in Oakland, California and raised with her sister Maya in the East Bay by their mother Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer specialist. After attending public schools, her strong commitment to justice and public service led her to Howard University, America’s oldest historically black university, and then to the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

§ Kamala has spent her entire professional life in the trenches as a courtroom prosecutor. Her first job was in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, where she specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases. As a Deputy District Attorney she also prosecuted cases for homicide and robbery. She worked at that office from 1990 to 1998 before going on to serve in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

§ In 1998, Kamala Harris was named managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted three strikes cases and serial felony offenders. She then served as the head of the San Francisco City Attorney’s Division on Families and Children.

§ As San Francisco’s District Attorney, Kamala Harris has focused on fighting violent crime. She has increased conviction rates for serious and violent offenses, expanded services to victims of crime and their families, created new prosecution divisions focused on child assault, public integrity and environmental crimes.

I know Kamala Harris as a committed public servant, I know her wonderful and impressive family, and I know her as a friend. She is exactly the kind of person---and will be the kind of elected leader---that our state of California needs so desperately at this crucial time. I urge that voters of all philosophies, of various ideological stripes, partisan affiliation, and ethnic backgrounds pay careful attention to Kamala Harris’ record of accomplishment and her dedication to the pursuit of both order and justice. When they do I have total confidence that they will vote for Kamala Harris to be California’s next Attorney General.

VIDEO: Let's Get Smart On Crime

bleubitz — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:59:08 -0800

A discussion of Smart On Crime, and how we can achieve better results. Watch the video here.

You can watch more videos at the official campaign YouTube channel.

San Francisco D.A. put truants on the most-wanted list

rsumner — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:09:00 -0800

If elected California Attorney General next year, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris wants to make truancy in the public schools a very big deal.

Harris, a two-term D.A. and a front-runner in the Democratic primary for the state’s top law officer, helped engineer an impressive 23 percent drop in truancy among elementary students in the San Francisco School District in the past year. She’s taking aim now at the older kids and already showing some signs of success.

And, if voters bring her to Sacramento, she has designs on taking the truancy program statewide.

“What we simply did was put the bright, infrared light of public safety and law enforcement on the fact that these children are not in school,” Harris said in an interview with Cabinet Report. “There’s a very direct connection between the elementary school truant and the high school dropout and the victim of crime and the perpetrator of crime.”

Citing a recent study from the University of California, Santa Barbara, she noted the direct cost to state’s juvenile justice system from dropouts is $1.1 billion annually. She said the expense exceeds $20 billion a year when related costs from health care and social services are included – and that doesn’t count the cost to the state’s future workforce and the California economy.

“It is all of those costs,” she said. “None of which have anything to do solely with caring about a child. It has to do with thinking about how we can be more effective and efficient in a state that is on the verge of bankruptcy.”

The initiative in San Francisco started about four years ago when Harris ordered an analysis of the city’s homicide victims under the age of 25 years old. What she found was that 94 percent of them were high school dropouts.

When she contacted the school district looking for further insight she learned that nearly 10 percent of the student population was considered habitually truant and nearly half of them were from elementary schools.

The first step was simply to write letters to parents on the D.A.’s letterhead warning them that if children were not in school, the adults could be prosecuted. Later she helped set up one of the first Truancy Courts in California where a single judge has jurisdiction over not only the student and the parents but also the government bureaucracy to ensure no one falls through the cracks.

Efforts were also coordinated with the San Francisco schools and Superintendent Carlos Garcia, whom Harris gives much credit in making the program successful.

Keith Choy, coordinator of the district’s Stay in School program, said Harris was instrumental in helping bring together existing city services to confront the problem.

“We’re really pleased,” he said. “We didn’t think the district by itself could really take on the whole problem. We didn’t have the teams, we didn’t have the social workers and support staff. And with all the budget cuts we couldn’t go out and run in the streets and do the follow up.”

He said there was an epiphany when school officials, the health department and human services all realized they were working on the same kids. “We found that because of privacy laws and other things we wouldn’t normally talk to each other,” he said.

“Kamala’s efforts have really helped us put together a longer term plan,” he explained. “Let’s get to the kids earlier, let’s give the families more support and give us some time to begin working on the older kids.”

Harris has only prosecuted about 20 cases so far but the threat of the courts has been very effective.

What can schools expect if she’s elected AG?

Districts would likely be encouraged if not facilitated to take a closer look at their truancy problems. Better recordkeeping and coordination with social service providers would be a starting point but she said she would mostly use the office’s bully-pulpit to make sure the public understands the connection between truants and public safety.

“As someone who has personally prosecuted murders and career criminals that I care about children issues because I can see who that six-year-old is going to become in about ten years,” she said. “Yes, we have to have a system that reacts after a crime has occurred, but we also have to be effective about preventing crime before it occurs and one of the best indicators is elementary school truancy.”

Muni stabbing suspect to be charged with 4 attacks

bleubitz — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:16:41 -0800

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco authorities arrested the man described as a "serial stabber" -- responsible for four random attacks.

Police arrested 30-year-old Bobby Brown on Tuesday at 31st and Judah Street in the Sunset District. They say surveillance video from the Muni train, where he attacked a woman on Monday, helped police catch him.

See video by clicking here:

"We are ending tonight this defendant's reign of terror," said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. "We are going to sleep safer tonight as a community because of the work that has been done."

Harris says Brown was a serial attacker who stabbed four innocent people. All four victims were either walking on the street or riding Muni.

"We don't know why he did what he did, but frankly, we don't necessarily have to prove in a court of law why he did what he did," said Harris.

Police say 11-year-old Hatim Mansouri was the first victim. Hatim was stabbed in the liver and stomach while riding the 49-Mission bus on September 1, 2009. Then on November 14, police say Brown stabbed a 25-year-old woman as she crossed the street at 10 a.m. at Sutter and Jones.

"The suspect approached the woman, asked for change, the woman refused, and the suspect, as the woman crossed the street, ran up behind her and stabbed her in the back," said San Francisco police Cmdr. John Loftus.

On November 26, police say Brown attacked a 26-year-old woman while she was walking near City Hall, at Golden Gate and Leavenworth, with her three children.

Then Monday, police say he stabbed 24-year-old Rachel Haynes-Brown on the J-Church metro line.

"He stabbed me twice in the side right here," said Haynes-Brown.

Police say the suspect used a corkscrew in Rachel's attack. She says he physical wounds are healing, but it will take longer to heal her emotional wounds.

"It's really traumatizing, you know, to be walking down the street and be anxious about everybody walking behind me you know," said Haynes-Brown.

Police are also looking into two other cases of random stabbings in the city and they're asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect.

Brown is facing between 72 years to life in prison if he is convicted for these attacks.

Kamala Harris, the 'Female Barack Obama,' Answers Her Critics

bleubitz — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:04:32 -0800

San Francisco's D.A. Talks With ABC News About Her Run for Attorney General of California

Down-ballot candidates for state office typically struggle for attention. But San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, a Democratic candidate for attorney general of California who attended Tuesday's State Dinner at the White House, has become the subject of national attention.

The Harris breakthrough came earlier this year when PBS' Gwen Ifill went on the "Late Show with David Letterman" to discuss her new book on a rising generation of black leaders and noted that San Francisco's D.A. has been compared to the president of the United States.

"She's brilliant, she's smart. They call her the female Barack Obama," Ifill told Letterman.

Extensive media coverage followed, including a recent appearance on NBC's "Today" to discuss her new book, "Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer."Watch it HERE.

Harris, whose mother is from India and whose father is from Jamaica, is in a crowded field vying to become the Democratic candidate. If she is elected, she would be California's first African-American and first woman to hold the post of attorney general.

If she succeeds in her bid to be California's top law enforcement officer, pundits have speculated that the warm and engaging Harris, who campaigned for Obama in Iowa, could run to be governor or senator, and, perhaps, even president one day.

But before any of that can happen, Harris is facing questions about Back on Track, a rehabilitation program she started in San Francisco.

Back on Track was created to help young adults who are arrested once for selling drugs. The program's purpose is to keep participants from falling back into a life of crime.

"We give them a choice," Harris has written. "They can go through a tough, year-long program that will require them to get educated, stay employed, be responsible parents, drug test, and transition to a crime-free life, or they can go to jail."

Back On Track participants plead guilty to their crime, and their sentence is deferred while they appear before a judge every two weeks for about a year. They must obtain a high-school-equivalency diploma and hold down a steady job. Fathers need to remain in good standing on their child-support payments, and everyone has to take parenting classes.

For those who meet all of these requirements, the felony charge is cleared from their records. Those who do not meet the terms of the program are automatically referred to the general criminal court and are sentenced.

Back on Track has demonstrated positive results: It has reduced the re-offense rate among participants to 10 percent in a population in which the average re-offense rate is 54 percent.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, recently signed a bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Democrat, that puts Back on Track in the penal code as a model for what the state can and should be doing to reduce recidivism.

The program has also received notice outside of California: It has been replicated in Atlanta and the National District Attorney's Association selected Back on Track as a model re-entry program.

If elected attorney general, Harris wants to encourage district attorneys throughout California to implement their own version of Back on Track in each of the state's 58 counties.

The problem for Harris, however, is that when the program started, it trained illegal immigrants for jobs they couldn't legally hold.

Harris first learned that illegal immigrants were training for jobs in Back on Track when Alexander Izaguirre, a program participant, was arrested last year for allegedly assaulting Amanda Kiefer in the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco.

Kiefer, who was walking to a restaurant with a friend when the alleged purse-snatching and attempted SUV rundown occurred, had her skull fractured as a result of the incident.

Earlier this year, Kiefer told the Los Angeles Times: "If they've committed crimes and they're not citizens, then why are they here? Why haven't they been deported?"

When Harris sat down with ABC News on Tuesday in the lobby of Washington's St. Regis Hotel to discuss her run for attorney general, she was asked to respond to the deportation question posed by Kiefer.

"Innovation by its very nature and definition means that you are doing something different from how it has been done before," Harris said. "And necessarily, then, there is some assumption of risk, because doing something differently than it's been done means invariably, even with the best of intentions, we'll find a glitch. There will be something that becomes obvious in hindsight that was a flaw in the design and then you fix it.

"In that case, the Izaguirre case, that became a very obvious flaw in the design of Back on Track," Harris said. "I imagined many scenarios, didn't figure that one out until we realized that this was a flaw and we fixed it."

Asked to identify the flaw, Harris said, "The flaw was that we hadn't imagined that there would be undocumented immigrants in the program. So we didn't set up a system for checking them."

Asked if her office was relying on the participating employers to check immigration status, Harris said: "Frankly, it was something that was just not -- we imagined many scenarios from the parenting needs of these individuals to the need they have and the responsibility they have to pay taxes to housing.

"We vetted out violent offenders. We vetted out offenders who had any kind of prior conviction," she said. "We imagined many different scenarios. But frankly, I think a lot of public policy -- be it good or not -- is framed out of what should be. And public policy is not necessarily designed to cover the abuses.

"The abuses we'll take care of, if that makes sense," she said. "So what happened is that we learned that there was an abuse of this initiative by someone who was not entitled to benefit from it and we fixed that."

Harris said the program has now built monitors into the system to check legal status. Participants are now asked for "everything from Social Security cards to whatever it is that they can produce" to show that they are in the United States legally.

"No one who is an undocumented immigrant should benefit from this program," Harris said. "This initiative is designed to make sure that the participant will gain legal employment and the undocumented immigrant may not obtain legal employment in our country."

Apart from the question of whether illegal immigrants are allowed to participate in the Back on Track program, Harris was asked what happens in San Francisco if someone who is charged with a crime is not legally in the United States.

"The law is that a custodial entity has a responsibility to check for immigration status, so [that means] the police department, for example, the sheriff's department. The district attorney's office is not a custodial agency," she said.

Beyond facing questions about why the program was not initially screening participants for legal status, Harris is also being asked by state Sen. Tom Harman, the lone Republican in the race for attorney general, to explain why the program is being directed to drug sellers as opposed to mere users.

"This is not intended to focus on the user at all. That's not the design. There's another program for the user, that's called Drug Court," Harris said.

Harris is also being criticized by Harman for expunging the criminal records of participants who successfully make it through the program.

"I'm not going to respond to him directly," Harris said. "But I will tell you ... my slogan of being 'smart on crime' is born out of the idea that we have to stop suggesting that there are only two categories that you're in when you advocate for criminal justice policy: Either you're 'soft on crime' or you're 'tough on crime.' That's a very simplistic analysis.

"Instead, I think we should ask: Are we being 'smart on crime,' which means being tough, to be sure, on serious and violent crime, but also being tough on the underlying causes of crime," she said. "For certain kinds of crimes, it is smarter to divert that person permanently out of the criminal justice system than to allow them to continue to cycle through."

At the conclusion of the interview, Harris indicated that she intends to continue pushing for reform of the criminal justice system despite the attendant political risks.

"One impediment to meaningful criminal justice reform is that the nightmare for any one of us as a career prosecutor is that we'll make a decision today about an offender that is not throwing the book at them and then tomorrow that offender will go out and commit a heinous crime," Harris said. "[T]his can be politically a deterrent for other elected leaders to take on innovation, because there is a political risk that's associated with that. And the political risk is that some knucklehead will go out and commit a heinous crime."

ABC News' Brittany Crockett contributed to this report.

San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris Talks To Kimberly Marteau About Her New Book Smart On Crime

bleubitz — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:52:26 -0800

Q: You dedicated Smart on Crime to your mother, Shyamala G. Harris, calling her "the toughest, smartest and most loving person I have ever known." She died this year. Tell me about your relationship and why she inspired you.

My mother was and will always remain my greatest hero. She was a woman who gave herself to my sister and me unconditionally, and was the most inspiring and courageous person in my life. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement, where she met my father. My mother was also the consummate professional, a world-renowned breast cancer researcher and teacher whose work took her to universities all around the world. Despite her 5-foot stature, she had a commanding presence and a sharp wit, a keen sense of humor and endless depth of knowledge.

Q: What does it mean to be "smart on crime?" Are we not being smart now? Why and how does your book address this idea?

This book is predicated on one main premise, which is that all Americans have the right to live in safe communities. Having spent nearly two decades as a courtroom prosecutor, I know that it simply is not enough to just talk tough about crime. I want us to be what I call "smart on crime." That means in order to make our communities safer, we have to take a strategic approach to changing the status quo -- because our current system is failing all of us.
In the book, I first address some of the myths and outdated approaches that I believe are failing. In the second half of the book, I outline the ways in which I believe we can chart a new course for tackling these long-standing problems. My hope is that this book helps to elevate the discussion of how we as a state and nation approach the criminal justice system. I believe it is absolutely possible for us to create a future with safer streets, lower re-offense rates, and a better-educated workforce.

Q: In the book, you talk about how important it is to look at the criminal justice system through economic eyes. In a time of extremely limited public resources, how do we justify allocating those resources to anything other than investigating crimes and prosecuting criminals, especially violent crimes?

Getting smart on crime does not mean reducing sentences or punishments for crimes. It does mean using the time and resources we now spend on offenders more productively to reduce their odds of re-offending. Remember, for decades we have spent billions of dollars on ineffective solutions that have not improved public safety. I believe that especially in these tough economic times, it is critical that we evaluate the cost of action versus the cost of inaction. I strongly believe that for serious and violent criminals, we must absolutely hold them accountable for their crimes and send them to prison. But as I discuss in the book, we must take a smarter approach when it comes to combating nonviolent crime. And it is also essential that when we look at investing in innovative ways to fight crime before it occurs, we must weigh the short-term costs of action versus the long-term costs of inaction.

Q: Can you please explain the "crime pyramid" and what it reveals about the weaknesses in crime prevention? Why are our harsh sentences not deterring some kinds of crimes?

I have found that the "crime pyramid" is an effective way to visualize the totality of crimes committed in our society, and an effective way to communicate about how we can best fight crime -- because as you know "crime" is not monolithic. Visualizing this pyramid, at the top are the very worst crimes: murder, rape, violent assaults, crimes that so rightly command our attention. While these crimes are so horrific and threatening, they form the very top of the pyramid because they constitute the minority of crimes. Did you know that only one fourth of all offenders sentenced to prison are violent offenders?

One of the main reasons we haven't been able to effectively prevent nonviolent crime is that we have been using only the tools best suited to combating the offenders at the top of the pyramid. For several decades, the passage of tough laws and long sentences has created an illusion in the public's mind that public safety is best served when we treat all offenders pretty much the same way: arrest, convict, imprison, parole, and hope they learn their lesson. But the numbers paint the true story, which is that most nonviolent offenders are learning the wrong lesson, and in many cases, they are becoming more hardened criminals during their imprisonment.

Q: In Smart on Crime, you take aim at several myths about crime, including that the only thing the criminal justice system and education have in common is that they both need reform. Why do you believe that fighting truancy might be the most significant step we can take in crime prevention?

I believe that a child going without an education is a crime. As San Francisco District Attorney, I have seen firsthand what too frequently happens to habitually and chronically truant school kids: young lives are lost to street violence or prison at an appalling rate, our state loses more resources and our communities are less safe. A recent report from UC Santa Barbara concluded that high school dropouts account for a disproportionate amount of juvenile crime, crimes that cost the state of California $1.1 billion every year. Add in social and medical costs, lost income taxes, and associated economic losses, and the report estimates that dropouts cost the state more than $24 billion per year.

The warning bells keep on ringing. In California, two-thirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts. I believe that this is one of those critical issues where we can either pay attention now, or pay the price later.

Q: You are very proud of "Back on Track," a re-entry program that you started out of the San Francisco DA's office in 2005. How does it fit into your Smart on Crime ideas?

The old approach to fighting crime is well-known. Police and prosecutors are deluged with low-level drug cases, and the public spends billions on prisons to house these offenders. And, every year, prisons release hundreds of thousands of these offenders back into our communities. They have no plan, no skills, nowhere to go, and they pick up right where they left off. Within three years of release, 70 percent of California prisoners will re-offend and return to prison.

That is why in 2005, I created an initiative called Back On Track. Back on Track is a reentry program designed for nonviolent, first-time drug offenders. These are young people who are mostly in their early 20's, have no prior criminal records and were caught for low-level drug offenses. None of their cases involves gangs, guns, or weapons.

We give them a choice: they can go through a tough, year-long program that will require them to get educated, stay employed, be responsible parents, drug test, and transition to a crime-free life, or they can go to jail. Those who choose Back On Track plead guilty to their crime, and their sentence is deferred while they appear before a judge every two weeks for about a year. They must obtain a high-school-equivalency diploma and hold down a steady job. Fathers need to remain in good standing on their child-support payments, and everyone has to take parenting classes. For people who hit all of these milestones, the felony charge is going to be cleared from their records.

The results speak for the wisdom of investing in reentry programs. For this population, the recidivism (or re-offense rate) is typically 50 percent or higher. Four years into this initiative, recidivism has been less than 10 percent among Back On Track participants. And the program costs only $5,000 per person, compared to over $35,000 a year for county jail. That saves our city roughly $1 million per year in jail costs alone. When you add in the total expense of criminal prosecutions to taxpayers, including court costs, public defenders, state prison, and probation, the savings are closer to $2 million. And we cannot even begin to quantify the value of these individuals' future productivity, taxes and child support payments, or the brightened prospects for their families.

That is why both Governor Schwarzenegger and the US Department of Justice have recognized Back on Track as a model for both our state and nation.

DA Kamala Harris is "Smart on Crime"

bleubitz — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:41:53 -0800

In case you haven’t heard yet, San Francisco’s District Attorney Kamala Harris is in the race to be California’s next Attorney General. She was the first female DA in the City, the first African American. She’s been called the “female Obama”, and cited by the New York Times as one of 17 women nationwide who would likely be the first woman to serve as President of the United States.
But speculation aside, Harris has had to deal with tough issues here in San Francisco – issues such as gang violence, and the city’s shifting sanctuary policy. Harris’ opposition to the death penalty, among other stances, like her nonviolent offender rehab program “Back on Track”, has led to some critics calling her “soft on crime”. She says, she isn’t soft on crime. She’s smart on crime. And that’s also the title of her new book. So will her San Francisco approach work for the state? KALW’s Hana Baba sat down with Kamala Harris.

San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

bleubitz — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:48:53 -0800

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón, a thirty year law enforcement veteran who has also served as Assistant Chief of the LAPD and Chief of Police in Mesa, Arizona, today announced his endorsement of Kamala Harris for California Attorney General.

“While I’ve long admired Kamala Harris’ record of innovation and success, since my appointment as Police Chief in San Francisco I’ve come to know the District Attorney as a steadfast and effective partner in our efforts to fight crime here in our city,” said Chief Gascón. “I believe that Kamala Harris’ ‘smart on crime’ approach, with its proven track record in San Francisco, is what California needs to get tough and smart on crime.”

“Chief Gascón is recognized as a national leader in the law enforcement community, and I’m honored to have earned his support for my candidacy,” said Harris. “He has been a terrific partner here in San Francisco, and when I am Attorney General I will continue to work with the Chief to fight gangs, get assault weapons off our streets, go after financial criminals, and to make our criminal justice system work better.”

Police Chief George Gascón took lead of the San Francisco Police Department in August 7, 2009. Prior to his move to San Francisco, California, Chief Gascón was the Chief of Police for the Mesa Police Department in Arizona for three years. Chief Gascón proudly served the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for more than 28 years. In his final assignment before joining the Mesa Police Department, Gascón served as LAPD's Assistant Police Chief and Director over the Office of Operations.

Chief Gascón joins law enforcement leaders around California in backing Harris’ candidacy, including former Los Angeles Chief of Police William Bratton, San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne, San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey, East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis, Half Moon Bay Police Chief Don O’Keefe, and Officers for Justice POA.

For more information on Harris, please visit www.KamalaHarris.org.

Finding the Path Back on Track

bleubitz — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:25:04 -0800

Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. By that measure, our current approach to criminal justice may need a shrink--and a new way of doing business.

The old approach to fighting crime is well-known. Police and prosecutors are deluged with low-level drug cases, and the public spends billions on prisons to house these offenders. And, every year, prisons release hundreds of thousands of these offenders back into our communities. They're sent back with a bus ticket and a little cash in hand--and that's about it. They have no plan, no skills, nowhere to go, and no other changed circumstances. They pick up right where they left off; within three years of release, seven out of ten California prisoners will re-offend and return to prison.

After decades of this sad cycle, our prisons are swollen beyond capacity and our budgets maxed. Across the country, leaders are acknowledging that we've been missing a crucial opportunity all along. Perhaps the most crucial step in the criminal justice process is the most often ignored--what happens after the conviction and prison sentence, when the prisoner comes home.

We've learned that low-level drug offenders are far less likely to re-offend if they transition into the community with basic skills and a plan for staying crime-free. That crucial transition from crime to the community--called "reentry" in criminal justice-speak--is what we've taken advantage of in San Francisco, where I serve as the elected District Attorney.

In 2005, I created an initiative called Back On Track. It's a reentry program designed for nonviolent, first-time drug offenders. These are young people who we'd call college kids under different circumstances--mostly in their early 20's, they have no prior criminal records and were caught for low-level drug offenses. None of their cases involves gangs, guns, or weapons. But they've all arrived at the program via squad car and are facing a first felony conviction.

We give them a choice: they can go through a tough, year-long program that will require them to get educated, stay employed, be responsible parents, drug test, and transition to a crime-free life, or they can go to jail. My prosecutors tell me that many defendants have heard the stories about the program and choose jail instead; jail's easier, they say. Here's why: Those who choose Back On Track plead guilty to their crime, and their sentence is deferred while they appear before a judge every two weeks for about a year. They must obtain a high-school-equivalency diploma and hold down a steady job. Fathers need to remain in good standing on their child-support payments, and everyone has to take parenting classes. For people who hit all of these milestones, the felony charge is going to be cleared from their records.

The results speak for the wisdom of investing in reentry programs. For this population, the recidivism (or re-offense rate) is typically 50 percent or higher. Four years since the creation of this initiative, recidivism has been less than 10 percent among Back On Track graduates. And the program costs only $5,000 per person, compared to over $35,000 a year for county jail. That saves our city roughly $1 million per year in jail costs alone. When you add in the total expense of criminal prosecutions to taxpayers, including court costs, public defenders, state prison, and probation, the savings are closer to $2 million. And we cannot even begin to quantify the value of these individuals' future productivity, taxes and child support payments, or the brightened prospects for their families.

These are the kinds of results every community should demand from our system of justice. That's why California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass sponsored AB 750, the Back On Track Reentry Act of 2009, which established Back On Track as a model reentry program for California counties. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law earlier this month. The National District Attorney's Association and U.S. Department of Justice have selected Back on Track as a model re-entry program for prosecutors' offices across the country.

Similar programs across the nation--from Atlanta to Brooklyn to Oakland--are also having tremendous success. Newly elected Philadelphia DA Seth Williams, voted into office last week, included Back On Track in his campaign platform. This all goes to show that many leaders are casting aside the outdated thinking that has choked off innovation in criminal justice for too long. They're trying something new. Just as important as the result is the dialogue we're starting, which represents momentum and hope for a more rational, progressive and effective approach to making our communities safer across the nation.

Book 'em, Kamala -- S.F. District Attorney Harris adds author to list of credits

bleubitz — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:37:08 -0800

Just in time for her campaign to become California's next attorney general, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has released a book of strategies to reduce crime and save money doing it.

"Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer" seeks to debunk preconceived ideas about crime and introduces programs deemed successful in San Francisco since Harris was elected to be the city's top prosecutor in 2003.

"These are models that are easy to replicate around the country and adaptable to most any community," Harris said last week at a launch party for her book at Chronicle Books' South of Market offices. "These initiatives save us money so what is address what we all want in terms of increased public safety and do it in a way that also maximizes limited public resources."

A better return

The 45-year-old East Bay native, who began her career as a prosecutor for Alameda County nearly 20 years ago, started penning her ideas for the publishing house several years ago. In it, Harris says the United States deserves a better return on the $200 billion it spends on combating crime every year. With two-thirds of prison inmates likely to reoffend within two years of release, Harris points to a broken system that fails in rehabilitation and early intervention.

Among the strategies Harris outlines is the Back on Track program she started in San Francisco in 2005. The program allows first-time, nonviolent drug offenders to plead guilty in exchange for a deferred sentence on the condition that, under court monitoring, they complete job training, community service, educational and life-skill classes. In its four years, Back on Track has reduced recidivism among first-time, nonviolent offenders from 54 to 10 percent, saving $1 million a year in jail costs alone, Harris said.

Other programs target children and teens at risk of becoming criminals. Harris calls for clinical treatment for children victims and witnesses to crimes who have signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Without treatment, Harris says these children are more likely to commit crimes and drop out of school.

As San Francisco's district attorney, Harris has been partnering with the San Francisco Unified School District to curb truancy among children and teens. Teens who are habitual truants are more likely to end up in jail, Harris said, and 94 percent of the San Francisco homicide victims younger than 24 were high school dropouts. Last month, Harris' anti-truancy efforts were beefed up to include driver's license suspension and court monitoring for truant high school students and criminal prosecution for their parents.

The cost of truancy

"The direct costs for a child being truant and thereby being involved in juvenile crime is $1.1 billion a year in California, and estimates have it going in the double-digit billions a year when you talk about the associated costs in terms of social services and public health systems and things of that nature," Harris said. "So it's really a matter of all of us agreeing that, one, by definition, there is no such thing as a quick fix to a long-standing problem, but, two, it doesn't take very long to see the benefits.

"They may not be immediate, but they will occur in the not-so-distant future."

Perhaps what makes Harris' book different from others about fighting crime is its attempt to reach beyond the law enforcement community to cross sections of society. Learning institutions, businesses, nonprofits, community and faith-based organizations are called upon to partner with law enforcement. It's clear that Harris believes that everyone should be joining the conversation and measuring what's yielding results and what isn't.

"It is well within our reach to create a future with safer streets, lower rates of recidivism, and a stronger, better-educated workforce," Harris wrote. "It is a future that reverses the tragic waste of human potential that has become the hallmark of our prison system."

nonfiction

Title: "Smart on Crime: A Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer"

Author: Kamala D. Harris

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Price: $24.95; Pages: 205

booksignings: 6 p.m. Nov. 10 at Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, #42, S.F., 415-835-1020; 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, 415-927-0960; 11:30 a.m. Nov. 14 at African American Art & Culture Complex, 762 Fulton St., S.F., 415-922-2049.

Video: Today Show: How America Can Get 'Smart on Crime'

bleubitz — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:45:28 -0700

How can we successfully rehabilitate prisoners? Can law enforcement better use technology to solve crimes? In her new book “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safe," San Francisco’s District Attorney Kamala Harris — who has been called “the female Barack Obama” — examines new, unconvential ideas on how our society can reform our broken criminal justice system.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Kamala Harris Looks to Achieve Another "First"

bleubitz — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:35:19 -0700

Time to get acquainted with one of the up-and-comers in the world of politics — an African-American woman, who has already been labeled the “female Barack Obama.” She, too, has a name that requires some practice on first reference: Kamala Harris.
Harris has already achieved some “firsts” in her career, including election as the first African American — and the first woman — to District Attorney in San Francisco. She’s planning a run for California Attorney General.

$1 Million Grant to Fund Mortgage and Investment Fraud Unit

bleubitz — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:38:00 -0700

For the first time, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office will have its first stand-alone mortgage and investment fraud unit.

The unit will be funded with a $1.06 million federal grant, which was announced by District Attorney Kamala Harris Tuesday as part of a regional effort to combat financial scams. The unit aims to protect desperate homeowners from mortgage and investment fraud, she said.

Harris and top prosecutors from San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties, as well as San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, called for federal oversight Wednesday.

The San Francisco district attorney’s office’s consumer protection unit has handled more than 450 complaints this year.

L.A. Police Chief William Bratton endorses Harris

bleubitz — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:58:53 -0700

The Los Angeles police chief has endorsed San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris in her run for California attorney general. “As a career prosecutor with a proven track record of innovation and success, Kamala Harris knows what it takes to effectively fight crime and keep our streets safe,” said Bratton, who has headed the LAPD, the third largest police department in the U.S., since 2002.

Law Aims to Keep Witness Info off Web

bleubitz — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:46:36 -0700

SAN FRANCISCO — Under a bill signed into law by the governor this week
and sponsored by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris,
prosecutors hope witnesses in the state's relocation program will be
harder to find through Internet searching.

Gang members have targeted witnesses through Internet search engines
even when witnesses weren't aware their personal information was
online, said Sen. Mark Leno, who authored SB 748 , which was signed
Sunday. The new law goes after people or agencies that disclose phone
numbers, addresses or other identifying information of protected
witnesses.

"In prosecuting violent criminals [Harris] needs witnesses, and that
is a very dangerous position for an individual to be in," Leno said.
"This bill really brings California statutes into the 21st century. We
know for a fact that gangs and other violent perpetrators are using
the Internet to bring down those who participate in our Witness
Relocation and Assistance Program."

The impetus behind the bill was preventive, DA's office spokeswoman Erica Derryck said. "This is an example of our office recognizing the way in which technology is used," she said.

The state witness protection program had about 500 active cases as of September, according to Leno's office.

There are about 90 people currently protected in the program that the San Francisco DA's office administers. Since it began in 1998, two witnesses in that program have been killed, the DA's office confirmed. The office noted, however, that both had returned to the city without alerting authorities.

"Every resource we have as a law enforcement community should be brought to bear in supporting and safeguarding witnesses and victims who come forward to aid in the prosecution of dangerous criminals," Harris said in a news release. "That means making sure that the law stays current with the technology criminals are using to keep witnesses in fear and out of court."

The new law makes it a misdemeanor to post information to the Internet that discloses the location of witnesses or their family members if the intent is to injure them or incite violence, with a greater fine and more jail time if witnesses or their family members suffer bodily harm.

The bill also allows witnesses to submit opt-out forms to Internet search engine providers to keep their identifying information out of public databases. Businesses and agencies are required to take down identifying information about a witness within two days of receiving such an opt-out form, or face a $5,000 civil fine.

The governor also gave the nod to another piece of Harris-sponsored legislation — Assembly Speaker Karen Bass' bill that authorizes re-entry programs aimed at curbing recidivism among nonviolent drug offenders.

That bill was supported by the California Narcotic Officers' Association and the California Police Chiefs Association, according to the DA's office.

District Attorney program is now statewide example

bleubitz — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:41:00 -0700

A San Francisco program started by District Attorney Kamala Harris is now an official example for California counties to emulate.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed AB 750, the Back on Track Reentry Act . The bill, authored by Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass and sponsored by Harris, encourages counties to use the San Francisco model.

The program, created by Harris four years ago, is meant to reduce recidivism among nonviolent drug offenders by enrolling them in a job-training or educational program.

So far, fewer than 10 percent of Back on Track graduates have re-offended compared to a 54 percent statewide average recidivism rate for the same population of offenders, according to the district attorney’s office. Back on Track also costs about $5,000 annually per participant, compared to $35,000 to $50,000 for jail or prison.

Of course, Back on Track hasn’t gone entirely without controversy. Harris faced tough questions after an illegal immigrant, Alexander Izaguirre, was arrested on suspicion of robbery and assault in July 2008 while still enrolled in the program.

Truancy Costs Us All

bleubitz — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:10:47 -0700

When Michael was in kindergarten, he missed more than 80 days of school. He was not ill and no one from Michael's family ever called to say why he was not attending school.

When I was elected district attorney, I learned that 5,500 students in San Francisco were habitually truant and - shockingly - 44 percent of the truant students were in elementary school. That is when I partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District to combat school truancy. At the time, many asked why the city's chief prosecutor was concerned with the problem of school attendance. The answer was simple, and as our partnership now enters its fourth year, the reason remains the same: a child going without an education is tantamount to a crime.

Despite his young age, Michael's truancy makes him far more likely to be arrested or fall victim to a crime later in life. In San Francisco, over 94 percent of all homicide victims under the age of 25 are high school dropouts. Statewide, two-thirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts.

Combatting truancy is a smart approach to crime prevention. Every fall I send out letters to parents of all SFUSD students informing them that truancy is against the law. During the school year, prosecutors from my office hold mediations with parents and truant students to reinforce this message and urge them to get help to improve their children's attendance. In most cases, attendance improves.

When it does not, my office prosecutes parents in a specialized truancy court we created that combines close court monitoring with tailored family services. To date, I have prosecuted 20 parents of young children for truancy. The penalty for truancy is a fine of up to $2,500 or up to a year of jail.

Our groundbreaking strategy has worked. After Michael's parents did not respond to repeated pleas from the school district to get him in class, my investigators served his parents with criminal complaints. His parents appeared in court and agreed to work to get needed services and get Michael back in school. Michael missed only three days the following school year. He got extra attention from teachers to get on track and one parent has even become a school volunteer.

The majority of parents who have been brought to truancy court have dramatically improved their children's attendance. In the last year alone, truancy among elementary school students declined on average by 20 percent. In this new school year, my office will work closely with school district staff to expand our strategy to include older truant students.

Preventing truancy protects precious public resources in the midst of California's worst economic crisis. The crimes dropouts commit cost the state $1.1 billion per year, according to the UC Santa Barbara California Dropout Research Project. Adding in the social and medical costs, and wage taxes and associated economic losses, the report estimates that dropouts cost the state more than $24 billion a year. As the elected district attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, I see what happens on the back end of school failures: young lives are being lost to street violence or prison time at an appalling rate. While we must invest in effective law enforcement, we must also take seriously the task of keeping our kids in school. Children like Michael will either get their education in the streets or in the school. The fabric of our community, and the future of our economy, depend on our ability to ensure that learning happens in the classroom.

Kamala Harris is the district attorney of San Francisco.

Saving Public Resources and Protecting Our Most Important Resource: Children

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:50:28 -0700

Education, public safety, and the economy: three vastly complex issue areas that time and again are proven to be inextricably linked.

By doing what it takes to keep kids in school in every corner of our state, we can save literally billions of dollars in public resources and greatly improve public safety.

Most of us in law enforcement have known this for many years. As San Francisco's District Attorney, I see the direct impact of what happens when kids don't stay in school; young lives are lost to street violence or prison at an appalling rate, our state loses more resources and our communities are less safe.

The wake-up calls keep sounding. The California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara just published a devastating report exposing the impact of high school dropouts on California's economy. The report concludes that high school dropouts account for a disproportionate amount of juvenile crime. By contrast, graduating from high school results in a 17% reduction in violent crime and a decrease of approximately 10% in property and drug-related crimes. The juvenile crimes committed by dropouts cost California $1.1 billion per year. Add in social and medical costs, lost income taxes and associated economic losses, and the report estimates that dropouts cost the state more than $24 billion per year.

To close the horrendous budget deficit this year, California lawmakers reduced the public school system budget by $4.3 billion. Failing to educate our children and lower dropout rates is a recipe for disaster, and the price will be paid by communities and individuals victimized by crime. The direct connection between education, crime and victimization is clear. Harvard sociologist Bruce Western and Becky Pettit found that the cumulative risk of death or imprisonment by age 30-34 nearly triples for men who do not finish high school. Fourteen percent of white men and a staggering 62% of black men who don't finish high school are dead or in prison by the age of 30-34.

What can be done? Plenty.

First, dropout prevention has to start early. The problem should be red-flagged when children first become habitual truants. Nationwide, 75% of all truant children will eventually drop out of school. In San Francisco, we found that 10% of all students are chronic truants and 40%, or more than 2,000 of those truant students, are in elementary school.

That's right. Elementary school.

So we targeted that problem and partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District to combat school truancy.

At the time, many people asked why the city's chief prosecutor was worried about the problem of school attendance. My answer was simple, and as our partnership now enters its fourth year, the reason remains the same: a child going without an education is a crime and it leads to more dangerous crimes. My job is to protect the public and combating truancy is a smart approach to crime prevention. We can either pay attention now, or pay the price later.

So every fall I send out letters to parents across San Francisco letting them know that truancy is against the law and that I will enforce that law. During the school year, prosecutors from my office hold mediations with parents and truant students at schools across the city to reinforce this message and urge them to get help to improve their children's attendance. We asked business and faith leaders to engage with the city's schools to provide mentors and resources. We opened a stay-in-school hotline and coordinated support services for families needing help. In most cases, attendance improves. But when it does not, my office prosecutes parents in a specialized Truancy Court we created that combines supervision and services for those families. To date, I have only had to prosecute 20 parents of young children for truancy.

Our groundbreaking strategy has worked. The majority of parents who have been brought to Truancy Court have dramatically improved their children's attendance in school. But the effects of the strategy ripple far beyond these families. In the last year alone, truancy among elementary school students dropped by an average of 20%. In this new school year, my office will work closely with school district staff to expand our strategy to include high school age chronically truant students.

We have the tools that can start solving this problem. But first, we have got to commit to a bipartisan agenda that is smart on crime. The lesson for those of us in law enforcement is that we have to embrace our responsibility for crime prevention and engage in the serious business of helping to build healthier communities.

Preventing truancy does more than protect public safety. It protects precious public resources in the midst of California's worst economic crisis in history. If ever there were a time to reassess how our state spends public resources, the time is unquestionably now.

Let's start a serious dialogue about our collective responsibility to change the odds for children and youth. I urge you to contact your local District Attorney, school board and other elected officials about this problem. And please let me know what else I might have left out, how else we can work to solve this problem. Kids will either get an education in school or in the streets. The fabric of our community, and the future of our economy, depends on our ability to ensure that education happens in class.

Harris is the author of Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer.

City beefs up efforts at truancy prevention

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:46:30 -0700

Cracking down on the parents of truant students is adding up to better attendance.
What began as a modest effort in 2006 in which the District Attorney’s Office would take part in mediations involving the school district and parents has grown into a war on school absenteeism with a full-time prosecutor who has taken 20 parents to court.

And though prosecuting parents of chronically truant students has improved the attendance of San Francisco school children across the board, improvements are still needed to be made for older students, District Attorney Kamala Harris said.

The infractions carry a $100 fine, and if the truancy continues, prosecutors can pursue misdemeanor charges of neglecting a child’s education, charges that could land a parent in county jail for up to a year with a fine up to $2,500.

Harris, who is running for California attorney general in 2010, said Friday that the Department of Child Protective Services would also dedicate a caseworker to monitor truant students, adding another level of punitive action to the table, though Harris and schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia said punishment isn’t the goal of the program.

“The goal is not to have the child taken away from the parents,” Harris said. “If we don’t educate these kids in the classroom, they’re going to be educated in the streets, and we don’t want that.”

School district numbers that relate to habitually truant students, those with 10 to 19 unexcused absences, and chronic truants, those with 20 or more absences, show there have been marked improvements.

In the 2007-08 school year, there were 2,105 chronic and habitually truant elementary school children. In 2008-09, that number decreased about 17.3 percent to 1,740, according to the latest San Francisco Unified School District numbers.

Upper grades did not see as much of an improvement. There was a 5.3 percent decrease in habitually and chronic middle school students and a 4.6 percent decrease for high school students.

Harris has been bringing in parents of high school students to the District Attorney’s Office to help boost the numbers for older schoolchildren.

Garcia also pledged to improve the district’s tracking system to provide real-time truancy information through a system called Data Director.

The number of students skipping school in San Francisco has long been above statewide averages, and costs the already cash-strapped district more than $5 million in state funding every year. One absence costs the San Francisco Unified School District about $42, according to district data.

Truancy crackdown swings to S.F. parents, teens

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:13:04 -0700

San Francisco school and city officials will beef up the fight against truancy by expanding intervention and criminal prosecution at the high school level to parents and teenagers, District Attorney Kamala Harris announced Friday.

Previous efforts have focused on the elementary and middle schools, where families play a greater role in a child's attendance. Now it's time to target teenagers, Harris said.

For the worst offenders, that could mean charging high school students with truancy, a violation that carries a possible sentence of community service, suspension of a driver's license or court monitoring. For their parents, punishment can mean a $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail, Harris said.

In San Francisco, 94 percent of the city's homicide victims under age 25 were high school dropouts, Harris said.

The truancy effort "has everything to do with public safety and public resources," she said. "It's a crime we're prepared to prosecute."

This is the fourth year of the district attorney's effort to target the city's truants. Last year, nearly 4,800 of the San Francisco school district's 55,000 students were considered either habitually truant with 10 to 19 unexcused absences or chronically truant with 20 or more. That's down from 5,400 students the year before.

City and district efforts have included a better school attendance tracking system, phone calls and meetings with families, and legal action - with a focus on the elementary grades, where families play a greater role in a child's attendance.
Similar actions will now be taken with high school truants, Harris said.

In addition, Child Protective Services will add a full-time social worker to work with parents in truancy cases, even if the families have had no previous contact with the agency.

Also, for the third year in a row, Harris sent a letter to every district family at the start of the school year warning of the possibility of prosecution for truancy. School attendance is compulsory in California from ages 6 to 18.

In the last two years, Harris has prosecuted 20 truancy cases, the last resort in addressing a child's chronic absences.

"We nag (parents) to death," school Superintendent Carlos Garcia said. "But the bottom line is, what do we do when they refuse to send them to school?"

Garcia said a new software program at every school allows principals to see in real time the students who aren't in class and those racking up unexcused absences. A pending online system will allow parents constant access to their child's school records to check attendance and performance.

"If we don't educate these kids in the classroom, they're going to be educated in the streets," Harris said.

Officers for Justice Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:27:39 -0700

Peace Officers Association comprised of predominantly African American SF cops joins law enforcement leaders across the state backing Harris

Officers for Justice, which since 1968 has represented a diverse association of San Francisco police officers, today announced its endorsement of Kamala Harris for Attorney General.

“As California's most innovative District Attorney, Kamala Harris knows what it takes to effectively fight crime and keep our streets safe,” said Julian Hill, president of Officers for Justice, which since 1971 has been a member of the National Black Police Association. “District Attorney Harris has worked shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement throughout her career and has secured dramatically higher conviction rates. She understands the challenges police officers face and I know she will be a champion for cops who walk the beat.”

Officers for Justice joins California law enforcement leaders such as San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne, San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey, and East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis in supporting Harris’ campaign for Attorney General.

Kamala Harris, Cali's Next Top Cop?

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:14:52 -0700

She’s brilliant, she’s ambitious, she’s tough and she’s unlike anything you’ll see on Law & Order. They call Kamala Harris the ‘female Barack Obama’ and lately a lot of people from Oprah Winfrey to President Barack Obama are singing the praises of the woman who wants to be California’s next attorney general.

With a 90 percent conviction rate super star prosecutor Kamala Harris made history in 2003 when she was elected California’s first African-American female district attorney.

“Law enforcement has such a direct impact on the most vulnerable members of our society and I wanted to be at the table when the decisions are made that affect them,” says Harris.

Kamala Harris is mixed race, thus her current position gives her three firsts — she is the first female District Attorney to be elected in San Francisco; the first African American elected as District Attorney in California; and the first Indian American elected to the position in the United States.

If she has her way in 2010, she would be breaking even more glass ceilings.

She would be the state’s first female Attorney General and the first, in decades, who started out in the trenches as a courtroom prosecutor. She was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term in November 2007.

Harris was born in Oakland, California, her parents both professors were active in the Civil Rights Movement and instilled in Kamala a strong commitment to justice and public service.

That commitment led Kamala to Howard University, one America’s oldest Black universities and then to Hastings College of the Law. She was raised with her sister Maya in Berkeley by their mother Dr.

Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer specialist.

DA Harris believes it is her duty to nurture the next generation of young women who dream of following in her footsteps.

“My mother who was a very strong influence in my life always said ‘Kamala you may be the first to do many things but make sure you’re not the last’.”

Harris is a strong advocate of identifying and implementing strategies for reducing gang violence and victimization. Two weeks ago, the Democrat, a long time friend of President Obama and a very early supporter of his presidential campaign got a boost in her bid for California’s top cop.

Harris was picked for a star role at the National Conference on Gang Violence Prevention and Crime Control, where she discussed her “Back on Track” low level drug offender re-entry initiative and anti truancy work.

She was part of a select group of mayors, district attorneys including San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris and San Bernardino County District Attorney A. Michael Ramos, academics, criminal justice experts and violence prevention experts – including U.S.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Obama Administration drug czar Gil Kerikowske.

“Many cities in California are facing vicious and growing gang activity, and across the nation communities are being held hostage by gang-related violence. I’m honored to be a part of the national strategy to combat this serious issue,” she said.

“She lights up a room the way then little-known Barack Obama did when he gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.”

That’s Jose Medina, delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention and co-founder of Obama Riverside, the formidable grassroots organization that helped propel Mr. Obama to the White House. Kamala, Medina says is among a new crop of young, Democratic professionals – ‘bright, fair, and tough as nails’. Though Harris has generated controversy and made a few formidable enemies in law enforcement circles, she has remained firm in her opposition to the death penalty and is unafraid to stand down the likes of those involved in sexual exploitation of children, corrupt cops and parents whose children are truants.

“I’m especially proud of creating a child assault unit dedicated to prosecuting those kinds of cases because I can see the impact it has on children, families and society in general,” said Harris.

Harris also has boundless ambition, as a candidate for state Attorney General in 2010, she hopes to bring her “smart on crime” approach—which has resulted in a marked increase in homicide clearance rates in San Francisco to one of California’s most important and visible offices.

“I’ve spent my entire professional life in the trenches as a courtroom prosecutor. And I can tell you from the frontlines, we need tough new ideas for strengthening our criminal justice system in California. As Attorney General, I will fight for all Californians – from distressed homeowners to families whose neighborhoods are under siege. With the cooperation of state, federal and local officials we can fight street gangs, go after subprime lenders and others responsible for the financial crisis.

We can fundamentally reform our prison system,” said Harris.

She would replace Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, the former Oakland mayor and California governor, who is expected to run for governor in 2010.

“It takes a lot of guts to stand up for what you think is right in the political world, especially when faced with high-level pressure,” said Medina.

Spring 2010, Medina and Obama Riverside co- founder Linnie Frank Bailey hope to bring the Harris excitement to Riverside believing people need to be reminded that there are many more shining stars like Barack Obama out there.

Harris at the White House

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:14:01 -0700

The San Francisco Chronicle's politics blog notes that the city's district attorney, Kamala Harris, is at the White House today talking about combating gang violence.

Harris a figure to watch nationally, I think — is running for state attorney general, and they report:

We heard from Harris last night as she prepared for her gig today — and she said she's excited about helping shine a light on a problem that affects urban communities across California and the nation.

"Many cities in California are facing vicious and growing gang activity, and across the nation communities are held hostage by gang-related violence," she told us via e-mail. "I'm honored to be working with the White House and with leaders from all over the country to take on this serious issue of combating gangs and the violence and chaos they create."

Couldn't hurt for someone who wants to be California's top cop, either.

SF DA Kamala Harris at White House today -- asked to talk gang violence prevention

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:46:49 -0700

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris' bid for state Attorney General got a big boost today with a plum assignment from the Obama Administration. She's in Washington D.C. Monday with a special invite to talk up the success of her youth and gang violence prevention programs at the White House.

Democrat Harris, a longtime friend of President Obama and a very early supporter of his presidential campaign, was picked for a star role at today's National Conference on Gang Violence Prevention and Crime Control, where she'll be discussing her "Back on Track" re-entry initiative and anti-truancy work.

The SF DA is part of a group of 90 invitees who include law enforcement professionals, local government officials, academics, criminal justice experts and violence prevention experts -- including Attorney General Eric Holder and Obama Administration drug czar Gil Kerlikowske. We hear that the only other invited biggies from California are San Bernardino mayor Pat Morris and Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims.

The White House says the conference will "showcase promising community-driven anti-crime initiatives from across the country,'' and "serve as a forum for communities to share best practices with one another'' as well as to communicate lessons learned about the best ways to "disrupt gang violence and criminal activity.''
Another goal: to explore the role of the federal government in gang violence prevention and crime control partnerships.

We heard from Harris last night as she prepared for her gig today -- and she said she's excited about helping shine a light on a problem that affects urban communities across California and the nation.

"Many cities in California are facing vicious and growing gang activity, and across the nation communities are held hostage by gang-related violence,'' she told us via e-mail. "I'm honored to be working with the White House and with leaders from all over the country to take on this serious issue of combating gangs and the violence and chaos they create."

Couldn't hurt for someone who wants to be California's top cop, either.

DA Harris and Senator Alquist Champion New Statewide ID Theft Law

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:06:35 -0700

Measure Signed into Law Allows for Multi-Jurisdictional ID Theft Prosecution

SAN FRANCISCO - District Attorney Kamala D. Harris announced today the signing of Senate Bill 226 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday, August 6, 2009.

SB 226 provides that in cases where a defendant or defendants have committed identity theft against multiple victims in multiple counties, prosecutors would have the authority to try allthe

cases in one county. It also allows the jury to be presented with the facts of all the crimes committed by a particular defendant or group of defendants. The bill was introduced by State Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) and sponsored by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris.

“California simply cannot afford to allow roving identity thieves to escape accountability, nor can our state incur the cost of repeatedly prosecuting ID thieves in multiple jurisdictions for the same underlying offense,” said District Attorney Kamala D. Harris. “SB 226 is both cost-efficient and better for public safety.”

Throughout California, identity thieves are increasingly engaged in sophisticated and complex schemes involving multiple victims in numerous counties. This allows offenders to escape prosecution because prosecutors can only pursue the crimes committed by identity thieves who go from county to county when those crimes involve only one victim or all of the victims are in one county. That means victims in other counties whose identities are stolen by the same scheme may never get restitution from the offender and often never see the thief brought to justice. Even if other counties wish to prosecute the same criminal scheme, the cost to the state’s criminal justice system and to each county in order to prosecute each case separately is enormous.

“Right now, we require that identity thieves be prosecuted in each county where an offense took place, even though the series of thefts were committed by the same person or group,” said Senator Elaine Alquist. “This is time consuming and costly for counties. By allowing prosecutors to consolidate these crimes, we save counties millions of dollars by ending unnecessary and duplicative prosecution. Even better, we more effectively put these identity thieves behind bars for the crimes they commit against innocent victims.”

SB 226 amends Penal Code § 786(b)(1,) related to jurisdiction in identity theft cases, to allow prosecutors to bundle all of the individual identity theft instances of one scheme together in one prosecution. This bill allows the case to follow the thief and not be prosecuted in a piecemeal fashion. Prosecutors will now be able to effectively protect every similarly situated victim whose information has been stolen and assets have been pillaged by roving identity thieves, regardless of the victims’ counties of residence.

“By signing this bill, we send a message to all potential identity thieves throughout the state of California that you will no longer be able to hide from the law,” said District Attorney Kamala D. Harris. “We will find you, we will stop you, and we will send you away."

Smart on Crime: More Safety at Less Cost

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:53:25 -0700

When the California State Legislature reconvenes Monday, dealing with the corrections crisis will no doubt be on the top of everyone's "to do" list. The Governor signed a budget requiring a $1.2 billion reduction in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation budget, and a panel of three federal judges recently ordered a cap on the state prison population that could result in the release of more than 40,000 inmates. If ever there was a time to think outside the box and break with the approaches of the past, the time is now. We have to do something different.

Over the last thirty years, California's prison population has soared. In 1980, California had a prison population of about 24,000 in a state of 24 million. Today we have an inmate population of 172,000 out of 36 million people. This means that since 1980, our population has grown by 50% while our prison population has grown 617%.

Today, the majority of those inmates are not first-time offenders. Each year, approximately 70 percent of those released from California prisons commit another offense, resulting in the highest recidivism rate in the nation. These repeat offenses are preventable crimes that claim more victims and harm communities' quality of life. It costs on average more than $10,000 to prosecute just one felony case, and about $47,000 per year to house each inmate in prison. Every time an inmate is released and commits a new crime, local and state jurisdictions pay those costs over and over again. Most importantly, individuals and communities pay the highest price when they are re-victimized by crime. To keep our communities safe and use public money wisely, we must insist that people coming out of the criminal justice system become productive citizens and stay out.

In San Francisco, I have developed a smart on crime approach: we must be tough on serious and violent offenders while we get just as tough on the root causes of crime. In my office, we have raised felony conviction rates and sent more violent offenders to state prison, at the same time we have launched innovative, cost effective approaches to reduce recidivism and break the cycles of crime.

Four years ago my office pioneered a model reentry initiative called "Back on Track" to reduce recidivism among nonviolent offenders. Back on Track combines accountability with opportunity to ensure that first-time nonviolent drug offenders are held accountable, stop committing crime and become self-sufficient. In Back on Track, offenders plead guilty and commit to strict court supervision as they complete an intensive personal responsibility program. They get trained for a job, go back to school, get current with child support, enroll in parenting classes, and become positive contributors in their communities. The program encompasses swift sanctions for making bad choices and clear incentives for good ones. As a result, less than 10 percent of Back on Track graduates have re-offended compared to a 54 percent recidivism rate statewide for a comparable population of offenders. We have achieved this success at a fraction of the cost of traditional corrections approaches. Back on Track costs about $5,000 annually per participant, compared to between $35,000 and $47,000 for a year in jail or prison.

To graduate, Back on Track participants must be employed or in school. The program has been selected as a national model by the National District Attorney's Association and at least two jurisdictions have replicated the initiative. We are proving that preventing recidivism is both doable and cost-effective.

This is just one example of what can be done to improve public safety and break the cycle of crime. Being smart on crime requires changing our thinking. Albert Einstein once said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." The State of California is at an economic crossroads that demands new approaches. With a genuine investment in breaking cycles of crime, we can improve public safety at the same time that we save precious public resources. That is smart on crime.

Kamala Harris raises $1.2 million during first six months of 2009, more than any other Democratic or Republican Attorney General

admin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:27:51 -0700

Since launching campaign for AG last November, Harris has raised more than $1.3 million from 2,400 donors

SAN FRANCISCO – The Kamala Harris for Attorney General campaign raised $1,204,606 during the first six months of 2009, bringing her campaign’s total to over $1.3 million raised from more than 2,400 donors. Harris’ fundraising total exceeds her nearest competitors by more than $200,000, and does not include any funds transferred from other accounts. More than $500,000 of Harris’ total was raised online.

The fundraising totals, as reported on the California Secretary of State’s website, are as follows:

Kamala Harris                                 $ 1,204,606
Alberto Torrico                               $ 991,844
Rocky Delgadillo                           $ 935,624  
Ted Lieu                                         $ 495,940  
Pedro Nava                                     $ 227,358  
Chris Kelly    $ 62,232

The two Republicans currently with Attorney General committees reported the following totals:

Tom Harman $ 429,067
Chuck Poochigian $ 0

The Sacramento Bee reported last month about how the Harris campaign turned “buzz into bucks”:

Kamala Harris set off her campaign for attorney general last year with a certain up-and-comer buzz in Democratic Party circles. Barack Obama summoned Harris as his stand-in at the state Democratic convention…But what Harris didn't have was money. At the end of last year, the San Francisco District Attorney had but $117,000 in her attorney general's campaign account…

…[W]ith Team Harris announcing that she raked in $1.2 million in donations since January 1st, Harris appears to have significantly outstripped [her opponents] in the race for cash since the first of the year.”

The Harris campaign has more than $750,000 cash on hand.