Kamala Harris Archives
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Two court decisions today are enough to make you think that, slowly but surely, some kind of reasonableness is returning to civic life.
First, the Supreme Court has ruled that it's unconstitutional to execute children. If you're under 18, says the court in a nice, reasonable follow-up to the ruling on mentally handicapped defendants, you're too young to face the death penalty.
Take that Diane Feinstein. DA Kamala Harris' approach to the death penalty is looking smarter all the time.
The other good news came when a Bush-appointed judge in South Carolina told government lawyers to free Jose Padilla, the "enemy combatant" who has been in jail for three years. The New York Times says the judge in the Padilla case was taking his cues from a similar ruling last year before the Supreme Court.
The Times did a very good series on Padilla late last year. The administration tried very hard to make this wanna-be tough guy sound like a threat to world peace, that's not what the Times found.
This is an interesting background for the Senate fight over judicial appointments. And it's worth remembering that this is how that checks and balances process is supposed to work. Clearly, the administration over-reached.
Tue 01:07 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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Every once in a while, its worth remembering that the laws that make San Francisco a haven for gay people are the same laws that break new ground in giving straight women legal – and sometimes social – parity with men.
D.A. Kamala Harris probably didn’t have such high-mindedness on the brain when she decided not to take up the prostitution busts than an eager SFPD had made at the strip clubs on Broadway. The problem with busting prostitutes is that, very often, it’s the victim who gets arrested. Yes, there are a lot of sex workers who are happy and proud of what they do – okay, I’m willing to concede that point – but it’s not universal and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.
Continue reading "Good for the Gander...."Fri 12:35 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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San Francisco Police Officer Jeffrey Chang writes into the Ex to contest some of the observations made earlier in the week by Alameda D.A. Patrick Mattimore.
And whaddyaknow, Chang takes the cheap shot. He can't wait, either. It's his second paragraph:
Continue reading "Equal Time Wasted"Thu 11:39 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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The San Francisco Examiner, which is slowly but surely becoming a good local news read, ran a smart opinion piece Monday. The essay by former Alameda County prosecutor Patrick Mattimore talked intelligently about the work San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has cut out for her and how her relationship with the SFPD isn’t exactly on the skids. Not yet, anyway. Not if the cops start doing their part.
Wed 09:43 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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Welcome to the new San Francisco, the city of political harmony.
Hard to believe but that’s the best way to read the latest polls presented to us today by The SF Chronicle’s Matier and Ross.
Continue reading "The City of Brotherly Love By the Bay"Wed 12:19 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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A few days ago, at a fundraiser for Public Knowledge, I fell into a conversation about San Francisco politics after someone I was talking with suggested this ‘blog was “just” about local politics.
Local politics isn’t considered interesting by Big Media, unless of course, Graydon Carter writes a hard-hitting expose on New York City’s anti-smoking policies. But San Francisco is unusual in a number of respects. Its ethnic diversity, for starters. But so is the way in which the city has been pulled and tugged by the sudden influx of a newly wealthy group of young, efficient-minded business people. I wrote about this a few years ago; it’s the political force that elected Gavin Newsom and makes Plan C an increasingly important part of San Francisco politics. The city’s staunch traditional Liberalism combined with this new way of looking at things – that Progressive Libertarianism I keep babbling about – is forging some interesting political perspectives and creating some new political figures.
The highest profile this week is District Attorney Kamala Harris. With her refusal to ask for the death penalty against the young man who shot SFPolice officer Isaac Espinoza, Harris is staring down the department’s union rank and file and its top brass. For too long, Democrats anxious not be seen as soft on crime have used the death penalty as a way to prove their top cop mettle. It’s an approach that’s worked pretty effectively. But this nation frequent use of death penalty earns it (more) enmity overseas and, even more interestingly, it’s under attack by a supposedly conservative Supreme Court. Harris’ position may, over time, prove to be a smart play for her own career as well as her party’s.
Mayor Gavin Newsom is getting huzzahs from all over, most recently in this week’s SFWeekly which quotes New Democratic Network executive director Simon Rosenberg extolling the new mayor’s virtues. Much of what the NDN likes about Newsom – his business savvy, his pragmatism – has yet to be tested: His ability to manage the city. In letting the city issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples Newsom has upped his profile and carved out – like Harris – a piece of political turf all his own.
Centrists Democrats who have long wrapped themselves in the language of social and fiscal moderation, to get out from under the “tax and spend” label. Newsom is going to try to do one – solve a budget mess -- without the other and it’s not clear where he’s headed or if he will succeed. But again, this could be a turning point – an important one that forges a pragmatic business sense with a refreshing social liberalism -- for the Democratic Party.
All politics is local. But some local politics is more interesting than others.
Fri 10:23 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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God only knows what Sen. Dianne Feinstein was thinking when she called for the death penalty for the 21-year-old who shot SF Police officer Isaac Espinoza. At the officer’s funeral. Not exactly a time when emotions are in check.
Wed 10:54 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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Before San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decided issue same-sex couple marriage licenses, it looked as though newly elected District Attorney Kamala Harris had the brighter political future.
Tue 09:09 AM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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The Chron has endorsed Kamala Harris for San Francisco District Attorney, about as nice a birthday present as anyone could ask for.
The paper’s edit board was positively enthusiastic: “Kamala Harris provides a chance to have the best of both visions of a district attorney's office. She is highly competent, dedicated to law enforcement and a force for innovation,” the paper wrote. “San Francisco deserves a district attorney who can bring dignity and integrity to an office long lacking it -- and who can put people behind bars who deserve it. Harris is our choice.”
Harris, whose ex-boyfriend Willie Brown, hasn’t exactly made her public life easier, has been doing very well in the polls – despite the debate over her violating campaign spending caps and subsequent fine by the city’s ethics commission.
A recent business community poll – one that showed 34 percent of those contacted were undecided – gave Harris 17 percent of the vote, double the 8 percent she attracted over the summer.
That same poll shows that current D.A. Terrance Hallinan is in serious trouble, garnering only 23 percent of those polled, a standing that’s only going to be further eroded by the Chron endorsement. Bill Fazio, a former assistant D.A., running on a tough-crime platform came in first in the poll, picking up 26 percent of the vote.
Mon 01:30 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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San Francisco's mayoral candidates are having a hard time rising about the din created by Total Recall. But they're doing better, over all, than the folks in the District Attorney's race.
The SF Weekly takes a savvy look at Kamala Harris' candidacy and city politics, specifically the role that Mayor Willie Brown is playing -- or playing at not playing -- in the race.
The "Whither Willie" question is a good one that hasn't been answered. What is the mayor going to do, come January, now that San Francisco isn't in the running to hose the 2012 Olympics? Fill some corporate boards, for sure. There's going to be a renewed interest in finding independent directors -- ie corporate outsiders -- for corporate board seats. That'll help pay his Brioni bill. But what else? What else?
Wed 01:58 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
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For a few months, there's been some quiet talk that Mayoral candidate and Supervisor Gavin Newsom has been "unofficially" endorsing Bill Fazio's campaign for San Francisco District Attorney.
Fazio is running on a pretty standard "law and order" platform, promising to prosecute more offenders that current D.A. Terry Hallinan.
Last night, at the Mission Merchant's candidate forum, Newsom offered a hint that adds substance to the Fazio rumors. "It's not just our lax prosecution…" Newsom said in response to a question about drug dealing in the Mission's parks and playgrounds.
Lax prosecution? Hmmmmmm. Who could he be talking about?
Tue 02:49 PM | permalink | printer-friendly version | email this article
