Interesting review of the (too cautious?) work of California’s Attorney General
Kamala D. Harris, California’s top law enforcement officer, had little to say in July when an Orange County federal judge declared the state’s death penalty system unconstitutional. Several weeks later, Harris announced that she would challenge the decision, but her reasoning was curious: The ruling, she said, “undermines important protections that our courts provide to defendants.”
That she delayed making her views known — and then used a liberal justification to explain a response sought by conservatives — has fueled a perception that Harris is reluctant to stake out positions on controversial issues….
On the conservative side, Kent Scheidegger of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation said Harris “hasn’t done anything really bad but also hasn’t been the vigorous leader California needs.… [Former Republican Atty. Gen.] Dan Lungren would have been out the next day denouncing the opinion and vowing to take it to the Supreme Court.”
Harris, 49, bristles at the suggestion that she is afraid to take stands. “On the issue of same-sex marriage, my position was very clear,” Harris said in a recent interview. She was referring to her refusal to defend Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure limiting matrimony to one man and woman, which was struck down in court….
During her time as attorney general, Harris has used the office to draw attention to transnational crime, recidivism and truancy. She also has created units to focus on cyber-crime and cyber-privacy. In deciding to appeal the ruling against the death penalty, which excoriated the system for decades-long delays, Harris said she was moved by concern that appeals might be streamlined “at the expense of due process” — meaning the protection of inmates’ rights. In his decision, however, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney had not suggested that defendants’ protections should be curtailed. He pointed to a study that blamed logjams in the system on various factors.
Although Harris personally opposes the death penalty, her aides have emphasized that she would vigorously defend the law. If the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agrees with Carney, Harris then would have to decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court. If she decided against an appeal, the death penalty in California would probably end. “We will have to see what the court rules,” Harris said, without elaborating on her thinking.
She delighted death penalty supporters Wednesday by appointing Gerald Engler, a longtime assistant attorney general and former county prosecutor, to head the office’s criminal division. Scheidegger, a strong proponent of executions, called the choice “an out-of-the park home run.”
When she first ran for attorney general four years ago, Harris barely defeated former Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, who had heavy backing from law enforcement. Today, police groups back Harris. “She has not let her personal views undermine the constitutional role of the office,” said John Lovell, a lobbyist for the California Police Chiefs Assn., which has endorsed her. “She has been very accessible and she has a real problem-solving, analytical style.”…
[Her Republican opponent Ron] Gold has blasted her for failing to take a stand on the legalization of marijuana. He favors legalization, while Harris has not made up her mind. “She does not take chances,” Gold said. “AG for her doesn’t mean ‘attorney general.’ It means ‘almost governor.'”
Harris attributes her reticence to a desire for more information. She said she wants to review Washington’s and Colorado’s experiences with legalization before deciding whether it would be good for California. “It would be irresponsible for me as the chief law enforcement officer to take a position based on its popularity without thinking it would actually work,” Harris said.
She backed the legalization of marijuana for medical needs, but has done little to clarify the law or push for regulation, activists complain. “She has been largely absent” from efforts in Sacramento to establish regulations, said Alex Kreit, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and author of a textbook on drug law. “It’s less about trying to be middle of the road and more about not rocking the boat.”