By Denna Nazem, Staff Writer
Did you know that sixty percent of U.S. Presidents have been lawyers? And 45% of U.S. Congress is made up of attorneys? Government is one career path that a lawyer can choose and some government jobs are very special, like Supreme Court Justice: interpret the U.S. Constitution, have the last judicial word in the land and keep your job for life!
A more attainable job, though still hard to land, is state attorney general. And this year, the California race for AG is between district attorneys of two major cities: Steve Cooley of LA and Kamala Harris of San Francisco. If elected, the 45-year old Kamala, will be the first woman AG and the first AG of African and Indian descent in California.
I met her recently and learned about her “smart on crime” efforts. The book she wrote on the topic argues that the current criminal justice system is not working since two thirds of people released from prison commit another crime within two years. She suggests that rather than take a generic stance for everyone, we should be tough on violent criminals on one side, and prevent crime through innovative, re-entry programs for others. She has increased the felony conviction rates to their highest in 15 years and has lowered recidivism rate dramatically. (Can you say recidivism ten times while blowing a bubble gum?)
Harris’s 63-year old opponent started his career as a police officer in LAPD (how cool is that?) and has been a prosecutor for 27 years. His office is the leader in the state for “Three Strikes” and death penalty convictions. Not that Facebook stats mean anything but Cooly’s 1,311 supporters are dwarfed by Harris’ 26,576. Cooley has raised $250,000 more than Harris and the polls show them neck and neck. With voters going to the polls today, there’s no telling what could happen.
If all this sounds too stressful for a career choice, there is always the more relaxing underwater basket-weaving and unicycle repair.
