Kamala's Way
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In 1989, Keker had led: Dan Morain, “Ready for Combat: The Man Who Would Prosecute Oliver North Is a Marine Veteran Known for His Tough Courtroom Stance,” Los Angeles Times, January 12, 1989.
“We were trying to reimagine”: Debbie Mesloh (Harris friend and first campaign worker; campaign spokeswoman) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
“She just beamed”: Laura Talmus (Harris friend and fund-raiser) in discussion with the author, September 2020.
The training was for candidates: Jane Ganahl, “Finding Their Voices: Training Program Helps Women Shape Political Dreams,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 2003.
made a point of distancing herself: Byrne, “Kamala’s Karma.”
“The bottom line is”: Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, “Brains, Brio, Beauty—and Wounded Feelings,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 2003.
Guilfoyle gained notoriety: Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, “Contract Reportedly Out on Life of Dog Case Prosecutor,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 21, 2001.
“It is obviously a gender victory”: Demian Bulwa, “Harris Defeats Hallinan after Bitter Campaign,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 10, 2003.
8: OFFICER DOWN
At about 9:30 p.m.: People v. Hill, A117787, January 13, 2011.
Police, having been tipped: Demian Bulwa and Jaxon Van Derbeken, “Suspect in Slaying of SFPD Officer in Custody,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 12, 2004.
“To hesitate is to die”: People v. Hill, A117787, January 13, 2011.
Neighborhood kids drew a picture: Demian Bulwa and Jaxon Van Derbeken, “Suspect in Slaying of SFPD Officer in Custody/Bayview ‘War Zone’ Site of Fatal Shooting Late Saturday Night,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 12, 2004.
“It’s so utterly unnecessary”: Ibid.
she would not seek death for Hill: Jaxon Van Derbeken, “Not Guilty Plea in Killing of Officer,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 15, 2004.
“We, the command staff”: Jaxon Van Derbeken, “S.F. Police Push Hard for Death Penalty,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 2004.
no other similar instance in which prosecutors: Matthew B. Stannard, “San Francisco D.A. Won’t Pursue Death in Cop Slaying,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 14, 2004.
forty-three of eighty members: Assembly Joint Resolution No. 82, California Legislature, 2003–2004 Regular Session (2004).
“Isaac paid the ultimate price”: Matthew B. Stannard, “Police Mourn Hero Who Refused to Give Up,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 17, 2004.
“This is not only the definition”: Ibid.
“You could feel the shock”: Bill Lockyer (former California attorney general) in discussion with the author, September 2020.
Feinstein had her own history: John Balzar, “Feinstein Support of Death Penalty Draws Party Boos,” Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1990.
“For those who want this defendant”: Kamala Harris, “Justice for Officer Espinoza, Peace for the City,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 23, 2004.
9: GETTING “SMART” ON CRIME
“Sunnydale, also called ‘The Dale’ ”: Leslie Fulbright, “Life at the Bottom: S.F.’s Sunnydale Project,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 3, 2008.
The Los Angeles Times detailed the 2008 case: Michael Finnegan, “San Francisco’s D.A.’s Program Trained Illegal Immigrants for Jobs They Couldn’t Legally Hold,” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2009.
“There were no crowds”: Matthew D. Davis (classmate of Harris’s from Hastings and a friend) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
redefined prostitution: Assembly Bill No. 3042 Sentencing, California State Legislature (2004).
“It’s finally in black and white”: Lee Romney, “Bill Would Fight Child Prostitution,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2004.
“There is a very direct connection”: Don Thompson, “Calif. Bill Could Jail Parents if Kids Miss School,” Associated Press, May 13, 2020.
“I just want these kids”: Ibid.
10: HARRIS AND OBAMA
“That was probably not”: Dan Morain, “Republicans Dismiss Harris at Their Peril,” Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2019; Buffy Wicks (Obama’s chief California organizer in 2007 who later joined his White House staff) in discussion with the author, February 2019.
“I am so psyched”: Carla Marinucci, “Excitement Surrounds Obama’s Visit to Oakland,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 18, 2007.
Obama was on a fund-raising blitz: Dan Morain and Doug Smith, “Clinton and Obama in a Dead Heat,” Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2007.
“one of the most extraordinary”: SanBenito.com, December 11, 2007, https://sanbenito.com/softball-pitch-for-2008/.
“I have my own legacy”: Catherine Kim and Zack Stanton, “55 Things You Need to Know About Kamala Harris,” Politico, August 11, 2020.
11: THE MAD DASH
“long had focused on running”: Dan Morain, “Kamala Harris, an Early Barack Obama Backer, Begins Her Ascent,” Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2008.
They lingered a little too long: Ace Smith (Harris’s chief strategist, political consultant) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
“In movie terms, we are dying”: Scott Martelle, “Top of the Ticket,” Los Angeles Times, September 7, 2007.
“For as long as I could remember”: Kamala Harris, “Everyone Gets Sick. And We Deserve Better,” New York Times, December 29, 2018.
“Kamala has spent”: “LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Endorses Kamala Harris for Attorney General,” Facebook, April 16, 2010, https://www.facebook.com/notes/kamala-harris/la-mayor-antonio-villaraigosa-endorses-kamala-harris-for-attorney-general/417633530662/.
found that Harris based her statement: Peter Jamison, “A Lack of Conviction,” SF Weekly, May 5, 2010.
“They should only bring cases”: Kate Chatfield (policy director of the Justice Collaborative; also affiliated with University of San Francisco law school) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
On that same day, a separate jury: Bob Egelko, “SF Man Awarded $10 Million after Jury Finds Police Framed Him for Murder,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 2018.
Trulove was an aspiring rapper: Jaxon Van Derbeken, “Reality TV Figure’s Courtroom Drama,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 3, 2010.
“brave eyewitness who stepped”: Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle, February 10, 2010.
a state court of appeal reversed Trulove’s conviction: People v. Trulove, CA1/2, A130481A (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).
a new jury in San Francisco acquitted Trulove: Jaxon Van Derbeken, “Ex-Reality TV Show Contestant Acquitted of Murder in S.F. Retrial,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 11, 2015.
a federal jury awarded him $14.5 million: Paul Elias, “San Francisco Pays $13.1 Million to Man Framed for Murder,” Associated Press, March 19, 2019.
the San Francisco Board of Supervisors settled: Ibid.
“Kamala Harris tried to be progressive”: Marc J. Zilversmit (San Francisco criminal defense attorney and appellate attorney) in discussion with the author, September 2020.
“People saw the prison system”: Ace Smith (Harris’s chief strategist) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
Authorities were investigating Bell: Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives, “Is a City Manager Worth $800,000?” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 2010.
12: CHANGE COMES TO CALIFORNIA
“Against almost any other opponent”: “Cooley Has Edge in Experience for Attorney General,” editorial, Sacramento Bee, October 8, 2010.
predicted Harris would lose: Bridget Bowman, “When Kamala Harris Lost on Election Night, but Won Three Weeks Later,” RollCall, July 16, 2019.
“This, needless to say, is corruption”: Jeff Gottlieb, Ruben Vives, and Jack Leonard, “Bell Leaders Hauled Off in Cuffs,” Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2010.
“This is not about Kamala Harris”: Steve Cooley (Los Angeles County district attorney) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
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��dear, dear friend”: Alexander Burns, “California’s High-Stakes AG Race,” Politico, November 18, 2010.
Under the headline: Marisa Lagos, “Corruption Fighter Accepted Many Gifts,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 9, 2010.
“cannot withstand any level”: Hollingsworth v Perry, 704 F. Supp. 2d 921 (2010) 123.
“Now that Proposition 8 has been found”: “State Attorney General Debate,” Kamala Harris, Ken Cooley,” October 5, 2010, ATS Video from webcast.ucdavis.edu on July 24, 2015, https://video.ucdavis.edu/media/State+Attorney+General+Debate+-+Kamala+Harris%2C+Ken+Cooley+10-05-2010/0_s5l4d8po.
13: ATTORNEY GENERAL HARRIS
More than one million Californians: Edmund G. Brown Jr., Governor’s Budget Summary, 2011–12, State of California, January 10, 2011, 1.
“She understood the issues”: Dane Gillette (former chief of Criminal Division, California Attorney General’s Office) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5–4 decision: Brown v. Plata, 563 U.S. 493 (2011).
“Shane Taylor was a mistake”: Howard Broadman (former Superior Court judge) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
14: THE RELIC
In 2006, Michael Morales: Morales v. Hickman, 415 F. Supp. 2d 1037 (N.D. Cal. 2006).
Robert Lee Massie, the last San Franciscan: Jim Herron Zamora et al., “Massie Executed for 1979 S.F. Murder,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 27, 2001.
the case of Ernest Dewayne Jones: Jones v. Chappell, 31 F. Supp. 3d 1050 (C.D. Cal. 2014).
“not supported by the law”: “Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Issues Statement on Appeal of Court Ruling on California’s Death Penalty,” press release, State of California Department of Justice, August 21, 2014, https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-issues-statement-appeal-court-ruling-california.
The state appealed Carney’s ruling: Jones v. Davis, 806 F. 3d 538 (9th Cir., 2015).
“immoral, discriminatory”: “Senator Kamala Harris on California Death Penalty Moratorium,” press release, Kamala D. Harris, March 13, 2019, https://www.harris.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-kamala-harris-on-california-death-penalty-moratorium.
The following day, she told reporters: “Kamala Harris Calls for Federal Moratorium on Executions,” Associated Press, March 14, 2019.
California has 691 condemned men: “Condemned Inmate List (Secure),” California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, updated October 7, 2020, https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital-punishment/condemned-inmate-list-secure-request/.
Between June 24 and July 29: “Coronavirus Prison Fatalities Surpass Two Decades of Executions,” Death Penalty Information Center, August 31, 2020, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/coronavirus-prison-fatalities-surpass-two-decades-of-executions-covid-19-has-killed-more-california-death-row-prisoners-than-the-state-has-executed-in-27-years.
“They’d rather execute”: Aldrin Brown and David E. Hendrix, “Evidence on Trial: Kevin Cooper Is on Death Row for the 1983 Massacre of Four People in Chino Hills,” Press-Enterprise, August 20, 2000.
On May 17, 2018: Nicholas Kristof, “Was Kevin Cooper Framed for Murder?” New York Times, May 17, 2018.
15: WEDDING BELLS
“We stood together performing”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 111.
“Too much. Too fast. Too soon”: Dean Murphy, “Some Democrats Blame One of Their Own, New York Times, November 5, 2004.
“San Francisco’s gay-marriage mayor”: “Court Challenges in Pipeline for San Francisco Gay Marriages,” The Big Story with John Gibson, television newscast, John Gibson, Fox News Network, February 17, 2004.
“If every public official”: Lockyer v. City and County of San Francisco, 17 Cal. Rptr. 3d 225 (2004).
“In view of the substance”: Adam Liptak, “California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban,” New York Times, May 16, 2008.
More than 75 percent: “Supplement to the Statement of Vote: Statewide Summary by County for State Ballot Measures,” General Election—Statement of Vote, November 4, 2008, California Secretary of State, https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2008-general/ssov/10-ballot-measures-statewide-summary-by-county.pdf (accessed September 2020).
“We canvassed the entire state”: Jessica Garrison, Cara Mia Dimassa, and Richard C. Paddock, “Nation Watches as State Weighs Ban,” Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2008.
George left little doubt: “Brief for the State of California as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents,” Hollingsworth v. Perry, 12-144, U.S. (2013).
“Chickens gained valuable rights”: Ronald George, Induction Ceremony American Academy of Arts and Sciences, “The Perils of Direct Democracy: The California Experience,” Remarks by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 10, 2009.
filing a brief on February 27, 2013: “Brief for the State of California as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents,” Hollingsworth v. Perry, 12-144, U.S. (2013).
Two days after the Supreme Court ruled: Maura Dolan, “Prop 8: Gay Marriages Can Resume in California, Court Rules,” Los Angeles Times, June 28, 2013.
“On my way to S.F.”: Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris), “On My Way to S.F. City Hall…,” Twitter, June 28, 2013, https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/350744403272413185?s=20.
“By virtue of the power”: KRON 4, “Raw Video Wedding of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier,” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RcpgACc6JY.
16: THE DAMNED PHOTOS
161 laws in total: John Myers, “Even Rivals Say Mark Leno Is One of Sacramento’s Most Accomplished Lawmakers. Now, His Time Is Up,” Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2016.
“protect innocent Californians”: Attorney General Harris testimony, California Senate Public Safety Committee, California State Senate Session 2011–2012 (2011). Audio recording. California State Senate Media Archive.
I spent a cold January night: Dan Morain, “When Confiscating Guns in California Make Sense,” Sacramento Bee, January 22, 2013.
“Babies. Babies. Babies”: Erin Lehane (Harris friend) in discussion with the author, October 2020.
17: MORTGAGE MELTDOWN
“As Attorney General of California”: Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris), “As Attorney General of California…,” Twitter, February 23, 2019, https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1099498399454384128?s=20; Facebook, February 23, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/KamalaHarris/posts/10157501079732923?comment_id=10157501137007923.
“They seemed to be under the misimpression”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 97.
Miller, meanwhile, concluded: Brady Dennis, “N.Y. Bumped from 50-State Foreclosure Committee,” Washington Post, August 23, 2011.
The Los Angeles Times quoted: Alejandro Lazo, “Kamala Harris Pressured to Reject Bank Foreclosure Settlement,” Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2011.
Harris announced that she was: California attorney general Kamala Harris, letter to U.S. associate attorney general Thomas Perrelli and Iowa attorney general Tom Miller, September 30, 2011.
“The banks were furious”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 94.
“There were periods”: Ibid., 100.
On January 23, 2012: Nelson D. Schwartz and Shaila Dewan, “Political Push Moves a Deal on Mortgages Inches Closer,” New York Times, January 23, 2012.
“The reality,” Rodriguez told me: Dan Morain, “A Shallow Promise of Justice in Housing Scandal,” Sacramento Bee, January 26, 2012.
Schneiderman sat by Michelle Obama: Edward-Isaac Dovere, “The Battle That Changed Kamala Harris,” Atlantic, August 20, 2020.
“Hundreds of thousands of homeowners”: “Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Secures $18 Billion California Commitment for Struggling Homeowners,” press release, State of California Department of Justice, February 9, 2012, https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-secures-18-billion-california-commitment.
“This issue has never been”: “Kamala Harris Among the Rising Dem Stars at DNC,” All Things Conside
red, radio newscast, Richard Gonzales, NPR, September 3, 2012.
However, many Californians: Phil Willon, “$25-Billion Foreclosure Settlement Was a Victory for Kamala Harris in California, but It Wasn’t Perfect,” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2016.
“protecting legally exposed mortgage fraudsters”: David Dayen, “Kamala Harris Celebrates Her Role in the Mortgage Crisis Settlement. The Reality Is Quite Different,” Intercept, March 13, 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/03/13/kamala-harris-mortage-crisis/.
“For the banks, the settlement”: Dayen, “Kamala Harris Celebrates Her Role.”
Matt Levin, the housing reporter: Matt Levin, “Big Investment Firms Have Stopped Gobbling Up California Homes,” CalMatters, Los Angeles Daily News, April 5, 2018.
“She made it happen”: Author interview with Mark Leno, October 2020.
18: PHENOMENAL WOMEN
“It was incredible”: Joe Garofoli, “Kamala Harris Gets Key Convention Slot,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 4, 2012.
“If you really want to know”: Kamala Harris, draft of a speech provided to author, September 2012.
Kamala Harris provided Politico: Burgess Everett and Elana Schor, “Kamala Harris Keeps ’Em Guessing,” Politico, March 8, 2018.
19: “JUST A DUDE”
Emhoff represented a Los Angeles company: Jukin Media, Inc. v. QWorldstar, Inc., 2:16-cv-06800 (C.D. Calif. 2017).
Emhoff tells his recollection: Chasten Buttigieg, “Chasten Chats with Douglas Emhoff and Sen. Kamala Harris (w/Special Appearance from Pete Buttigieg!),” YouTube, April 21, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7xyMtJSi0U.
“He’s cute”: K. Harris, Truths We Hold, 126.
“I was like just a dude”: C. Buttigieg, “Chasten Chats with Douglas Emhoff.”