“SO MUCH CRIME HAPPENS IN THE SHADOWS. JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE NOT KNOCKING ON OUR DOOR DOESN’T MEAN WE CAN IGNORE THEIR PROBLEMS.” —Kamala Harris
later. During her tenure, the rate of convictions doubled. She also reduced recidivism among nonviolent, first-time felony drug offenders by establishing and implementing a rigorous job- training program. In 2010, she was elected attorney general,
becoming the first woman, African American, and South Asian in that role in California. She soon adopted a hard line in what has evolved into her signature issue as attorney general: helping California homeowners recover from the national foreclosure crisis. Along with a handful of state attorneys general around the country, Kamala rejected a proposed deal the U.S. Department of Justice had struck with five major banks that would have given Californians barely $4 billion in relief from allegedly abusive mortgage prac- tices. Her refusal to join the majority of attorneys general who were ready to accept the brokered deal shocked consumer advocates, political observers, and the news media. Meanwhile, Kamala resumed negotiations and
sought a better deal from the banks during several more months of protracted talks. By February 2012, she obtained $18 billion for Californians, meaning the revised National Mortgage Settlement agreement grew to $26 billion overall.
“My role was to represent the interests of
Californians,” Kamala says of her insistence on extracting a bigger commitment from the banks. She notes that seven of the 10 U.S. cities hardest- hit by foreclosure in 2011 were in her state. “I hired forensic accountants to assess every county in the state, and too many Californians were devastated by foreclosure. Te details made the difference.” Te emotions tied to home ownership reso-
nated with her personally. A rising star in politics, Kamala gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention last September that recalled the pride of her single parent mother upon purchasing a three-bedroom house in Oakland in the 1970s. “Te American dream belongs to little girls who have the joy, like I did, of watching her mother buy her first home.” A longtime supporter and ally of President
Obama, Kamala crisscrossed the country courting voters on Obama’s behalf during his two cam- paigns for president. Closer to home, she tends to “ask my staff once
in a while who we’re not hearing from,” she says, referring to constituents. “So much crime happens in the shadows. Just because people are not knock- ing on our door doesn’t mean we can ignore their problems.” Last November, for example, she con-
MCCA.COM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013 DIVERSITY & THE BAR® 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52