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UpFront June Primary Is Critical Test For Kamala Harris In Historical Bid For Senate
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elped by strong name recognition, California Attorney General Kamala Harris added 14 state legislators to her long list of supporters last month in her bid to become the state’s next U.S. senator. She has amassed the support of more than the two-thirds of the Democrats currently serving in the State Senate and State Assembly. “I’m very grateful for the support of these leaders representing communities across our state,” said Harris. “This campaign is about standing up for our families and getting real results for California from Washington, and I am glad to have legislative leaders on our team.” It’s still too early to predict victory before the June primary, although an April field poll showed Harris had a clear lead with 27 percent of likely voters over rival Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 14 percent. Another poll, however, showed a significant number of the electorate undecided about whom to support of the 34 candidates on the ballot. Harris jumped into the Senate race last year following Senator Barbara Boxer’s announcement that she would retire in 2016 after serving nearly 24 years in the chamber. The California Senate hopeful quickly became an early front-runner among the rivals in the crowded field. If she wins, Harris, the daughter of a JamaicanAmerican father and Indian mother, could make history in the Golden State. The nation hasn’t seen a black female senator since Carol Moseley Braun became the first over 20 years ago. One of Harris’ earliest backs is Los Angeles City Council President Herb J. Wesson, Jr. “Kamala Harris is a proven champion
for California’s families and is known for delivering the results our communities so desperately need,” Wesson said. “Harris’ leadership and tenacity are the exact qualities the Golden State needs in our next U.S. Senator.” Harris vowed to work on legislation that would create long-term economic growth and that “lifts families on every rung of the economic ladder,” while also fostering innovation, job training and boosting small businesses and startups.
This, she believes can be accomplished by creating decent paying jobs and implementing family leave and equal pay policies that benefit working families. “It’s an issue important to all, but black women, poor women, working women, it’s about economic empowerment, she said. At a recent Baldwin Hills fundraiser, Harris told the audience people are increasingly waking up to the fact that nothing seems to change in Washington. “Everywhere I go, Californians tell me they want more leaders in Washington
STEPHEN ODUNTAN Staff Writer
who will break through the dysfunction and actually help families in our state,” Harris said. “I’ve done just that as a career prosecutor — winning results that have made a real difference for California families — and that’s what I would continue to do in the U.S. Senate.” And though she is leading in the polls, Harris believes that getting out the vote in the June primary to be critical, especially given the growing clout of Latinos and Sanchez appeal to them to make her the first Latina ever elected to the U.S. Senate. “A lot of people think Kamala has it in bag, but no candidate ever has it in the bag,” said Kerman Maddox, owner of Dakota Communications, a Democratic super delegate and a leading public policy advisor.“Turnout in the African American community statewide is going to be critical for Kamala Harris’ chances to not only win the primary, but come in first place as top vote getter. Money and momentum follow the top vote getters. Not only do you get additional financial support, but you also get greater media coverage and more volunteers, all of which greatly improves her chances in the fall.” Harris swept into office as California’s attorney general in 2010 and cruised to a landslide re-election victory in 2014. To her credit, she is better known across the state than any of her competitors and her star power has made her a hit with Hollywood’s political machine, including those like Hill Harper, Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Sean Penn, and Clarence Avant. She was also cited by the New York Times to be among the seventeen most likely women to become the first female President of the United States.
Attorney Carl Douglas Separates Fact From Fiction In O.J. TV Mini-Series X’s miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime story, wrapped up its ten weeks run last month, but not without renewing interest and controversy in one of the most perplexing cases in the history of our nation, while delivering bombshell ratings to FX. Even today, 20 years later, just the mention of “The Trial of the Century” sparks strong and mixed opinions surrounding the final verdict. But exactly how much of the series was true? Attorney Carl E. Douglas, one of the defense lawyers in the case, spoke at length in an interview with L.A. Focus about the 1995 trial to help separate fact from fiction. How accurate was FX’s crime story series The People v. O.J. Simpson?
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Many of the actual themes or events are fictionalized, but certainly the spirit of what was conveyed was very accurate. The courtroom scenes were probably the most verbatim because they had trial transcripts. Overall, I would call it about 80- 85% accurate. The prosecution seemed confident they could get a conviction. Did they lose a slam-dunk case? The prosecution was very cocky in the beginning. The mini-series accurately depicted them beaming with confidence. They had more physical evidence than
most murder trials I’d ever seen, but the problem many prosecutors have is that while they have more of the evidence, they tend to think one plus one equals two. Defense lawyers are more nuanced. They have to be able to take a certain set of facts and massage them in a way that is favorable to the defense. How did the prosecution hurt their case if they had ample evidence? They made a grave and tactical error to decide to base their entire prosecution on Detective Mark Fuhrman. We all knew at the time Fuhrman had a checkered, racially biased history. As shown in the series, Marcia Clark and Chris Darden were indifferent about calling him to the witness stand. She ultimately admitted later it was a fatal mistake. I think that was one of many mistakes. Was Mark Fuhrman the face of the L.A.P.D as Johnnie Cochran alleged? The horrific nature of his interviews led one invariably to take the position that this was not some detective creating fictionalized stories for a screenwriter. This was an active detective who was describing life, as he knew it. Fuhrman’s damaging evidence exposed and reinforced
things that have been part of the unfortunate history of the L.A.P.D. How personal were the clashes between the prosecution and defense? Trial lawyers are Type A personalities, and this was the trial of the century. The lawyers engaged in legal combat everyday from 9:a.m. until 4:30 p.m. It was stressful and highly competitive, but Johnnie had a unique ability to fight tooth and nail and then at a break or lunch period or at the end of the day, walk over to the prosecution team and ask about their family, or engage in a kind of charming conversation about the weather or anything benign and unassuming.
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News Briefs Board Of Supervisors Take Steps To Prevent Minimum Wage Theft The Board of Supervisors took it first steps last month toward enforcing Los Angeles County’s minimum wage. The Department of Consumer and Business Affairs implemented the wage enforcement program, aimed at preventing “wage theft.” Supervisor Hilda Solis championed enforcement. “We are taking the next step to solve a problem that both employers and employees agree is a crisis for fair competition and dignity at work,” Solis said. DCPA already have inspectors canvasing residential neighborhoods to explain the minimum wage law, set to take effect July 1. Los Angeles County Business Federation or BizFed said county employees sought input from other business groups many of whom are also supporting the enforcement ordinance. “The end result is a reasonable, balanced ordinance,” said BizFed founding CEO Tracy Rafter. Labor leaders also praised the result. “Today’s landmark decision by the Board of Supervisors means that every worker in unincorporated Los Angeles County will no longer have to live in fear of unpaid wages,” said Rusty Hicks of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “Los Angeles County’s working families will now be able to see the value of an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.” Earlier this year, City Council approved a plan to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020.
Butts Says Economic Boom Is Coming To Inglewood More than a thousand guests packed the Forum in Inglewood last month as Mayor James Butts delivered his sixth State of the City address. With construction underway at the site of the future home of the Los Angeles Rams, an array of significant infrastructure improvements were among the topics discussed including city finances. Butts told residents that when he took office in 2011, he had been the “heir to an accumulated $18.6 million structural deficit, decayed roads, deteriorating sidewalks and a 60-year-old water system that was failing.” Since then, he said, “swift, decisive actions and sacrifices” have been required… and taken. “One hundred forty positions were eliminated, and all city employees including the mayor and council members voluntarily had their pay reduced.” By a targeted approach to ramping up city services such as street and tree trimming, the city has more paved roads than the prior fifteen years combined—plus the landscape trimming project saves the city over five hundred thousand dollars a year. Butts also touched on the housing prices stating that between 2012 and 2015 Inglewood housing prices have risen 85%. “If you want to be part of an economic boom, get in now and buy your property and come armed with your concept and we are ready to embrace you,” said Butts. “Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together,” Butts and the City Council said.