ROLE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IS TO DO JUSTICE

By Glen Freeman Mowrer

Change is needed in how the Attorney General perceives and fulfills the function of the office.

I would change this. My primary goal as Attorney General will be to assure that Justice is pursued, obtained and protected for all the people of California.

Thus I would:

· Immediately declare a moratorium on the pursuit of the death penalty in all cases being handled by the Attorney General pending evaluation of the appropriateness and fairness of the death penalty as administered in California

· Immediately institute a review of all "3 Strikes" cases of those defendants now incarcerated in state prisons, whether or not such cases are final. This review would evaluate the fairness of the application of the 3 Strikes law to the individual using criteria set forth in recent cases holding that this law can result in cruel and unusual punishment. I would instruct the reviewing staff to presume that all 3 Strike convictions for non-violent crimes should be presumed to be cruel and unusual. Having identified such cases I would petition the courts for re-sentencing of such inmates using non-3 Strike sentencing guidelines.

· Convene a meeting of all District Attorneys, Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police in California to examine the present system of criminal prosecution. I would standardize prosecutorial guidelines to minimize the arbitrariness of our present system whereby, for example, one county convicts a small-time thief of a 3 strikes violation while a second sends such defendants to diversion programs or one District Attorney seeks the death penalty for a crime which would be treated as manslaughter in a different county.

· Support, by litigation if necessary, adequate funding of criminal defense offices to the goal that they have no less resource available for the defendants than is commonly available for the prosecution.

· At the end of my first year in office I will have prepared a report for the California Legislature recommending changes in our criminal justice laws based on the results of the work detailed above and more. The major emphasis in such report would be evaluation of the application of the death penalty, the need for the high level of incarceration and the potential for alternative sentencing which would emphasize education, treatment and re-integration of convicted persons into society.

· Initiate litigation in support of the California Medical Marijuana laws and abandon all Attorney General lawsuits which interfere with the reasonable and practical implementation of these laws.

· Evaluate the role of corporations in California and recommend tools needed to re-establish state control over these artificial entities. Primary emphasis would be on removing the concept that corporations are entitled to be treated as real people in terms of personal rights. We need to recognize that they are business entities, created for the purpose of profit. They are not persons and should not enjoy the same rights as real people do when it comes to, for example, the communication of false or intentionally misleading information. Even more importantly, corporations have obtained protections greater than those enjoyed by real people when they commit criminal acts. These protections should be eliminated. People must come first.

· Convene a special commission to investigate the motives for the continued construction of prisons in California at a time when the crime rate continues to fall. Emphasis in this investigation would be on the relationship between prison employee unions, big business and political campaign contributions. Included would be evaluation of the obstructions placed by such groups in the establishment and use of alternatives to incarceration, drug and alcohol treatment and education.

With such a program California can lead the way to a more enlightened criminal and civil legal system and a more peaceful society. We can re-establish the rights on people over corporations and regain control of our food, of our environment, or our medical system, of our schools and of our day-to-day lives.

In short, we can establish Justice.