SFist: Judicial Smackdown: Kopp Hates Harris

Generic

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:53:55 -0800

@ moseman23 Trust me. Your arguments would carry SO much more weight if you were able to resrict your comments to what I said, not what you imagine I said.

davey k

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:57:52 -0800

If you had told me in the mid-80's that I'd be supporting Quentin Kopp on this I would've thrown my bong at you! But here's the truth... K-Spice is a grandstanding fool who thinks she's doing something for what the progs call "social justice" (translation: letting minority criminals get off easy). The fact that Obama considers her as somehow a 'crimefighter' is reason enough not to vote for him.

rzu

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:31:15 -0800

yes, well put jnice

tony_flow

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:55:51 -0800

jnice: *applause*

Tendernob

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:59:46 -0800

Playing devil's advocate on this issue: I think it makes sense to be personally opposed to the DP but still support upholding the current state of the law. If Kamala did not want to support that law, she should have run for state legislature, and had the law changed, instead of signing up for a job that promotes a law she thinks is faulty. In California, a defendant should be grateful if he gets the death penalty. I say this not to promote capital punishment, for I am not an advocate, but rather to highlight the paradox of the quality of a prisoner's life if he is sentenced to life v. death row. In California, we execute fewer than 2% of the criminals sentenced to die-- only 14 since 1978. The rest die of natural causes, just like they would with a life sentence. Also, on death row, you're given isolation at San Quentin, your own cell, etc. It's safer. Life in maximum security means you're traded nightly for packs of menthols, if you're not shivved with a porkchop bone the first week. Death row inmates also have more legal resources available to them, and more of the media's eye.

hillarys_quivering_lip

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:37:10 -0800

Wondernat - are you _sure_ you do not support the death penalty?

wondernat

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:24:43 -0800

ouch, that's gotta hurt the ego. ...or maybe not. I for one am against the death penalty, but the DA's job isn't to exercise his/her personal judgment in regards to the law - s/he must uphold it. I am against the DP but it doesn't change the fact that its' the "Law of the Land." If a case certainly warrants the DP, she must pursue it. Most DP cases are a joke, anyway. It's such a goddamn waste of resources, manpower, and resolve. My personal views notwithstanding, Kamala, please do your job and stop being lazy. SEEK THE DP IN HOMICIDE CASES AND BE DONE WITH IT.

jnice

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:50:58 -0800

It's telling that the commenters that think KH is bad (and I haven't the slightest idea if she is or not) are all about grading a DA for their conviction rate. Presumably they think 100% is ideal - and therefore that no one innocent is ever accused of a crime - or if they are, it's worth a few innocent lives to make sure ALL the guilty are put away. People like this can only imagine "what if I am the victim of a violent crime? What then?" They cannot imagine "what if I am falsely accused of a crime? or battered or needlessly shot by the cops? or locked up for 5 years for a non-violent drug offense and turned into a career criminal?" but these things happen in big American cities too - just not always to the same people. The idea of electing a DA for what they DON'T do is crazy only for people who assume that the criminal justice system is always on the side of real justice. The average San Franciscan is not so sure. Everyone has to assess and manage the risk that something will go tragically wrong in their lives. Not everyone has to go about it the same way.

mcgordonliddy

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:39:48 -0800

well put, Mose.

moseman23

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:53:41 -0800

Oh so correct. Harris has done the impossible--made me miss Hallinan. The incredibly poor performance of KH in office, where the problems of the police force are amplified by the complete contempt of the prosecutors office for the police's work and who they arrest has made our town just about the worst place to have something bad happen to you in. On top of it all, she positions herself in the Obama campaign and national Democratic circles for bigger things. As I have observed no political function is too far flung or insignificant that it cannot take her away from her official duties. What is so incredible is that someone like Generic, if they are really an SF voter, actually considers something like some principled stand on not seeking the death penalty to be a primary reason for electing a DA in a city they inhabit. Well, Generic, I don't know who you are, but imagine you or your close relative witness a murder, and decide to testify: would you want Kamala Harris managing your witness protection program? Or what you dropped the dime on Surenos or Nortenos dealing on your corner in the Mission: honestly, in all honesty, would you depend on Harris and staff to put the gangbangers away using the law? And put yourself in the place of that poor poor man murdered and stuffed into a van for a week while the police force fumbled around, ignoring the pleas of your desperate relatives, and leaves your body to rot in the impound lot? Walk a mile in their shoes, and then think a little about what a prosector ought to be putting on their resume. In Kamala Harris' case, the top item, in bold, should be: I am DA of the best city in America to murder someone-and get away with it.

sfsnark

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:12:40 -0800

Am I wrong or is this the "Bad Cop - No Donut" guy???? Ya have to have lived here for a long time to know that reference...... He was some mucky-muck here in the City. KH is a stupid waste of space, just like the Gavster

fizzandpop

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:12:13 -0800

You are wrong, Bolivia has no coastline, and is in fact a landlocked country bordered by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Peru. I'm not joining your team for Pub Quiz.

Generic

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:24:55 -0800

You are not wrong.

bluecanary

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:18:11 -0800

I could have sworn that I read recently she is deferring decisions on whether to seek the death penalty to a panel of prosecutors in her office. I'm almost certain that it was in a recent article in the examiner about Danielle Bologna stating she wanted the death penalty for the craven animal who murdered her family. It seems I remember yelling about allowing a "panel" to make such decisions was a craven political move to allow her to bring the death penalty against the murder while technically sticking to her anti-death penalty stance. but then again, I yell a lot when I'm reading the paper. Correct me if I'm wrong, by all means.

KatyG

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:15:04 -0800

Ooohhhhhh; tasty thirst-slaking gossip. I thank you.

Tendernob

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:10:33 -0800

But Kamala’s so pretty!! I kid. KatyG: Kopp would hear motions at 9am each day, and he was notorious for beginning his calendar a few minutes early, and handing out $250 "failure to appear" sanctions to lawyers who weren’t present at 8:55a.m. Dick. On one occasion, opposing counsel and I showed up early, but our case was like #22 or something on the calendar, so we weren’t going to be called for awhile. The other guy had to use the restroom, so I told him go ahead, we had plenty of time before our case got called. Some clerk overhead us, and told Kopp. Sure enough, Kopp gets on the bench, calls OUR case first, skipping over the other 20-odd cases ahead of us. I told him that other counsel was in the restroom, he'd be right back, I stipulated to have the other cases heard first, etc. Kopp didn't care: $250 fine for the poor guy. DICK! I really felt sorry for the pro pers with no lawyers, filing restraining orders and whatnot, who had to go before Kopp all by themselves to argue their motions. The guy was just so nasty and cantankerous.

Generic

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:06:51 -0800

terrible prosecution rate? arguable, but ok, fine. terrible conviction rate? check. stupid policy of not pursuing the death penalty? ehhhh, no. She made non-pursuance of the death penalty one of her main campaign promises. And she won. We call that a mandate from the voters. Disagree with it all you like (as I do) but it would have been politically craven of her to welsh on the deal --even in the case of a cop-killer. Seems like your beef is with SF voters.

lola la trailera

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:06:17 -0800

she sucks. she only got the job cuz she dated mr.willie brownz - kamala ur a joke, u shouldve been in a flave flav contest. boooo.

JackL59

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:54:35 -0800

Kamala Harris has: - A terrible prosecution rate - A terrible conviction rate - A stupid policy of not pursuing the death penalty against a cop killer and now a triple homicide of three innocent people. - No support of the Police. Kopp is right and has the Balls to back it up. The San Francisco District Attorney's office has been a statewide joke since Hallinan, and Harris is expanding the laughter.

KatyG

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:52:44 -0800

T'nob, I'd pay to hear or read some of those stories...

turtle_276

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:49:38 -0800

Sounds like Justice Kopp is a getting a little bored. If he wanted to continue to exert influence by tossing around his opinions as "Judge" Quentin Kopp, he shouldn't have retired. Time to take up gardening.

bluecanary

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:42:32 -0800

Kopp isn't saying anything numerous people haven't already said. He just had the cojones to put it in writing.

Tendernob

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:20:07 -0800

Awesome! I was afraid my tip got swallowed. It mysteriously disappeared right after I posted it. Thanks, Brock! So yeah. Kopp is a DICK. I did a happy dance when he retired in '04. He was the law and motion judge in San Mateo County for 5 years, and I have a cabal of horror stories. My favorite is where he once sanctioned a lawyer for having to use the bathroom. Yeah.

anon8mizer

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:17:15 -0800

I agree. Karmala Harris is not strong on crime, and the police officers are discouraged by her office's lack of prosecution. Mean time, she gets on national TV with Larry King to talk about the Election to position herself as an 'up and coming' democratic party leader from California, in preparation for her eventual run for SF mayor and then some high profile state office. But she doesn't have what it takes to go that far. I just hope eventually her facade will fade and voters see through all that smoke screen that's fanned up by her mentor Willie Brown, and the voters will realize there is no much there to vote for.

Generic

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:49:19 -0800

Tell us how you really feel, Super-Q.