This week we celebrate President Obama’s signing of landmark health care reform legislation into law. Thanks to this historic bill, 32 million Americans will gain access to health insurance, health care will become more affordable, and no American will ever again be denied coverage when they get sick or because of pre-existing conditions.

But before the ink was even dry on President Obama’s signature, the attorneys general of 13 states — led by Florida Republican AG Bill McCollum, trying to score political points in his campaign for governor — immediately filed a lawsuit to try to block the new law in the courts. One of my Republican opponents, Tom Harman, is even encouraging current California Attorney General Jerry Brown to join them.

This is the ultimate frivolous lawsuit, brought to you by the GOP — the party of “NO” — and we can’t let them stand in the way of progress.



Sign my petition to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and these 12 other AGs today — and urge them to drop their lawsuit against the historic health care reform bill!

As California’s next Attorney General, I will always fight to put the people’s interests first, not the special interests or any narrow partisan political interest.

California stands to gain tremendously from health care reform. Of the 32 million Americans who will get health coverage under the bill, as many of 7 million of them will be Californians, and everyone in our state will gain more security and stability in their health insurance coverage.

That’s why I will do everything in my power as California Attorney General to defeat efforts to repeal or overturn this critical health care legislation.

And we can start, today, by urging these Republican attorneys general to drop their frivolous lawsuit against the new health care bill.

Sign my petition to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and these 12 other AGs today — and urge them to drop their lawsuit against the historic health care reform bill!

Do you want the attorneys general from Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, Louisiana, and South Dakota telling Californians that they can’t have health care reform?

I don’t.

The people of California want and deserve the benefits of health care reform. Please join me in speaking out today, and urging these attorneys general to drop their frivolous lawsuit.

Thanks.

On Thursday, I had an opportunity to visit with young students solving problems, sharing ideas and diligently working on a science project together with their teachers. The students were doing this during an after-school program, at Politi Elementary School, in the Pico Union neighborhood of Los Angeles. Politi Elementary is one of many elementary schools participating in LA’s BEST, an after school education, enrichment and recreation program serving more than 28,000 children in economically challenged neighborhoods of Los Angeles. I was fortunate to see first hand the positive impact this type of program has on young students during a program tour, led by LA’s BEST Executive Director Carla Sanger.

This tour highlighted the significance of engaging kids at an early age in academic, physical, and cultural activities that keep them off the streets and out of California’s criminal justice system. The LA’s BEST After School program at Politi Elementary School is a shining and innovative example of how young people can thrive in a constructive learning environment instead of turning to drugs, gang activity or other delinquent behaviors. To date, more than 212,000 children have gone through LA’s BEST and many are now lawyers, police officers, educators, artists and small business owners.

Though they also haven’t been spared from the state’s budget cuts, after-school programs keep children occupied during the hours when violent juvenile crime is most likely to occur. Recent statewide and local evaluations of California’s after-school programs found consistently positive results for students enrolled in these programs, including improved student achievement, increased school attendance and improved personal behavior. In fact, studies show that kids in LA’s BEST are 30 % less likely to commit juvenile crime and 20% less likely to drop out of school. With public school funding being decimated statewide and many after-school programs being cut, I believe it is essential to preserve and expand programs like LA’s BEST, in order to keep kids safe, engaged and off the streets.

As Attorney General, expanding educational and after-school programs for young people is a major component of my crime prevention plan. I will work to increase educational and economic opportunities for all Californians, reduce gang activity, strengthen effective rehabilitation programs, and improve community-police relations. By implementing these crime prevention initiatives, we can make California a safer and stronger place for our families and kids. When our children are actively engaged in school-through effective teachers, supportive administrations and afterschool programs-they do not turn to gangs and crime as a means to find a supportive community.

I will also work alongside educators and organizations like LA’s BEST to help young people create a path to success. I will work to improve educational opportunities and expand after-school programs that result in greater productivity and reduced crime in our communities. I will also work to prevent crime through smart, effective policies that address the roots of criminal activity and help keep our communities safe. As the next Attorney General, I will bring an innovative and results-oriented approach to fighting crime and protecting the citizens of California.

For more information about my campaign, please visit www.kelly2010.com.

(Calitics will promote to the front page a reasonable number of candidate diaries that the Editorial Board believes communicate substantive policy positions of which the Calitics community should be aware – promoted by jsw)

Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger introduced his latest bad idea for solving our state’s budget crisis: privatizing California’s prison system.

Prisons must be managed with public safety, inmate welfare, and rehabilitation as top priorities — not maximizing corporate profits. What’s more, we can’t facilitate the creation of new powerful corporations with the financial incentive to lobby for the imprisonment of more and more residents of our state.

Turning over control of some or all of California’s prisons to private corporations would be a disaster for California — and we can’t let it happen.

So I’ve launched a new petition — on Facebook and also on my campaign website — to spread the word and build opposition to Governor Schwarzenegger’s privatization proposal. I hope you’ll take a minute to join me, urging the governor and your legislators not to privatize California’s prisons.

For six years, we’ve had a governor who failed to manage our prisons — and now he wants to avoid responsibility for the consequences of his mismanagement.

Solving this crisis requires a serious and thoughtful reorganization of the way California manages incarcerations, prisons, and public safety systems in general. To reduce the prison population, we must deter crime and reach young people early, before they begin down the criminal path, channeling them into more productive pursuits.

Please sign my petition to Governor Schwarzenegger and your legislators now (on Facebook here, and on my campaign website here).

Prison and sentencing reform have many complex elements, and one-stop-shop solutions such as privatization are not the answer.

For Governor Schwarzenegger to proclaim that the answer to our failing and costly prison system is to move from public to private management is out of touch with reality.

Thanks so much for standing with me and making your voice heard on this critical issue.

— Chris Kelly, Democratic candidate for California Attorney General

It’s great to be here blogging with you at Calitics! I look forward to stopping by frequently as my campaign for Attorney General continues over the coming weeks and months.

Today I want to share some news with you — and get your feedback.

In today’s fast-paced environment, California deserves better than ineffective policies that are out of touch with ever-changing technology and fail to keep our communities safe. As the next Attorney General of California, I will apply an innovative, fresh, and tech-savvy approach to fighting crime and protecting the citizens of California.

So this week I’m rolling out my new plan, Innovation First: Using Technology to Fight Crime, which will combat the fiscal, legal, and public safety problems that Californians deal with on a daily basis. This is a call to action. The next Attorney General must be willing to utilize new and innovative tools that reduce crime, keep violent offenders off our streets, protect our children, and provide local law enforcement with the resources they need to fight crime.

Details of my new plan on the flip.

You can learn more about my Innovation First plan here: http://www.kelly2010.com/innovation

For too long, the state of California has thrown more taxpayer money at substandard “public safety” systems that don’t cut it. Violent crime is on the rise and police patrolling our cities streets are dying. Rehabilitation programs intended to re-engage offenders are carelessly monitored and haphazardly organized. This is costing time, money and resources that the state of California can’t afford to expend.

Given my background as a policy advisor to President Bill Clinton, and my experience working with Attorneys General from around the country while serving as Chief Privacy Officer of Facebook, I will be able to quickly implement and utilize new technology and innovative solutions that will reduce crime and make California safer.

My first priority is to make certain that California’s forensic technology is on the cutting-edge and that our regional crime labs and local law enforcement have the necessary tools to deal with complex crime scene investigation and analysis. I will also review training techniques from the California Criminalistics Institute to ensure that essential forensics training programs are made available to the appropriate California law enforcement agencies.

Also, as Attorney General, I will also work towards improving efficiency of our DNA analysis and hold laboratories accountable for performance measures. I will put cost saving measures in place to prevent spending taxpayer money on costly private DNA analysis laboratories.

Second, I will create a standardized crime mapping system across the state of California so local enforcement agencies can work together more effectively and efficiently. This will allow law enforcement agencies to accurately evaluate crime data and better respond to criminal acts in real-time. Additionally, I will work with law enforcement in all 58 counties to form strategic partnerships, including building cross-jurisdictional and regional crime analysis information sharing systems.

As Attorney General, I will conduct an assessment and overhaul of all essential technology upgrades that are necessary for police and sheriffs to effectively combat crime. This will include upgrading databases and outdated computer systems with technologically advanced systems and mapping technologies that highlight criminal hotspots for officers to target.

Third, I will develop and implement an effective Global Positioning Monitoring System that would increase and improve supervision and monitoring of parolees. In the past, the transformation from prisoner to parolee has failed to keep Californians safe.

In particular, the recent Jaycee Dugard case is a tragic example of what can happen when our officers are not held accountable for proper investigation and for monitoring of tracking technology. The California Inspector General’s November 2009 report into the kidnapping, hostage holding and sexual assaults on Jaycee Dugard revealed the systematic failure of California’s parole and probation system.

As Attorney General, I will develop and implement an effective Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring policy, set training and performance standards for all parole agents and increase accountability for California’s parole and probation enforcement supervisors.



Fourth, as Attorney General I will work with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to prevent high-tech Internet fraud and identity theft. Internet fraud and identity theft are becoming increasingly prevalent in our state. Californians need advanced computer privacy technology and innovative law enforcement to ensure our online safety. Internet fraud and identity theft costs California taxpayers millions of dollars. With the proper allocation of innovative and smart resources, these types of crime can be avoided.

As Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer, I have first hand experience working with Attorneys General around the country to promote a trusted and safe online experience. In New York, working with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, I helped craft the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (E-Stop). Under this law, sex offenders who previously had used the internet to commit a crime or who are determined to be a high-risk threat would have their online usage restricted by the state’s parole board, including making it a violation to use unregistered e-mail addresses. This is the first step in updating Megan’s law for the digital age.

Finally, California’s justice system must have up-to-date, efficient computer systems. Tracking criminal activity and maintaining accurate data will improve legal services for Californians while also saving taxpayers millions of dollars. Given our state’s budget crisis, improving computer-based systems is something our state cannot afford to ignore.

It is time for to take the state of California in a new direction, to take a new path. In particular, it’s time to stop judging politicians on a curve, especially when it comes to crime. Crime, coupled with misused resources to fight crime, not only costs lives but also precious resources and money at a time when California is in dire need of economic strength and stability.

I aim to combine my service in government and experience in the private sector to deliver for Californians in this new role, but I can only do so with your help. Please join me at kelly2010.com and at facebook.com/chriskelly to begin the long process of rebuilding our broken state.

To read more about and endorse my Innovation First plan, please visit http://www.kelly2010.com/innovation

And if you have any feedback on my plan, I hope you’ll share it in the comments.

Thanks!

Cross-posted at Huffington Post