There are 4 candidates working to succeed retiring Alameda County District Lawyer Nancy O’Malley within the June 7 election. Just one has the mixed managerial and prosecutorial expertise to guide the workplace of greater than 400 attorneys, investigators and administrative employees members.
That’s Terry Wiley, a 32-year veteran of the workplace who labored his approach from a authorized analysis assistant to turn into the workplace’s first African American chief assistant district legal professional.
Alongside the way in which, Wiley has held 21 completely different assignments, all the pieces from misdemeanor trials to grisly felony homicide circumstances; from overseeing juvenile court docket packages to prosecuting the cops within the infamous Riders police corruption trial; from main the felony trial workforce in south county to recruitment director and head of human sources.
He has additionally served in appointed positions for the American Bar Affiliation and state Bar of California, and he cofounded the Bay Space Black Prosecutors’ Affiliation.
It’s laborious to think about a lawyer higher ready to take over the administration of the District Lawyer’s Workplace. However this election can also be about management and a willingness to tackle a number of the robust problems with the day.
On that, Wiley, who was an outsider when he entered a White-male-dominated workplace initially of his profession, has at all times been involved about racial disparities within the legal justice system. He now proposes institution of against the law methods unit pushed by knowledge and intelligence fairly than assumptions about race and geography.
He’s an advocate of diversion fairly than legal prosecution for low-level, non-violent offenses. When doable, youth and adults scuffling with psychological well being, homelessness or drug dependancy needs to be helped fairly than incarcerated, he says.
Police needs to be given the sources wanted to do their job, he says, however they need to additionally count on that they’re going to be held to a excessive customary of habits — which is the place his workplace is available in when cops cross the authorized line.
Briefly, Wiley is able to step in and take over when O’Malley steps down after 14 years because the county’s prime prosecutor.
The identical can't be stated of his opponents. Whereas Jimmie Wilson is well-regarded after 18 years as a deputy district legal professional in the identical workplace, his expertise is primarily as a line prosecutor with out managerial expertise.
Seth Steward, presently chief of employees for Oakland Metropolis Councilman Dan Kalb, served as a prosecutor for about 13 years in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., however he, too, has minimal managerial expertise. And Pamela Value, who has run her personal civil rights litigation follow for 3 many years and is a well known advocate for legal justice reform has by no means prosecuted a case.
Whereas these three candidates present invaluable views, none of them is as well-prepared as Wiley, who's your best option for the job.