Lee picks Price because of her decades of work in protecting women’s rights, reducing mass incarceration and bringing justice to victims of law enforcement misconduct and corporate greed.
Special to the Vanguard
Oakland, CA – Assemblymember Alex Lee, a progressive leader in the California Legislature announced on Tuesday his backing of Pamela Price for Alameda County District Attorney. Lee has been working to find successful solutions to issues that are at the heart of our resident’s needs.
“With all the legal attacks from our US Supreme Court on our rights, Alameda County needs a fighter like Pamela in its corner to keep the county a haven for reproductive choice and tough gun laws,” stated Lee. “With her roots in the County, she has built the community connections and support to really bring about change in our justice system.
Lee continues, “Pamela’s leadership in the Alameda County Democratic Party has shown her tenacity to bring the truth out, fight unfairness and end the double standards.”
From creating more affordable housing to establishing universal health care or combating climate change to increasing transparency within government for the digital era, Lee has been a strong voice in making legislation possible that really does work for all of our residents, not just those with connections. In fact, his first act was to introduce legislation to ban corporate contributions, so the government works for the people and not special interests.
“As the only candidate who has held corporation’s accountable for their misdeeds and illegal conduct and the only candidate who has pledged to not take corporation contributions in the DA’s race, Lee knows that our DA’s office and criminal justice system should no longer be for sale and when I am elected, we will work hard to build public trust in the DA’s office again,” stated Price.
Lee is part of a new generation of leadership that is working to end to the structural inequity that has led to our state’s most pressing challenges and has stalled our most important solutions. He has been steadfast in his mission to reduce gun violence, reform the criminal justice system and build accountability. Just last year, Lee introduced legislation (AB1509) that works to reduce mass incarceration—a top priority for the Price Campaign. Smart legislation like this would reduce sentence “add-ons” or enhancements for firearms which punish people duplicatively for the same crime without enhancing public safety. Sentencing enhancements have not proven to deter crime nor reduce recidivism rates while disproportionately impacting people of color with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) making up more than 89% of those serving time with gun enhancements.
The justice system in Alameda County is broken, and we need leadership that will fight at all levels to reduce mass incarceration.
In Lee’s first year in office, he was named “Legislator of the Year” by the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ), and named ACLU California Action’s Civil Liberties Champion, Courage California All-Star, and NARAL Reproductive Freedom Champion.
“Having Alex’s support is going to be key in making sure that our DA’s office is supported in the major reforms needs. For far too long the status of the Alameda County’s DA’s office have profited and prospered as more and more inequity prevailed in their office,” Price responded. “We need to make sure that more reforms are happening at the State level and being supported in our DA’s office.”
Lee concludes, “I know that by only putting people and policy first can we achieve a California that is equitable and prosperous for all.”
