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Supervisor Campos urges replacement of U.S. attorney for Northern District of California
Summary
Supervisor David Campos introduced a resolution urging President Barack Obama and U.S. senators to appoint a new U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California and to reject the reappointment of Joseph Rusinello, citing past actions and statements that Campos said raised concerns among civil-rights groups.
Supervisor David Campos introduced a resolution asking President Barack Obama and U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to appoint a new U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California and to reject the reappointment of the incumbent, Joseph Rusinello.
Campos told the board that several civil-rights and community organizations had called for a new appointment, including the Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, the Central American Resource Center, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Equal Justice Society, the Immigration Legal Resource Center, La Raza Centro Legal, and Legal Services for Children. In presenting the resolution Campos cited past statements and actions by Rusinello that, he said, had raised concerns among these groups and the public.
Campos reviewed a series of incidents he said supported the resolution: a 1982 request (as reported to the board) that local district attorneys send lists of foreign-born voters who requested bilingual ballots so the Immigration and Naturalization Service could verify citizenship status; racially insensitive remarks reported in 1990; use of derogatory terms and statements about immigrant communities in later years; and public comments in 2008 opposing the dispensation of medical marijuana, which Campos quoted as Rusinello saying, “the overwhelming majority of people in my view who are so called patients are not.”
Why it matters: the U.S. attorney for the Northern District represents federal prosecutorial interests across a large region that includes San Francisco, and the board said it wanted federal leaders to consider how a U.S. attorney's public statements and actions affect public trust in impartial enforcement.
Outcome at this meeting: Campos introduced the resolution for the board's consideration; the transcript records the introduction and Campos's remarks but does not record a floor vote on this resolution at this session. The statements cited in Campos's presentation were attributed to Rusinello by the supervisor and to media or historical sources; the transcript reflects Campos's view and the organizations' positions rather than an independent finding by the board.
