Martha Coakley

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Martha Mary Coakley

Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 17, 2007
Preceded by Thomas Reilly
In office
1999 – 2007
Preceded by Thomas Reilly
Succeeded by Gerald Leone
Born July 14, 1953 (1953-07-14) (age 56)
Pittsfield, Massachusetts[1]
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Thomas F O'Connor Jr.
Residence Medford, Massachusetts
Profession Lawyer
Religion Roman Catholic

Martha Mary Coakley[1] (born July 14, 1953) is the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Democratic candidate in the special election‎ to fill the Class 1 seat in the United States Senate made vacant by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy.[2] Prior to serving as Attorney General, she was District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1999 to 2007.

Contents

Personal life

Coakley was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to Edward J. and Phillys E. Coakley (née Laffey).[1] A year later, she moved with her parents to North Adams. There, Coakley attended St. Joseph's School and Drury High School, graduating from the latter in June, 1971.[1] Coakley currently resides in Medford. She is married to Thomas F. O'Connor, Jr.

Early career

Coakley received a B.A., cum laude from Williams College in 1975. She received a J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1979.

In the summer of 1978, while a law student, Coakley clerked for the law firm of Donovan and O'Connor of Adams, Massachusetts.[1] After graduating from law school Coakley began work as an associate at the law firm of Parker, Coulter, Daley & White, and later practiced at Goodwin Procter — both in Boston, Massachusetts.

Assistant District Attorney

She joined the DA's office in 1986 as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lowell, Massachusetts District Court office. A year later, she was invited by the U.S. Justice Department to join its Boston Organized Crime Strike Force as a Special Attorney. Coakley returned to the District Attorney’s Office in 1989 and was appointed the Chief of the Child Abuse Prosecution Unit two years later.

In 1997, while serving under Middlesex County, Massachusetts District Attorney Tom Reilly, she led the courtroom prosecution of then 19 year-old English au pair Louise Woodward who was later convicted in the shaking death of eight month-old Matthew Eappen of Newton, Massachusetts.[3] The case received both national and international media attention, particularly in Woodward's home of Great Britain.

District Attorney

In December 1997, Coakley resigned her position, in order to campaign for District Attorney in the 54 cities and towns of Middlesex County. During her term as District Attorney, Coakley was recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Massachusetts School of Law and the Frank J. Murray Inn of Court.[citation needed]

In November 2000, the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts honored Coakley with its Leila J. Robinson Award for her contributions to the field of law. In June 2002—the year she was President of the Massachusetts District Attorney's Association—the YWCA Boston selected her as a member of its Academy of Women Achievers Class of 2002.[citation needed]

In 2001, Coakly successfully lobbied Gov. Jane Swift to deny clemency to Gerald Amirault, whom many regarded as a victim of day care sex abuse hysteria.[4][5]

In 2004, she received the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Pinnacle Award for Excellence in Management in Government. She also received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Massachusetts Democratic Party in 2006. A former president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, she has served on the Board of Directors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc.[citation needed]

Attorney General

Coakley was elected Massachusetts Attorney General in the 2006 general election as a Democrat, defeating Republican Larry Frisoli with 73% of the vote. She was sworn in on January 17, 2007. Coakley is the first woman to serve as Attorney General in Massachusetts.

During the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in January 2007, Coakley was widely quoted in the press defending the reaction of Boston's emergency services.[6] Small electronic signs advertising a cartoon had been mistaken for bombs; Massachusetts authorities halted traffic on two bridges and closed the Charles River before realizing the signs were harmless. Coakley defended the precautions because the LED signs had looked suspicious: "It had a very sinister appearance, it had a battery behind it, and wires." [7]

Both were given plea bargains, received community service and apologized publicly.[8]

In May 2007, Coakley testified before the Massachusetts State Legislature in support of the passage of a "buffer zone" law that created a 35-foot buffer around entrances and driveways of reproductive health care facilities.[9] The law was signed into effect by Governor Deval Patrick on November 13, 2007 and challenged by opponents.[10]

Coakley successfully defended the law before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on July 8, 2008.[citation needed]

In September 2008, Coakley worked with Apple Inc. and the National Federation of the Blind to have Apple redesign the popular iTunes software, so it complies with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as the Massachusetts Equal Rights Act.[11]

On February 5, 2009, Coakley led an 18 state coalition, as well as the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York and the City Solicitor of Baltimore,[12] urging the Environmental Protection Agency to take action in response to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA. Though the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA did have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, the Agency had yet to make an official decision on whether it believes that greenhouse gas emissions pose dangers to public health or welfare.[13]

Coakley inherited litigation of the fatal 2006 Big Dig ceiling collapse from outgoing Attorney General Tom Reilly in 2007. On March 26, 2009 she settled the final lawsuit pertaining to the incident.[14] Through eight lawsuits attached to the incident, Coakley's office recovered $610.625 million on behalf of the State of Massachusetts.[15]

On July 8, 2009, Coakley filed a suit,[16] challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. The suit claims that Congress "overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people."[17] Massachusetts is the first state to challenge the legislation.

In 2009, Coakley won settlements of $60 million from Goldman Sachs [18] and $10 million from Fremont Investment & Loan [19] for their abuse of subprime loans and lending.[20]

United States Senate campaign

On September 1, 2009, Coakley was the first candidate to take out nomination papers to run in a special election to succeed the late Edward M. Kennedy in the United States Senate in the special election in 2010.[21] Two days later, on September 3, Coakley officially announced her candidacy on her website.[22] She won the Democratic primary on December 8, 2009.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Martha Coakley's 1979 bar application" (PDF). http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/coakley_bar.PDF. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  2. ^ "WHDH-TV - Coakley announces candidacy for Kennedy seat". .whdh.com. http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO123483/. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  3. ^ "In High-Profile Prosecutions, Martha Coakley Made Her Name", Accessed October 6th, 2009 [1]
  4. ^ "Martha Coakley: Too immoral for Teddy Kennedy's seat". Wnd.com. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=118496. Retrieved 2009-12-11. 
  5. ^ "Justice, Not So Swift". Thenation.com. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020318/pollitt. Retrieved 2009-12-11. 
  6. ^ Andrew Kantor (2007-02-16). "Silly fear of technology must be overcome". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2007-02-16-tech-fear_x.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
  7. ^ "Two held after ad campaign triggers Boston bomb scare". CNN.com. 2007-02-01. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/boston.bombscare/index.html. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  8. ^ "Pair Charged In Marketing Stunt Reach Plea Deal". WBZTV.com. Associated Press (CBS Broadcasting). 2007-05-11. http://wbztv.com/local/Peter.Berdovsky.Sean.2.587093.html. Retrieved 2007-12-19. 
  9. ^ Estes, Andrea. (May 17, 2007). "A move to expand buffers at clinics" The Boston Globe.'.' Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  10. ^ Wangsness, Lisa. (November 14, 2007). "New law expands abortion buffer zone" The Boston Globe.'.' Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  11. ^ Bray, Hiawatha (September 27, 2008). "Coakley, Apple agree on iTunes access for blind" The Boston Globe.'.' Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  12. ^ Martha Coakley (2007-04-02). "letter to EPA". Mass.gov. http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagopressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Cago&b=pressrelease&f=2009_02_05_mass_epa_letter&csid=Cago. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  13. ^ McConville, Christine (February 5, 2009). "AG urges EPA to regulate greenhouse gases" The Boston Herald.'.' Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  14. ^ Martha Coakley. "Big Dig press release". Mass.gov. http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagopressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Cago&b=pressrelease&f=2009_03_26_big_dig_recovery&csid=Cago. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  15. ^ Globe Staff (March 26, 2009). "With two final settlements, Big Dig tunnel litigation ends" The Boston Globe.'.' Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  16. ^ Martha Coakley (2009-07-07). "''Commonwealth v. United States Department of Health and Human Services''". Mass.gov. http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagopressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Cago&b=pressrelease&f=2009_07_08_doma&csid=Cago. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  17. ^ Finucane, Martin (2009-07-08). "Mass. challenges federal Defense of Marriage Act". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/mass_to_challen.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08. 
  18. ^ McKim, Jenifer B. (May 11, 2009). "State reaches $60m subprime deal with Goldman Sachs" The Boston Globe.'.' Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  19. ^ Boston Globe Business Team. (June 9, 2009). Coakley reaches settlement in subprime case" The Boston Globe.'.' Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  20. ^ Martha Coakley (2009-05-11). "Goldman Sachs Settlement press release". Mass.gov. http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagopressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Cago&b=pressrelease&f=2009_05_11_goldman_settlement&csid=Cago. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  21. ^ "Martha Coakley To Seek Kennedy's Senate Seat (AP)". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/01/martha-coakley-seeking-ke_n_273858.html. 
  22. ^ "Martha Coakley Announces Her Candidacy for US Senate". http://www.marthacoakley.com/news/press_releases/details/announcement. 
  23. ^ "AG Coakley wins Democratic race for Kennedy seat". http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6760266.html. 

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
Thomas Reilly		 District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts
1999 - 2007		 Succeeded by
Gerard T. Leone, Jr.
Preceded by
Thomas Reilly		 Attorney General of Massachusetts
January 17, 2007–present		 Incumbent
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Current statewide government officials of Massachusetts
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