Scott Harshbarger
Luther Scott Harshbarger (born December 1, 1941, in New Haven, Connecticut) is a lawyer and a Democratic politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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[edit] Education and early career
Harshbarger attended Harvard College where he was a halfback on the varsity football team and Harvard Law School. After law school, Harshbarger worked as a public defender and civil rights attorney.[1] He was first elected as District Attorney (DA) of Middlesex County, Massachusetts in 1982, defeating incumbent DA John Droney in the Democratic primary. He was re-elected in 1986.
[edit] Political career
[edit] Middlesex District Attorney
Harshbarger served as District Attorney for 8 years. Amongst the cases his office handled he obtained the conviction of Gerald Amirault and other employees of the Fells Acres Day Care Center in Malden, Massachusetts.[citation needed] The Amirault conviction has been widely criticized as a gross miscarriage of justice in publications as politically diverse as The Wall Street Journal and The Nation.
[edit] Attorney General
In 1990 he was elected Attorney General of Massachusetts, defeating incumbent James Shannon in the Democratic primary. He was re-elected in 1994 with 72 percent of the vote.[citation needed]
[edit] Gubernatorial bid
He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts in the 1998 gubernatorial election. He lost in a close race to incumbent Republican Governor Paul Celucci.[2] Afterwards, Harshbarger served as president of the public interest organization Common Cause for three years, where he spearheaded the successful push for campaign finance reform in 2002 (McCain-Feingold).
[edit] Return to private legal practice
Since 2003, Harshbarger has practiced law in the private sector, focusing on corporate governance and related issues. He is currently Senior Counsel to the Firm at Proskauer Rose LLP[3] in Boston, MA.
[edit] ACORN investigation
On September 22, 2009, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) announced that Harshbarger and Proskauer "would lead an independent inquiry into the organizational systems and processes surrounding the social services of the organization" pursuant to the recent allegations of corruption within that organization in the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy.[4] Harshbarger issued his written report, essentially exonerating ACORN from any alleged illegal activity, in December 2009.[5][6]
[edit] References
- ^ Proskauer Rose LLP - SCOTT HARSHBARGER
- ^ 1998 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Massachusetts
- ^ Proskauer Rose LLP
- ^ "Harshbarger report on ACORN videos: No illegal conduct ACORN leaders embrace recommendations of "roadmap for reform and renewal"". Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. December 7, 2009. http://www.acorn.org/node/698. Retrieved 2010-10-22. (press release)
- ^ "ACORN and the Ethics of Leadership", Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 8, 2009
- ^ "ACORN Investigation Results", The Nonprofit Quarterly
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John J. Droney |
District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts 1983–1991 |
Succeeded by Tom Reilly |
| Preceded by James Shannon |
Attorney General of Massachusetts 1991–1999 |
Succeeded by Tom Reilly |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Mark Roosevelt |
Massachusetts Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate 1998 (lost) |
Succeeded by Shannon O'Brien |
