Martha Coakley

Martha Coakley
Attorney General of Massachusetts
Incumbent
In office
January 17, 2007 - Present
Term ends
2014
Years in position	5
Party	Democratic
Education
High school	Drury High School (1971)
Bachelor's	Williams College (1975)
J.D.	Boston University School of Law (1979)
Personal
Birthday	July 14, 1953
Websites
Office website

Martha Coakley (born July 14, 1953, in Lee, Massachusetts) is the current Democratic Attorney General of Massachusetts and was candidate for the United States Senate in a special election that took place on Tuesday, January 19, 2010.

When Coakley took her oath of office on January 17, 2007 as the Attorney General of Massachusetts, she became the first woman in state history to serve in the office.

Dispelling rumors that she would seek a higher office upon completion of her second term as attorney general, Coakley announced on April 4, 2012 that she intended to run for third term re-election in 2014.

Biography

Coakley started out as an associate with the law firm of Parker, Coulter, Daley, & White, and later practiced as an attorney for Goodwin, Procter, & Hoar; both were based out of Boston, Massachusetts.

She served in the District Court office in Lowell, Massachusetts as an assistant to the District Attorney in 1986. A year later, Coakley was invited by the United States Justice Department to join its Boston Organized Crime Strike Force as a Special Attorney. Coakley then returned to the District Attorney's Office in 1989 before being appointed the Chief of the Child Abuse Prosecution United two years later. She remained in this position until December 1997 when she resigned in order to campaign for District Attorney in the fifty-four cities and towns of Middlesex County.

In addition to her professional duties, Coakley has served, or currently serves, in several leadership roles, including:

• President, Massachusetts District Attorney's Association (2002)
• Board of Directors, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
• Former Chair/Board of Directors, Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Incorporated
• Former President, Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts

She has also been received many awards in recognition for her work as a lawyer and public servant, such as the Woman of the Year Award (1998) from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, the Leila J. Robinson Award (2000) from the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, the Pinnacle Award for Excellence in Management in Government (2004) from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Eleanor Roosevelt Award (2006) from the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and the Excellence in Computer Forensics Award (2009) from the Computer and Enterprise Investigations Conference (CEIC).

Education

• Graduated from Drury High School (1971)
• Bachelor's degree, Williams College (1975) cum laude
• Juris Doctorate degree, Boston University School of Law (1979)

Political Career

Attorney General (2006-present)

Coakley was first elected attorney general of Massachusetts in November 2006. When she took her oath of office on January 17, 2007 she became the first woman in state history to serve in the office.

ACORN

See also: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

Coakley was one of six state attorneys general, all of whom belonged to the Democratic Party, who received the highest rating, a letter grade of A+, from the June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the embattled liberal political organization, ACORN. The report was published in an effort to shine the spotlight on state attorneys general "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure," according to the group. too passively.

Issues

Death penalty

Coakley's stance on capital punishment has grown increasingly convoluted and ambiguous over time with the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate reversing herself at least twice during the course of the special election campaign. When she was elected Massachusetts Attorney General in 2006, Coakley had "favored capital punishment for cop killers and murderers who slay again while in prison." But, in October 2009, faced with an ever increasingly tight Democratic primary, she presented herself as the true progressive candidate and arguing that the "death penalty is not appropriate," even when it comes to terrorists facing trial in the United States, like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mastermind of the September 11th attacks. Coakley used this statement to contrast herself with her main rival for the Democratic nomination, Mike Capuano, who had voted in favor of anti-terror legislation that included capital punishment measures.

Three months later, during the third and final senatorial debate, her Republican opponent, Scott P. Brown, asked whether Coakley supported the idea of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed receiving the death penalty. She gave a very confusing answer, noting that even though she opposed it personally and would never vote for it, that is "what the law of the land is and I would support the law of the land."

Healthcare Reform

At a rally held on September 7, 2009, in support of President Barack Obama's proposed health care reform legislation, Coakley declared that were she a senator any health care measure up for a vote in the United States Senate would need a public option in order to garner her support.

Coakley expressed measurable disapproval over the health care reform bill passed by a slim margin within the United States House of Representatives in November 2009 in large part because "it contains a provision restricting federal funding for abortion." The Massachusetts Attorney General, in an attempt to position herself within the campaign for the late-Edward Kennedy's vacant United States Senate seat as the far-left candidate, boldly declared "fighting for women’s access to abortions was more important than passing the overall bill." The Stupak-Pitt amendment to the House of Representatives' Affordable Health Care for America Act prohibited use of Federal funds to pay for any abortion or any part of the costs of any health care plan that included coverage for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother. Coakley decried the amendment which coaxed a number of conservative blue dog Democrats to support the House's health care reform legislation as progress as it was made at the "expense of women’s access to reproductive rights."

Her tune concerning abortion rights and health care reform changed considerably after securing the Democratic nomination in December 2009. In a statement given to The Boston Globe, "Coakley said that although she was disappointed that the Senate bill 'gives states additional options regarding the funding mechanisms for women’s reproductive health services,' she would reluctantly support it because it would provide coverage for millions of uninsured people and reduce costs."

Illegal immigration

With the passage of SB1070 by the Arizona State Senate bringing the issue of illegal immigration to the forefront of the national stage, constituents in Massachusetts have questioned why their state continues to attract illegal aliens. Though she was not present at a press conference held at the State House to address concerns over the matter, Coakley, in an interview conducted with local radio station WCRN, produced a seemingly contradictory statement, arguing that “technically it is not illegal to be illegal in Massachusetts.”

War in Afghanistan

Coakley, faced with an increasingly tight Democratic primary race to fill the United States Senate seat left vacant by the late-Edward Kennedy, appealed to the anti-war constituents within her state by declaring her opposition to an increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Her statement came just two days prior to President Obama's announcement of an escalation plan for the war in Afghanistan after months of dithering on the decision. Coakley expressed distrust with the Afghan government of President Karzai and argued that "without a credible Afghan partner, we cannot achieve a goal of securing this country with increased troop levels and then implementing a sound exit strategy that leaves it in the hands of a stable Afghan government."

When the issue of the war in Afghanistan came up in the course of the third and final senatorial debate on January 11, 2010, Coakley produced a significant gaffe, believing the country to be terrorist free and calling for U.S. troops to be brought home. In her response to the question posed by the moderator, she stated, "I think we have done what we are going to be able to do in Afghanistan. I think that we should plan an exit strategy. Yes. I’m not sure there is a way to succeed. If the goal was and the mission in Afghanistan was to go in because we believed that the Taliban was giving harbor to terrorists. We supported that. I supported that. They’re gone. They’re not there anymore." Asked the next day by reporters whether she stood by her remark, Coakley "listened to the question, then quickly looked in a different direction."

U.S. Senate election, 2010

United States Senate
Elections, 2010
Primary election dates, 2010

See also: U.S. Senate special election, Massachusetts, 2010

A 2010 United States Senate special election took place in Massachusetts on Tuesday, January 19, 2010, to fill the United States Senate seat left vacant following the death of former United States Senator Edward M. Kennedy on August 25, 2009.

Despite a fierce and competitive campaign, Coakley received the Democratic nomination on December 8, 2009, garnering slightly over forty-six percent of the vote over her three challengers.

A little over a month later, though, Republican Scott P. Brown was the one who emerged victorious, with Democrat Martha Coakley conceding the election about 90 minutes after the polls closed when about 70% of polls had reported their results. After all the ballots had been counted, Brown ended up with a margin of victory of 4.8 percentage points over Coakley.

The election drew intense national interest, primarily because of the ramifications it is thought to have for efforts by the Congressional Democratic leadership to pass a comprehensive, yet still controversial, health care legislation through before President Obama's State of the Union address in February.

Elections

2010

See also: U.S. Senate special election, Massachusetts, 2010

2010 Race for United States Senate - Democratic Primary
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	a Martha Coakley	46.6%
	Democratic Party	Mike Capuano	27.7%
	Democratic Party	Alan Khazei	13.3%
	Democratic Party	Stephen Pagliuca	12.0%
	Write-In		0.4%
Total Votes			668,926

2010 Race for United States Senate - General Election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	a Scott P. Brown	51.9%
	Democratic Party	Martha Coakley	47.1%
	Liberty Party	Joseph Kennedy	1.0%
Total Votes			2,252,582

See also: Massachusetts Attorney General election, 2010

• 2010 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary

• Martha Coakley ran unopposed in this contest

2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	a Martha Coakley	62.8%
	Republican Party	James P. McKenna	37.2%
Total Votes			2,251,177

2006

• 2006 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary
  • Martha Coakley ran unopposed in this contest

2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	a Martha Coakley	68.9%
	Republican Party	Larry Frisoli	25.6%
Total Votes			2,243,835

Campaign contributions

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Martha Coakley's donors each year. Click [show] for more information.

Martha Coakley's Campaign Contributions
	2012 Attorney General		2006 Attorney General
Total Raised	$1,892,131		$2,010,703
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$175,705 (Republican)		$289,693 (Republican)
Top 5 contributors	The Martha Coakley Committee	$395,000	Massachusetts Democratic Party	$1,850
	Fidelity Investments	$150,000	Frank Libby and Paul Kelly	$1,500 each
	State Election Campaign Fund	$72,169	5 individuals	$1,250 each
	Sheet Metal Workers Local 17	$1,750	Phyllis Menken	$1,125
	Lisa Rothman and Linda Aglio	$1,500 each	10 individuals	$1,000 each
Individuals	$464,880		$1,152,894
Institutions	$186,940		$43,358
In-state donations	$1,024,335		$1,537,060
Out-of-state donations	$97,205		$112,188

Controversies

Amirault rape case

Gerald Amirault was convicted, along with his mother, Violet, and sister, Cheryl, in separate trials, in 1986 of molesting and raping eight children - six girls and three boys - at the Fells Acres Day Care Center run by his family in Malden, Massachusetts. In spite of no physical evidence or even witnesses to the alleged acts of sexual abuse to collaborate the claims made by these young children, Gerald was sentenced to 30-40 years in prison. After spending fifteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Gerald Amirault was finally granted clemency unanimously by the Massachusetts parole board in July 2001. In its recommendation to the governor, Jane Swift, the board noted that "(i)t is clearly a matter of public knowledge that, at the minimum, real and substantial doubt exists concerning petitioner's conviction." It is alleged that Coakley, as Middlesex County District Attorney, "did everything in her power to see that he stayed in prison, including sending an assistant DA to oppose his release at the hearing."

Ethics complaint

See also: Service Employees International Union

Late in the Democratic primary campaign for the Massachusetts United States Senate seat, Coakley received both the physical and monetary assistance of the SEIU in the form of a radio advertisement buy "totaling $214,000 in the Boston area." Just a week earlier, however, the ethical use of of state public resources was questioned when the SEIU Local 509, the "union representing state employees, sent an email urging state workers to volunteer for Coakley’s campaign." Three weeks after this report was released, her Republican opponent Scott Brown "filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission."

Garden club crackdown

In the midst of her increasingly tight senatorial race against Republican opponent Scott P. Brown, Coakley drew the ire of many Bay State gardening clubs after her office sent strongly worded letters to their members, many of whom lived in nursing homes, in an effort to crackdown on charities "failing to file financial disclosure forms." A fair number of members, scared and confused by the stern correspondence, vowed on taking their frustrations out on Coakley in the voting booth.

Heart donation overruled

Katharine Ristich of the online cardiology website, The Heart, believes that in addition to the death of Coach Michael Costin at the hands of Thomas "Hockey Dad" Junta in the course of a hockey rink fight back in 2000, another senseless death may have occurred as a result of then-district attorney Martha Coakley overruling "a request from Costin's family to donate his heart in a transplant to save another person's life." The Boston Globe reported on January 25, 2002, the day Junta was sentenced to jail for six-to-ten years, that Coakley blocked the request after Costin was pronounced brain-dead by his doctors in order "to preclude any possibility that his assailant's lawyer might contend at the trial that Costin died of a pre-existing heart condition rather than the beating."

Although from a certain legal standpoint Coakley's decision to overrule the family's request made sense at the time, some doctors have objected to her claim. Coakley explained to the Boston Globe that "need to maintain the integrity of the case trumped donation," noting that an EMT at the scene believed the death was a result of a possible heart attack which might have given the defense an issue at trial. Several cardiologists, however, disagree, arguing that "transplant surgeons would have rejected it if any defects were discovered."

Vacation

Coakley drew the ire of not only her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, but the local state media as well when she decided to take a vacation just twenty days before a special election was to be held in Massachusetts to decide who will the vacant United States Senate seat. Holly Robichaud at The Boston Herald questioned whether Coakley "need[ed] the rest or she [is] just the most cocky candidate in the Commonwealth’s history?"

Winfield child rape case

In October 2005, a thirty-one year old Somerville police officer named Keith Winfield "raped his 23-month-old niece with a hot object, most likely a curling iron." Despite statements directly from Winfield affirming what took place, no punitive actions were taken by a Middlesex grand jury under the direction of then-district attorney, Martha Coakley. It wasn't until the mother of the raped toddler filed a formal complaint that Coakley even secured rape, assault, and battery charges against Winfield. Less then ten months later, however, "Coakley’s office recommended that Winfield be released on personal recognizance, with no cash bail," remaining free and unsupervised until December 2007. It was around this time, when Coakley had been elected State Attorney General, that her successor as district attorney stepped in and was able to win both a conviction and two life sentences against Winfield. Although Coakley herself maintains that her office handled the investigation in the right manner, there are some constituents who felt she acted

Personal

Coakley currently resides in Medford, Massachusetts with her husband, Thomas F. O'Connor, Jr.

Contact Information

Capitol Address:
Office of Attorney General
One Exchange Place
Worcester, MA 01608

Phone: (508) 792-7600
Toll Free Phone: (617) 727-4765
Fax: (508) 795-1991
E-mail: ago@ago.state.ma.us

See also

• Attorney General of Massachusetts
• Governor of Massachusetts
• Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Secretary of State
• United States Senate

External links

• Official Massachusetts Attorney General website
• Martha Coakley for Attorney General Campaign website
• Martha Coakley's Facebook profile
• Martha Coakley's Twitter account

References

Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Reilly	Massachusetts Attorney General 2006–present	Succeeded by NA