Speaking up for Steve Cooley

Re “The fights Kamala Harris chose,” editorial, Aug. 23

Your editorial calls former Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, who ran against Kamala Harris for California attorney general in 2010, a “frumpy white guy.” It seems as if you are trying to distance yourself from your endorsement of Cooley.

Here is what you wrote about him back then:

“Cooley ... is familiar to most Angelenos and has received this board’s endorsement in his previous races. As D.A., he has been principled and brave, a solid custodian of the public trust and public access. Cooley came to office in the aftermath of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart scandal and used that crisis to modernize his office’s procedures for sharing information with defense lawyers. His socalled Brady policy — a written protocol for prosecutors to determine which evidence must be shared with defense lawyers — is a model for other agencies. Cooley raised principled objections to the state’s blunt three-strikes policy; his guidelines, which other Republican prosecutors throughout the state have vigorously opposed, should provide a template for district attorneys as they search for ways to apply a bad law to real life.”

Now you diminish him by referring to his race, gender and appearance. It was irrelevant then and is irrelevant now.

You made the right choice in 2010, and now you owe an apology to the man you endorsed. Joseph Charney

South Pasadena The writer is a retired Los Angeles County deputy district attorney.

In your editorial, I was described somewhat derisively as a “frumpy white guy.”

It should be noted that in the 2010 general election for California attorney general, I received 17 of 18 major daily newspaper endorsements. Fifty-seven law enforcement groups gave endorsements; I received all 57.

Not bad for a frumpy white guy. Steve Cooley

Rolling Hills Estates The writer was Los Angeles County district attorney from 2000 to 2012.