Scott Harshbarger

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Luther Scott Harshbarger (born December 1, 1941 in New Haven, Connecticut) is a lawyer and a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Massachusetts.

Harshbarger was first elected as District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts in 1982, defeating incumbent DA John Droney in the Democratic primary. He was re-elected in 1986.

Harshbarger found public prominence and political success, like Janet Reno, by prosecuting cases in the day care sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s. He obtained the conviction of Gerald Amirault and other employees of the Fells Acres day care center in Malden, Mass.

In 1990 he was elected Attorney General of Massachusetts, again defeating the incumbent, this time James Shannon, in the Democratic primary. He was re-elected in 1994 with 72 percent of the vote, and served from 1991 until 1999.

In 1998, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts. He lost in a close race to incumbent Republican Governor Paul Celucci. 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).

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^[1] in Boston, MA.

[edit] External links

"Justice, Not So Swift" -- Katha Pollitt comments on Harshbarger's role in the Amirault case.

[edit] References

^ Proskauer Rose LLP

Preceded by Mark Roosevelt	Massachusetts Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate 1998 (lost)	Succeeded by Shannon O'Brien
Preceded by James Shannon	Attorney General of Massachusetts 1991 – 1999	Succeeded by Tom Reilly