Maura Healey

Maura Healey
59th Attorney General of Massachusetts
Assumed office
January 21, 2015
Governor Charlie Baker
Preceded by Martha Coakley
Personal details
Born (1971-02-08) February 8, 1971
Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Domestic partner Gabrielle Wolohojian
Alma mater Harvard University
Northeastern University
Website Official website

Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American attorney, member of the Democratic Party and the Attorney General of Massachusetts.

Born in New Hampshire, Healey graduated from Harvard College in 1992. As a freshman, she lived in Matthews Hall. She then spent two years playing professional women's basketball in Austria before returning to the United States and receiving a Juris Doctor degree from the Northeastern University School of Law, in 1998. After clerking for federal judge A. David Mazzone, she worked in private practice for seven years, also serving as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County.

Hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007, Healey served as Chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state's challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She was then appointed Chief of the Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau and then Chief of the Business and Labor Bureau before resigning in 2013 to run for Attorney General in the 2014 election as Coakley ran for Governor. She defeated former State Senator Warren Tolman in the Democratic primary and then defeated Republican attorney John Miller in the general election, thus becoming the first openly gay state attorney general elected in America.

Early life and education

Healey grew up as the oldest of five brothers and sisters. Her mother was a nurse at a school, while her father was captain in the Navy and an engineer, and her stepfather taught history and coached sports in high school. Her family roots are in Newburyport and the North Shore area.

Healey attended Winneconne High School and majored in government at Harvard College, graduating cum laude in 1992. She was co-captain of the Harvard Crimson women's basketball team.[1] After graduation, Healey spent two years playing as a starting point guard for a professional basketball team in Austria, UBBC Wustenrot Salzburg.[2] Upon returning to the United States, Healey obtained her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in 1998.[3]

Career

Healey began her legal career by clerking for Judge A. David Mazzone of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where she prepared monthly compliance reports on the cleanup of the Boston Harbor and assisted the judge with trials, hearings and case conferences. Healey subsequently spent more than 7 years at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where she worked as an associate and then junior partner. While at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, Healey’s focus was on commercial and securities litigation.[4]

She also served as a special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County, where she tried drug, assault, domestic violence and motor vehicle cases in bench and jury sessions and argued bail hearings, motions to suppress, and probation violations and surrenders.[4]

Hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in 2007, Healey served as Chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state's challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. She led the winning arguments for Massachusetts in America’s first lawsuit striking down the law.[5]

In 2012, she was promoted to Chief of the Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau.[6] She was then appointed Chief of the Business and Labor Bureau.[7]

As a division chief and bureau head in the Attorney General's Office, Healey oversaw 250 lawyers and staff members and supervised the areas of consumer protection, fair labor, ratepayer advocacy, environmental protection, health care, insurance and financial services, civil rights, antitrust, Medicaid fraud, not-for-profit organizations and charities, and business, technology and economic development.[4][7]

Massachusetts Attorney General

2014 election

In October 2013, Healey announced her intention to run for Attorney General. Coakley was retiring from the office to run for Governor. On September 9, 2014, Healey won the Democratic primary by 126,420 votes, defeating former State Senator Warren Tolman by 62.4% to 37.6%[8]

Healey's campaign was endorsed by State Senators Stan Rosenberg, Dan Wolf, Jamie Eldridge and America's largest resource for pro-choice women in politics, EMILY's List.[9][10] Her campaign has also been endorsed by Northeast District Attorney David Sullivan, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz.[11][12] Organizations that have endorsed the campaign include, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, MassEquality and the Victory Fund.[13][14][15] Healey penned an OpEd in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette on upholding the Massachusetts buffer zone law, which she worked on while in the Attorney General’s Office.[3] She also authored an OpEd in the Boston Globe outlining her plan to combat student loan predators.[16][17][18]

She faced Republican nominee John Miller, an attorney, in the general election, and defeated him by 62.5% to 37.5% and thus became the first openly gay state attorney general elected in America.[19][20]

Positions

Healey’s plan to reduce gun violence seeks to address what she perceives as the root causes of violence. The plan includes enhancing the background check system to include information regarding recent restraining orders, pending indictments, any relations to domestic violence, parole and probation information. The plan also seeks to better track stolen and missing guns. Healey advocates for the incorporation of fingerprint trigger locks and firearm micro-stamping on all guns sold in Massachusetts.[21][22]

Healey's plan for criminal justice reform includes ending mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders and focusing on treatment rather than incarceration.[23]

Healey also plans to combat prescription drug abuse and the heroin epidemic in Massachusetts by implementing a “lock-in” program. The program will be carried out in pharmacies as a way to identify and track prescription drug abusers and/or distributors. Her plan also includes deployment of new resources to drug trafficking hotspots, improvement of treatment accessibility and expanding access to Narcan.[24]

Healey’s women’s rights platform focuses on sex education, expanding access to abortion services in Massachusetts and ensuring that every woman in Massachusetts has access to reproductive health care regardless of where she lives, her occupation or her income.[25]

Personal life

She is openly gay, and lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts with her partner, Gabrielle Wolohojian.[4][26]

References

  1. ↑ Ingersoll, Justin R.P. (March 14, 1992). "Star Still Rising for W. Cagers' Captain Maura Healey". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  2. ↑ Levenson, Eric (August 26, 2014). "Pro Basketball Star-Turned-Attorney General Hopeful Maura Healey Can Still Ball". Boston.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Schoenberg, Shira. "Massachusetts Attorney General candidate Maura Healey says experience in AG's office prepared her for the top job". Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Martha Coakley aide seeks her post". Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Massachusetts: Maura Healey Could Be Top LGBT Attorney In The Country". Advocate.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ "AG Coakley Appoints New Leadership to Office". mass.gov. February 16, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Associated Press. "Coakley Aide Announces Run For Mass. Attorney General". WBUR. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  8. ↑ Scharfenberg, David. "Healey defeats Tolman in Democratic AG primary" (September 9, 2014). Boston Globe. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  9. ↑ Rizzuto, Robert. "Attorney general hopeful Maura Healey lands endorsements from Rosenberg, Dan Wolf, Jamie Eldridge". MassLive. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  10. ↑ Bernstein, David. "EMILY’s List Is Endorsing Maura Healey and Deb Goldberg". Boston Daily. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Fitchburg mayor endorses Maura Healey for attorney general (video)". Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Attorney General hopeful Maura Healey lands endorsements from 2 Western Mass. mayors, discusses plan to tackle opiate abuse". masslive.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan endorses Maura Healey for attorney general". Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Warren Tolman and Maura Healey, Democratic candidates for attorney general, announce dueling endorsements to start week". masslive.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Bay Windows: Healey Wins Endorsement of The Victory Fund, MassEquality Political Action Committee". Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  16. ↑ Healey, Maura. "Stopping student loan predators". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Mass. AG hopeful Maura Healey calls for tougher oversight of for-profit colleges". Associated Press. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  18. ↑ Associated Press. "Mass. AG hopeful: Crack down on for-profit schools". The Washington Times. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  19. ↑ "RESULTS: Healey Elected First Out State Attorney General". Advocate.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Democrat Maura Healey tops GOP's Miller to become the nation's 1st openly gay attorney general". My Fox Boston. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Attorney general candidate Maura Healey proposes stricter gun laws for Massachusetts in new plan". Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  22. ↑ "AG candidate outlines approach to gun violence". Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Democrat Maura Healey says ending mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders, focusing on treatment over incarceration among priorities as attorney general". Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Prescription Drug Abuse Reaches Epidemic Proportions". Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Democratic attorney general hopeful Maura Healey says women's rights platform includes focusing on sex education, expanding access to abortion services in Massachusetts". Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Maura Healey Talks Historic Campaign for Attorney General in Massachusetts". Huffingtonpost.com. March 13, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
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