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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for Roger Carrick

Candidate for
District Attorney; County of Los Angeles

[photo]
This information is provided by the candidate

Roger Carrick is a veteran lawyer specializing in the enforcement of public health and environmental law. Carrick represented Los Angeles in 1991 to stop the state from spraying the city with the pesticide Malathion. In 1995 he represented the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and Committee to Bridge the Gap to stop the Ward Valley radioactive dumpsite from being built beside the Colorado River, where it threatened Southern California's drinking water. In 1998 he represented the Los Angeles City Attorney, obtaining enhancement of the National Tobacco Settlement by restricting second-hand smoke exposure. In 1999 he led the investigation by the Los Angeles school district's Inspector General in exposing the crimes committed at the Belmont Learning Center.

A native of North Carolina, Roger graduated magna cum laude in 1973 from Harvard College. After working for the federal Office for Civil Rights and doing graduate work at Harvard, Roger immigrated to California in 1975 to join the original staff of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, enforcing that landmark labor law on behalf of farm workers. Graduating law school at the University of California at Berkeley, Roger began his career in 1980 as a policy aide to Governor Jerry Brown. Roger authored Governor Brown's friend-of-the-Court brief in the now-famous break-up of AT&T, successfully arguing against the break-up of Bell Laboratories. He helped craft the governor's unique business/university partnership of research on microelectronics, as well as parts of Brown's pioneering legislation to control toxic chemical use in California.

In 1984, Roger was named Special Assistant Attorney General to Attorney General John Van de Kamp. Roger advised Mr. Van de Kamp on a broad array of criminal and civil law issues (including implementation of California's first electronic fingerprint database, used in 1985 to identify the notorious Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, less than four hours after his only finger-print was discovered at a crime scene). Roger spearheaded Van de Kamp's innovative crime prevention programs, including the first-ever music videos designed to discourage teen drug use, and teen drug use surveys to measure the effectiveness of anti-drug use policies.

Returning to private practice in 1987, Roger practiced with several of the largest law firms in the country before opening his own law firm in 2000. Roger is the author of three books and numerous articles on environmental law issues, and lectures extensively on public health law and policy. He taught computer law at the University of California law schools at Berkeley and Los Angeles. Roger was on the California League of Conservation Voters' board of directors for seven years, serving as Vice President for several years. He co-founded (with Leonard Nimoy and Susan Bay) the Environmental Leadership Forum. Roger currently serves on the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee to the U.S. Trade Representative, and is chair of the Board of Directors of Para Los Niņos, an accredited childcare agency serving poor children and their families throughout Los Angeles. Roger has lived in Los Angeles for twenty years.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: February 26, 2004 16:44
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