Barrios Speaks to Students

In the kick-off event for the Harvard College Democrats’ Massachusetts Politics Week, Mass. State Senator and Middlesex County district attorney candidate Jarrett T. Barrios ’90 discussed his platform before a student gathering in the Kirkland Senior Common Room last night.

Barrios, who is the first openly gay Hispanic Mass. state senator, addressed issues ranging from violent crime prevention to the gubernatorial race to the Supreme Court’s recent Solomon Amendment decision.

Barrios, who will face another Democrat, Gerry Leone, in the district attorney race, advocated reforms focusing not just on winning convictions but on preventing future crimes.

“It’s not just about cleaning up the mess by putting people behind bars,” he said. “You can’t arrest your way out of these problems,” referring to the recent rise in Boston’s murder rate.

In Boston, there were 75 homicides—the highest in ten years—last year, Boston Police Department Sergeant Thomas Sexton told The Crimson last month.

Barrios said that he believes he would have more impact on crime rates as a district attorney than as a legislator.

“Where the rubber hits the road in criminal justice is in the DA’s office,” he said.

In recent years, Barrios co-drafted legislation aimed at reducing gang-related violence.

He also authored a bill banning assault weapons to replace the one that expired in Sept. 2004.

Barrios, who has been state senator since 2003, also emphasized the need for reforms in domestic violence prosecution and prevention.

He said that halfway houses for domestic offenders can serve to protect victims while keeping the offenders, who often provide financial support to victims, in the workplace.

Eric P. Lesser ’07, the president of the Dems, said that Barrios’ focus on domestic violence was vital.

“In the rhetoric you hear, there is attention on glitzy and sexy crime issues and no attention is paid to domestic violence,” Lesser said.

Barrios also said that technology such as GPS tracking—which can confirm whether sex offenders are in school zones or whether people under restraining orders are violating their orders—can cut down on crimes that are difficult to monitor.

Dems’ Mass. Politics Week coordinator Erika C. Helgen ’08 said that it was fitting that Barrios, whom she called “a long-time friend of the Dems,” kick off the Dems’ week-long series on local and state politics.

As part of the series, a debate between Democratic lieutenant governor candidates will take place today.

Trips to the campaign headquarters of Tom Reilly and Deval Patrick ’78, the Democratic candidates for governor, are also planned, according to Helgen.

The week will conclude with “Walk Dat Ass,” when students will walk Boston’s Freedom Trail.

While Barrios said he thinks Republican candidate and current Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey ’82 will distance herself from current governor Republican Mitt Romney, he said Democrats “will try to paint Kerry Healey and Romney with the same brush.”

Barrios, who led a gay rights group when he was at Harvard, also criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Solomon Amendment, which forces universities either to grant the military equal access to recruit on campus or to forgo federal funds.

Barrios said that he hopes “Harvard would stand by the students” and “not make a mockery of its anti-discrimination policy.”