The first SF politician I ever met was Terence Hallinan back in the late 80’s… Actually I also used to run into fellow Supervisor Harry Britt at a liquor store on Haight St now & again, but he wasn’t really shaking hands, maybe just the late afternoon DT’s…

My Hallinan meeting was at a SOMA discotech on Harrison St called City Nights, where one could just as easily catch a set by The Ramones or a case of the clap. Hallinan’s rep as a fighter stems from his teenage years when his nickname was KAYO and an attempt to join the 1960 Olympic Boxing Team. His rep as a partier, includes a youthful arrest for beating up some Coast Guard recruits to steal a case of beer, and even being name dropped in a sordid episode he denies in Janis Joplin’s autobiography.

March on a few years later and he ended up spending 7 years on the board of supes, and 8 unlikely years as the city’s District Attorney, a job that somehow suited a maverick fighting Irishman. Unafraid of controversy, Hallinan once pulled a similar trick to the Bush admin, firing 14 senior prosecutors, and posted a guard outside his office in fear of retaliation.

He lost a bitter re-election in 2003 against Kamala Harris, who talked about restoring “public integrity” while violating a voluntary campaign spending cap in the process. Anyhow, it ended his 15 year run of elected service, and Hallinan vowed to the media he’d be going into private legal practice with his son Brendan, and relished opportunity to get his life back.

Then for the past few years, w/ Fajitagates long gone by, and dog maulings a thing of the past, I heard hide nor hair of him again…

the rest of the spiel & where fighting Irishman Terence Hallinan spent his green St. Paddy’s… after the jump

By the time I ever met Hallinan, he was running for supervisor, and had already amassed quite a rep amongst the city’s politicos, policy wonks, and left of center ne’er do’ ells. He’d spent part of his youth working on civil rights issues in the deep south, and his fiery father Vincent preceded him by being labor activist Harry Bridges‘ Attorney and a one time Independent Progressive Party presidential candidate who’d spent part of his campaign in jail on contempt of court charges..

With his family name, let’s just say Hallinan did not get into the high officialdom world easily. He was the classic “troubled youth” who did more than fight for his right to party, he battled for survival as his father’s controversial political activities made their family targets for daily derision and beatings for the 6 boys after school.

Five of the brothers became UC Berkeley boxing team members, the littlest… well he wanted to be a lawyer like his daddy…

While attending UC Hastings Law School, having previously been down south, Hallinan worked on desegregation issues right here in San Francisco, organizing sit-ins at businesses like the Sheraton Palace, Mel’s Drive-in, and a Van Ness Cadillac dealership that all refused to hire black employees. On one occasion, after protesting hiring policies at the Sheraton Palace, Hallinan was actually jailed at the same time as his mother and older brother, Patrick.

He also ended up studying at The London Scool of Economics for a spell, where he of course… was arrested, this time for protesting the war in Vietnam and fined one pound.

Later on… he was a somewhat flamboyant local lawyer, politician, and “old progressive”.

I had heard nary a peep of what he was up to, when tonight I got an email from my buddy Al who’d just rode his bike from Fort Bragg to Laytonville and had run into some interesting characters up north…

I’ll quote Al on this one, retelling his St Paddy’s Daze with our former DA…

On Saturday I went to Area 101
which is a very cool art/community center/venue
located 10 miles north of Laytonville on 101. The
event that evening was a question/answer forum with
the three candidates for Mendocino County District
Attorney, specifically about enforcement of the state
and county marijuana laws. The stage, lighting,
seating arrangement, sound, and video (three cameras -
two on booms, one on rollers) was as good as any
commercial studio that I’ve ever seen. There was
plenty of great food and beverages (no booze) at
reasonable prices. There was more ganja there than you
could shake a stick at. The debate was moderated by
Terence Hallinan. All the colorful hippie growers
that gave Mendocino its reputation were there speaking
out as elders with the clout of Mendocino county
measure G and California’s proposition 215 behind
them, and the DA candidates (as well as the sheriff)
all vowing to respect the will of the public. I
thought I was dreaming. The whole thing felt like a
docudrama. Basically, the social ramifications of pot
mirrored its chemical complexity. That’s why I love
this place.

Turns out Terence at age 70, sits alongside Willie Nelson & Woody Harrelson on the advisory board to the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. He also has a small farm up near Petaluma, and his clients include Olive Rancher Nan McEvoy pornking & convicted murderer Jim Mitchell and a slew of “medical” pot farmers & users that could use a helping hand around the law…