Beau Biden

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Joseph Robinette 'Beau' Biden, III
Delaware Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office
2007
Current term ends
2011
Political party Democrat
Website Official Delaware Attorney General website

Contents

Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III (born February 3, 1969, in Wilmington, Delaware) is the current Democratic Attorney General of Delaware. He is the son of former-United States Senator and current Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Education

  • Graduated from Archmere Academy
  • Bachelor's degree, University of Pennsylvania
  • Juris Doctorate degree, Syracuse University College of Law

Professional experience

Biden began working with the United States Department of Justice based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1995, first as counsel for the Office of Policy Development then, two years later, as federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office. He remained there until 2004 when he returned to the private sector as a partner in the Wilmington-based law firm of Bifferato, Gentilotti, Biden & Black.

In addition to serving as the state's attorney general, Biden is also a member of the Delaware Army National Guard and serves as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's office as part of the 261st Signal Brigade based out of Smyrna, Delaware. His unit was activated to deploy to Iraq on October 3, 2008, and sent to Fort Bliss, Texas for pre-deployment training the day after his father participated in the 2008 presidential campaign's only vice-presidential debate. [1] After a year long deployment, Biden returned from Iraq in September 2009.

Prison criticism

Upon his return from his active tour of duty in Iraq, Biden found his office in the midst of a startling prison scandal and conducting damage control in the form of silencing his office's critics. The controversy began when Dover attorney Steve Hampton, who has taken on a number of inmate's cases in several scandals that occurred within the state of Delaware's prison system, successfully sued the Department of Corrections (DOC) for 'gross medical neglect' in the death of twenty-two year old Anthony Pierce. Pierce, an inmate at the Sussex Correctional Institution (SCI), was known as the 'brother with two heads' because of the massive brain tumor growing on his head. The tumor, which was left untreated by the prison medical staff, eventually killed him in 2002.

A series of investigations conducted on behalf of the Caesar Rodney Institute, called "Rogue Force", revealed ongoing problems with the prison medical care, in addition to accusations of physical abuse by a handful of guards at SCI. “There is an abusive atmosphere at SCI that permeates the whole place,” Hampton told the Caesar Rodney Institute for the series. “They have a hands-off attitude about the number of use-of-force incidents. It just isn’t important to them." Depositions obtained by Hampton from several guards at the Delaware prison facility while investigating an assault of a prison inmate named David Kalm "revealed that the DOC is breaking its promise to the federal government, in which it agreed to provide specific training to the guard force, as part of the federal Memorandum of Agreement between the DOC and the U.S. Department of Justice." [2]The DOC signed the agreement in 2005 rather than risk litigation in federal court, following another case of poor medical care. Lawmakers have appealed for federal investigation of the state’s prison system.

Senate candidacy

At one point in the wake of the Democratic victory for senator Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the 2008 presidential election, Beau was considered the frontrunner to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate left behind by his father. However, either due to concerns over accusations of nepotism or an expressed unwillingness to be thrust onto the national political stage so quickly, Beau took his name out of the running and opted instead to fulfill his duties in the Delaware National Guard. [3]

The appointment of Ted Kaufmann, a long-time Joe Biden aide, as interim senator and his declaration not to run for election to the office in November 2010 angered not only Republicans, both statewide and nationally, but Democrats as well who "viewed it as an attempt to orchestrate Biden's election in 2010." [4] Harry F. Themal, columnist for The News Journal, related a conversation he had with the Vice President suggesting he was asked to pressure Biden's son to run for his United States Senate seat. [5] Shortly thereafter, the vice president's office demanded a correction insisting "that he told Themal to get Kaufman to run for the seat," [6] despite the interim senator's earlier declaration that he would not. This fueled speculation that Biden's son was not going to run. The next day, those speculations were confirmed when "the younger Biden told supporters in an e-mail Monday that he will run for re-election as attorney general rather than seek the Democratic nomination for Senate." [7]

The same day as Beau Biden's announcement, Robert Cook, an American political analyst, immediately designated the Delaware Senate seat as Solid Republican for the November 2010 midterm election. [8]

Other roles

  • Boards of Directors, Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League
  • Boards of Directors, Wilmington Housing Partnership
  • Boards of Directors, World Affairs Council of Wilmington

Campaign contributions

2006 Race for Attorney General - Campaign Contributions
Total Raised $880,522
Total Raised by Primary Opponent N/A
Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent $579,755
Top 5 Contributors Contact Group $10,150 (1.15% of Total)
Delaware DNC $9,960 (1.13%)
LSG Strategies $4,950 (0.56%)
James R. Berman $2,400 (0.27%)
Elizabeth W. Reid $2,400 (0.27%)
Individuals v. Institutions $743,602 (84.5%)
$122,153 (13.9%)
In v. Outside State $370,158 (42.1%)
$509,984 (57.9%)

Electoral history

2006

  • 2006 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary
    • Beau Biden ran unopposed
2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election [9]
Candidates Percentage
Beau Biden (D) 52.6%
Ferris Wharton (R) 47.4%
Total votes 253,214

Family life

Beau and his brother, Hunter, were badly injured in the automobile accident in 1972 that claimed the lives of their mother, Neilia, and younger sister, Naomi Christina Biden.

Biden currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife, Hallie, and their two children - Natalie and Hunter. He is also a practicing Roman Catholic.

Contact Information

102 W. Water Street
Dover, DE 19904

Criminal Division: 302-739-4211
Civil Division: 302-739-7641
Toll Free Phone: 302-739-1545
Fax: 302-739-7652
E-mail: Attorney.General@State.DE.US

External links

References

  1. ↑ Washington Post "Biden's Son Off to Iraq" 20 Aug. 2008
  2. ↑ Caesar Rodney Institute "Attorney General Beau Biden’s Office trying to silence prison critic" 2009
  3. ↑ Reuters "Aide named to replace Biden in Senate" 24 Nov. 2008
  4. ↑ The Prince Albert Daily Herald "Kennedy, Cuomo, Biden -- nepotism thriving in American politics" 9 Dec. 2008
  5. ↑ The News Journal "VP Biden on the Senate's "lamentable atmosphere"" 24 Jan. 2010
  6. ↑ Hot Air "Biden officially drops out of DE Senate race" 25 Jan. 2010
  7. ↑ Houston Chronicle "Vice president's son decides not to run for Senate" 25 Jan. 2010
  8. ↑ The Cook Report "2010 Senate Race Ratings" 25 Jan. 2010
  9. ↑ State of Delaware: Commissioner of Elections - 2006 General Election Results


Political offices
Preceded by
Carl Danberg 		Delaware Attorney General
2007–present 		Succeeded by
NA
v • d • e
State Attorneys General
   
Attorney General elections, 2010
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