Lawyers under the oversight of then-Attorney General of California Kamala Harris argued in 2014 against the release of nonviolent criminals because they wanted to keep them for cheap labor.
“Extending 2-for-1 credits to all minimum custody inmates at this time would severely impact fire camp participation — a dangerous outcome while California is in the middle of a difficult fire season and severe drought,” lawyers from Harris’s office wrote in a filing.
The attorney general arrived at that stance in reaction to a chain of events following a 2011 Supreme Court decision ruling that California’s prison overcrowding was in violation of the Constitution’s cruel and unusual punishment clause.
In 2014, as overcrowding persisted, a three-judge panel in California ordered the state to make eligible for parole nonviolent prisoners with only two felonies that had served half their sentences. Harris’ lawyers argued early release would harm the prison’s labor program, which included its work program to help fight California’s wildfires. The judges rejected the argument.
Criticism against Harris resurfaced after her announcement for president last month brought heightened scrutiny. In 2014, Harris told BuzzFeed News she was “shocked” to learn about what her lawyers were arguing in court.
Harris’s presidential campaign reiterated her claims this week to the Daily Beast: “As she said at the time, Sen. Harris was shocked and troubled by the use of this argument. She looked into it and directed the department’s attorneys not to make that argument again.”
