Kamala Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general whose prosecutorial record is under fire from the Left, released a plan to “fundamentally transform our criminal justice system.”
The California Democrat’s proposal, released Monday, has a goal to end what her campaign calls “mass incarceration.” Twenty percent of the incarcerated population, she said in a statement, “is serving time for a drug charge while another 1.15 million are on probation and parole for drug-related offenses.” Harris also proposes legalizing marijuana on the federal level while supporting “states in legalizing” the drug and expunging the convictions of those with prosecuted for pot-related offenses.
Since joining the Democratic primary field in January, Harris has faced criticism from liberal quarters over her tough-on-crime approach as a prosecutor. Her criminal justice plan also comes as she fights to stay in the top tier of candidates, weighed down by lackluster poll numbers. The RealClearPolitics average has Harris in fourth place, with an average of 7.2% in national polls. That’s well behind former Vice President Joe Biden, with 29.7%, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, at 18%, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with 17.5%.
During her time as California’s attorney general, Harris oversaw the jailing of at least 1,974 individuals for marijuana-related convictions. At the second Democratic debate in July, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard attacked her record on the issue, saying she was “deeply concerned.”
Harris’ plan includes many items from liberals’ wish lists, such as ending mandatory minimums on the federal level and working to “incentivize states to do the same.” Her proposal also would eliminate cash bail and the death penalty. Like virtually the rest of the primary field, Harris calls on the ending the use of private prisons, arguing that “it is inhumane to profit off of imprisonment.”
Harris, 54, additionally, calls for restoration of voting rights “for all who have served their sentence,” and for allowing felons to have “access to public housing, student loans, SNAP, and professional work licenses.”
The plan also targets local police departments, pledging to create “a national standard for use of deadly force,” and the establishment of a “National Police Systems Review Board,” which would scrutinize the behavior of local law enforcement.
Through the Department of Justice, Harris promises to double the size of the Civil Rights Division and “pass legislation that authorizes the Civil Rights Division to have subpoena power,” which would be a significant expansion in the division’s power.
