Kamala Harris’s Signature Achievement Was a Complete Failure

Kamala Harris trumpets a criminal justice program she instituted as district attorney as proof she's a "progressive prosecutor." The only problem? The program utterly failed to reduce mass incarceration in California.

It’s been called Kamala Harris’s “most successful program.” Framed as a visionary break from an era of “tough on crime” policing, “Back on Track” (BOT) has been replicated in cities around the country and was even adopted as a model program by the National District Attorneys Association. Harris herself has cited it as an inspiration for her 2010 book, Smart on Crime.

She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California, and she fought to keep a cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/09/kamala-harris-back-on-track-program-prisons

Article from JULY 6, 201612:05 AM:

8 things to know about Senate candidate Kamala Harris’ career gold stars and demerits

1. Helped broker mortgage relief settlement

2. Refused to defend ban on gay marriage

3. Refused to seek the death penalty against a cop killer

4. Delays in confiscating guns from dangerous Californians

5. Sued for-profit Corinthian Colleges for misleading students

6. Increased transparency on in-custody deaths, but opposed independent investigations of police shootings

7. Launched ‘Back on Track’ program to reduce recidivism — with one ‘flaw’

8. Veteran of tough campaigns

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-senate-harris-milestones-20160706-snap-htmlstory.html

Interesting reading older articles and how minds have changed…

I’m The Daughter Of Indian Immigrants & Kamala Harris Changed The Game For All Of Us

MALAVIKA KANNAN

LAST UPDATED DECEMBER 4, 2019, 2:00 PM

Sen. Harris, who dropped out of the 2020 race yesterday after saying she doesn't have enough funds to continue, was by no means a perfect presidential candidate. Based on the campaign she ran, she wouldn’t have had my vote, in part due to her lack of support for a single-payer healthcare system, as well as her prosecutorial record, some of which reportedly had harmful impacts on the communities of color she served. Still, I will never forget how it felt to watch one of the most accomplished, courageous, and inspiring politicians of my lifetime run for president — all while looking like me.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/12/8960341/kamala-harris-race-indian-minority-polls-campaign-impact