Kamala Harris Is Trying to Run From Her Prosecutorial Record
(excerpt)
The truth is that Harris’ record shows that she is soft on crime and committed to coddling criminals at the expense of victims and our communities. Consider two cases from her time as San Francisco’s district attorney.
Harris refused to seek the death penalty against a man suspected of being a gang member, Edwin Ramos, who shot and killed a father and his two sons, even though California allows the state to seek the death penalty for multiple murders by the same person. Not only did Ramos kill three innocent people, but he also had previously been charged with robbing a pregnant woman.
In a different case, when a gang member killed San Francisco police Officer Isaac Espinoza and wounded his partner, Harris again refused to seek the death penalty.
At the time, this was considered radical even by liberal Democrats.
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer called for the death penalty, and then-California Attorney General Bill Lockyer threatened to take the case away from Harris, saying at the officer’s funeral, “If you make charging decisions based on personal philosophy, not on facts, I will take the case away from you.”
On top of her radicalism, as district attorney, Harris also demonstrated gross incompetence. For example, she didn’t disclose exculpatory evidence to defense attorneys about an unethical police expert, resulting in more than 600 cases being dismissed. And later on, as state attorney general, she was excoriated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit for using a falsified confession.
Harris has also flip-flopped on whether police provide public safety. She wrote in her 2009 book, “Smart on Crime,” that having more police on the streets helps public safety. This, of course, is correct.
But more recently, as political winds in the Democratic Party have shifted against policing and prosecution, Harris told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that the idea that “the best way to achieve more safety is to put more police on the streets (is) just wrong.”
And she backed up this change of heart by applauding then-Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s decision to cut $150 million from the city’s Police Department budget.
https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/kamala-harris-trying-run-her-prosecutorial-record