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The contrast between the progressive image Kamala Harris is trying to project and those videos of her laughing about criminally charging parents whose children were truant is, to put it mildly, extreme.
In the video, Harris acts like charging a homeless mom with a crime was a good thing, bc the mother got services and the charges were eventually dropped. Is that the world we want? Where parents get charged with crimes instead of simply getting assistance? Is this your president?
And she just kept laughing about how much she was frightening the parents. Like it was a delightful thing to do. Horrifying.
Like most people who follow criminal justice issues, I was already concerned about her candidacy. Her record is terrible. But that footage is next level and it obliterates the excuses people have tried to make for her. She took *joy* in recounting this.
Imagine, not only creating such a horrible policy, but being so pleased with yourself that you made a giggling speech about how much you frightened struggling parents.
Imagine congratulating yourself for charging a homeless mother with a crime when, by your own admission, the mom just needed some help.
Harris has tried to spin this period of her career as "progressive." You can read more about why that's bullshit in this NYT piece. nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opi…
Also this: "A judge excoriated her DA’s office for its 'levels of indifference' to defendants’ constitutional rights in its failure to disclose information about a scandal in the crime lab's drug analysis unit that led to the dismissal of 700 cases." inthesetimes.com/article/21700/…
Harris also pushed back against a federal order to expand an early parole program, arguing that it would deplete their stock of prison labor, especially inmates who fight wildfires. thinkprogress.org/california-att…
"[Harris] even defended the 3 strikes law, in which Black people are incarcerated at a rate 12 times higher than whites." afropunk.com/2019/01/kamala…
This piece explains why The First Step Act, which Harris described as "smart on crime" is basically a "‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for extremely low-risk, well-resourced people who find their way into federal prison." truthout.org/articles/first…
Consider this thread my contribution to the #HarrisTownHall.
Looks like there's another troubling video.
