Copala Harris: The Myth of The Progressive Prosecutor
Kamala Harris has been serving in public office for years working to perpetuate a corrupt system designed to alienate the working class… So why do people think she’s a progressive icon? This work aims to contextualize the cruelties of her career path.
The Trauma of Truancy:
In 2010 the District of Attorney for San Francisco- Kamala Harris, gave a speech at the Commonwealth Club in Silicon Valley. The title of which of was; Smart on Crime: Elevating the Discussion in Our City, State, and Nation. Reform was not a meaningful portion of this discussion. The standout line from the speech, the one that garnered international attention, was about her infamous stance on truancy, "I believe a child going without an education is tantamount to a crime, so I decided that I was going to start prosecuting parents for Truancy." Now, that line is by all accounts, thoughtless, horrifying, and entirely typical of the broader mindset that plagues basically every DA and prosecutor in the United States... However, punishing parents with fines and/or jail time for truancy is something that she notes as 'controversial.' Nearly a decade later, in 2019- Kamala Harris claimed that this was an 'unintentional consequence...' That is objectively a fucking lie. If one were to read the law, it’s blatantly evident that it was intended to deliver fines and jail time to truant students' parents. Section 270.1: "who has failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the pupil’s school attendance, and who has been offered language accessible support services to address the pupil’s truancy, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. A parent or guardian guilty of a misdemeanor under this subdivision may participate in the deferred entry of judgment program defined in subdivision (b)."
I bring this up because, like most laws that disproportionately target poor, working-class families as well as people of color- someone died from it. Her name was Eileen DeNino; she left behind seven children and she died due to medical complications in Prison. Her case is a noxious microcosm of the industrial prison system, wherein poverty is criminalized and exploited to benefit state labor needs and private prisons. Kamala Harris did not create these systems, nor was she the first to employ Truancy laws. Still, her entire career as California’s 'top cop' contains a myriad of atrocities inflicted upon the poorest and most marginalized people found within society. Harris spent her life penalizing these groups, further immiserating the working class in a state with the second-highest prison population within the US.
Targeting Transgender Inmates:
The 'Top-Cop' punished more than the impoverished but also targeted and denied the rights of Trans people- a prime example of this is the case of Michelle Norsworthy; she was incarcerated in a men’s prison facility despite her objections. Kamala Harris continually appealed the courts decisions- effectively denying her the healthcare and human decency that she is owed. This instance would be bad enough; however, she still refuses to comment and commit to the humanity of trans prisoners.
The Ruthless Reagan-Democrat: Kamala Harris:
One transgression that is oftentimes overlooked when examining the record of Kamala Harris is her complete, abhorrent dismissal and relentless targeting of sex workers. She opposed Proposition K, which aimed to reallocate funding from arresting Sex Workers into public health services in order to help alleviate STI’s for the general public (including said aforementioned sex workers.) Harris’s response to the proposition? "I think it’s completely ridiculous, just in case there’s any ambiguity about my position." Her antagonism intensified as Attorney General of California- taking a page out of the Reagan playbook her justification for this incessant criminalization was, "“[p]rostitution is linked to the transmission of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.” Of course, this is total horseshit, and there’s little evidence connecting these two in any meaningful regard. Still, even if those two things were linked together- it’s obvious that the system working as is, the one that Harris desired to perpetuate, is working to solve this crisis. Further criminalizing sex work does not solve this issue but is making it worse- This was not some nominal statement in the early aughts (still entirely unacceptable) but was said in 2015.
Closing Remarks on an Abhorrent Career:
I didn't even mention her predatory practices towards nonviolent drug offenders (arresting over 1500 during her tenure). I also did not mention her abysmal record with aiding and abetting fucking Steven Mnuchin and other white-collar criminals because I merely wanted to highlight a few key aspects that are often glossed over in the broader conversation.
The material reality of Kamala Harris’s career is that of all prosecutors- she worked in service for the rich and powerful. She dedicated a majority of her time to further atomizing and destroying working-class families. You don’t get to be some progressive/woke hero for POC when you spent a large swathe of your life obliterating theirs. Don’t stop fighting, and don’t settle for their bullshit.
