Prosecutor vs. Felon: Working Through a Dialectical Minefield
Former President and convicted felon Donald J Trump, and former District Attorney and Attorney General Vice-President Kamala Harris share at least one aspect in common: They and their respective parties both hold a complicated relationship to the criminal justice system.
In 2020, Kamala was attacked with the epithet “Copmala,” a derogatory term referencing her record of jailing young black men for marijuana offenses, putting parents of truant children in jails, and upholding laws that allowed law enforcement to seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity without necessarily charging the owner with a crime.
“Check out the 2020 debates where even Joe Biden criticized her record as a prosecutor,” said Jason, a software developer.
But that was 2020; in 2024, with crime perceived to be out of control and Black Lives Matter in the rear view mirror, being tough on crime is considered a positive trait, especially for a Democrat. Constantly, Republicans are portraying the Democrat opposition as soft on crime. In her first ad playing across the sun belt, she fires back at this insult, touting her role as prosecutor as tough as nails. “Kamala Harris has spent decades fighting violent crime. As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border,” the new ad says. It adds that “as vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.”
In a speech, adding to her image as tough on crime and criminals, especially as compared to her opponent, speaking about her prior judicial roles, she said, “So, in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off customers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type. I know the type and I have been dealing with like him.”
Not everyone is impressed. “It’s amusing how many on the left once disliked her for being a prosecutor. Now, they praise her for it and act as if they weren’t opposed to the police, courts, and everything else just recently,” Emily from Newport Beach said.
Many Democrats have viewed the criminal justice system as unfairly targeting certain groups and individuals, but not when it comes to Donald Trump. They have labeled him as a felon and criminal, and praise Harris for being a tough prosecutor going after bad guys like him. The tables have turned.
Donald Trump and the Republicans, formally proponents of a judicial system that they see as necessary to upholding law and order, now see the justice system as being rigged against them and being weaponized by a Democratic party, in a way that they have labeled as “fascist.” A party known to be tough on crime and in favor of law and order, has recently taken a sideways view of the judicial system as unfairly targeting their political leader as well as the “political hostages” of the January 6 insurrection.
In a surprise departure from norms, a former President, who has regularly threatened military use against ordinary citizens in the past, is now featured on a rising generation Z podcast, reminiscing how he sympathizes with the rapper Young Thug who is being charged with RICO charges in Atlanta. Trump talks about how Young Thug must be treated fairly, seeing himself in him, both being targeted by an unjust judicial system and prosecutor.
Many Republicans I spoke to for this article see going after Trump as a reflection of a judicial system that has become corrupted. He has done nothing wrong that any other powerful figure in his position hasn’t done before, so the only reason for going after him and criminalizing it now is to stop him from pursing the presidency and power. The Democrats have found a way to stop him from correcting the system and bringing the disenfranchised far right back to the table.
Could the Republicans now be the ones seeing reform needed to an unjust and corrupted system, and the Democrats seeing the prosecutors and lawyers that uphold justice as the stars of a system that holds criminals accountable? Usually, it is the far left progressives who see the criminal justice system as fair for some and unfair for others. But with recent actions by the Department of Justice, including the largest indictment ever taken with the arrests of January 6 insurrectionists, it is those on the far right who are now part of the choir calling for a justice system that is fair and balanced. It is Congressmen Matt Gaetz, a staunch Republican, who went to pay his respects at a vigil held for the January 6 “hostages,” and said, “I just want to say how sorry I am that there are any Americans that are having to endure this two-tier justice system.”
While the Conservatives have their own complicated intra-party relationship to the criminal justice system, the writer, Arash Azizi of The Atlantic, spoke clearly about Harris when he said, “Harris is difficult to pin down — a politically versatile operator, which has worked to her benefit so far, allowing all wings of the Democratic Party to see in her what they like.” To the far-left progressives, she has positioned herself as a champion of reform, noting past accomplishments in revamping and making “smart” a system that is unjust; while, to the centrist of the Democratic party, she has touted her record of being tough on criminals and a vehicle of the system to move toward justice against criminals like Donald Trump. She is trying to bring together a left that is usually diverse and fractured.
Part of that calculus might be in Harris’ decision to pick a progressive in Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. Someone the far left could get excited about, as having a record of taking on the system and seeking reform. It was Walz’ state that the murder of George Floyd occurred, and it is his administration that has enacted several significant measures aimed at addressing systemic issues within the criminal justice system. In 2020, following Floyd’s death, Walz signed a bill that banned chokeholds and mandated new police training protocols. This legislation also required officers to intervene if they witnessed excessive force by their colleagues and established an independent investigation unit for incidents involving police misconduct or deaths.
And while Harris has a past as a prosecutor, Walz once was a 24-year member of the Minnesota National Guard, placating the centrist of the party to a man who is part and parcel of the system and has the experience to know what it takes to be tough on criminals. In one of this first speeches at a rally with Kamala Harris, he said, “And make no mistake. Violent crime was up under Donald Trump. That’s not even counting the crimes he committed.” This serves a dual purpose; one, to say that the conservatives are not the ones that are going to provide safe communities; and two, it puts the focus back on Donald Trump, the felon.
Both parties have their complications with the judicial system, and it will be interesting to hear the messaging they impart about law and order, and justice, as we get closer to the sentencing of Donald J Trump for his felony conviction.
