Kamala Harris’s Criminal Law Record

A reporter asked me for my comments on Veep pick Kamala Harris’s criminal law record. Here is my response:

As far as criminal law goes, Ms. Harris’s tenure as Attorney General is best described as “benign neglect.” She allowed the career staff to do their jobs without much interference, but there was no leadership for justice there. Bill Lockyer, Dan Lungren, and George Deukmejian were far more effective Attorneys General. She was better than Xavier Becerra, but that is a low bar.

The chatter to the effect that she had a record as a “tough prosecutor” as DA is a knee-slapper. Among California district attorneys at the time, she was the softest on crime of all 58, refusing the seek the death penalty even in cases where it was clearly called for.

As “woke justice” leads to rising crime, horrifying murder rates, tolerance of looting and burning, and calls to defund the police or abolish them altogether, America needs leaders to vigorously oppose this insanity. Kamala Harris is unlikely to do so.