Kamala Harris’ record on criminal justice reform divides voters hoping for more progressive policies

Vice President Kamala Harris seems poised to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination after President Joe Biden removed himself from contention over the weekend — but leftists and progressives are divided on whether the former California prosecutor is the right choice.

Workers Strike Back, a working class movement founded by Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant, endorsed “independent, antiwar, pro-worker” perennial Green Party candidate Jill Stein for president.

“The political establishment and media have presented working people with a rotten false choice: right-wing billionaire Donald Trump or whichever warmonger the Democratic power brokers might select to replace Joe Biden,” the group said in a statement. “We need to reject Biden, Harris, Trump and politicians in BOTH capitalist parties, who offer working people nothing but crisis and war.”

Though the Democratic National Committee has yet to officially back Harris, liberal politicians, celebrities and progressive organizations quickly endorsed her. The Harris campaign raised $49.6 million in donations a day after Biden endorsed her.

Harris supporters praised her advocacy for reproductive rights, climate action and LGBTQ+ equality throughout her political career. The American Federation of Teachers, Gen-Z for Change, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn and the United Farm Workers are among several organizations endorsing Harris.

But some progressives question Harris’ track record as the top prosecutor overseeing the country’s largest state justice department.

Harris was previously the San Francisco district attorney and established hate crimes and environmental justice units in the office before becoming California’s attorney general. She then served as a senator — the second Black woman ever elected for the office.

She received backlash in California when, as the attorney general, she sided with the state to deny gender-affirming surgery for trans inmates. As district attorney, she came under scrutiny for overseeing more than 1,900 marijuana convictions in San Francisco. Most arrested for low-level offenses were not locked up and only 45 were sentenced to state prison during her 7-year tenure, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

She did not publicly support legalizing marijuana and reforming drug policy until 2018, when she decided to run for president. Before then, she fought a ballot measure for recreational pot in 2010 and remained on the sidelines in 2016 when it was legalized in California.

Her successor, George Gascón, expunged all marijuana convictions in San Francisco since 1975 — including the ones handed out under Harris — in 2019.