Open letter from more than 160 justice reform groups urges Kamala Harris not to call Trump 'criminal' or 'criminal'

Justice reform groups warned Vice President Kamala Harris to “resist” calling former President Donald Trump a “criminal” as it could damage her campaign.

The Democratic presidential nominee was approached by more than 160 criminal justice advocacy groups who warned in an open letter that referring to Trump as a “criminal” while portraying himself as a “tough on crime” prosecutor could have a negative effect on their choice. career

“As you step up your campaign for the presidency, we ask that you approach this momentous political moment with particular care and attention to conversations and commitments around criminal justice reform,” read the letter by the “leaders of the movement to reform our criminal justice system and remedy the harms of mass incarceration.”

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— The Union of Black America (@BurnEr92976227) August 1, 2024

“There will be those who will simplify a confrontation between you and former President Trump as one between a 'tough on crime' prosecutor and a 'criminal,'” the letter said. “We hope you resist this language and this framing. It's harmful to us and harmful to your campaign.”

The group told Harris that words like “criminal” and “offender” only “paint with a broad brush that tarnishes more than 70 million Americans with criminal records, including one in three black men who have convictions for crime”.

While the groups urged Harris to hold Trump accountable for his “conduct and lack of remorse,” they asked her to “resist this outdated display of fear.”

“This language dehumanizes us and opens the door to ridicule and slander that have affected us since the black codes. Shouting 'criminal!' not acknowledging the injustices that take place daily in the courts, jails and prisons depresses the enormous electoral potential of connecting with the tens of millions of us who have criminal convictions and the even greater number of American voters who love,” the letter continued.

“Too many of our loved ones should be home and aren't,” wrote the leaders of groups like The Bail Project and Beauty after Bars. “We are as urgent as ever in our work to end mass incarceration, and we expect our presidential candidates to be the same.”

Harris' criminal record appears to be a hot-button issue, with Trump regularly bashing the vice president for his failures.

“It's a walking contradiction,” said Corrin Rankin, vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party Fox News Digital.

“She blows with the political wind, so whichever way the wind changes, that's the direction she's going to go, the direction that's going to help her career. She doesn't come across as a person with real values. I see her as a chameleon. Whatever wave leads to her success, she's riding it.”

Thousands of minorities were imprisoned for low-level marijuana offenses while Harris served as San Francisco's district attorney. “Blacks, browns and Polynesians were disproportionately affected,” Rankin said.

“You can't trust her,” he added. “I think the only compromise she's going to make is with herself.”

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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