Harris wanted to end cash bail and reduce penalties for criminals

A recently resurrected memo by Vice President Harris' 2020 presidential campaign outlined her plan to “fundamentally transform” the criminal justice system by reducing penalties for criminals.

Harris, in 2019, promised to end cash bail, get rid of court-ordered fines, expunge some offenders' records, suspend federal mandatory minimum sentences and bring greater federal control over local police departments, according to a note resurrected by the Washington Free Beacon Thursday. Whereas Harris has previously supported weakening law enforcement, her campaign is preparing to pitch her to voters as a law-and-order candidate in contrast to former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.

“It is well past time to reimagine public safety by strengthening and supporting our communities and dramatically limiting the number of people we expose to our criminal justice system,” the memo said. “As president, Kamala will fundamentally transform how we approach public safety.”

Nearly 60 percent of Americans polled in January, including about half of Democrats, said the president and Congress should make tackling crime a priority. seconds at the Pew Research Center. A similar proportion of registered voters, 61%, he said Pew in April that the criminal justice system is not tough enough on criminals.

“Excessive cash bail disproportionately harms people in low-income communities and communities of color,” Harris' 2019 memo says. He characterized cash bail systems as “criminalizing poverty” and vowed to end them.

Ending cash bail has resulted in aa reaction in some major cities, with New Yorkers in February 2022 overwhelmingly supporting tougher bail laws after a spike in crime, the New York Post reported. The Texas Organizing Project, a Soros-backed nonprofit that opposes cash bail, tied up a man who allegedly murdered six people and shot three others in December 2023.

“Furthermore, we must eliminate court fees and fees associated with diversion, treatment, or community supervision that make it difficult for people to reintegrate into society,” Harris' memo continued.

The memo no longer appears on Harris' campaign website, though it is still present on the vice president's Middle page.

Harris also promised to automatically remove “non-serious or violent offenses” from criminal records after five years, according to the memo. The memo does not define what constitutes a “serious” crime.

He also supported restoring voting rights to all those with criminal records, the memo said, and advocated for more federal oversight of local police departments, citing alleged “racial profiling” and “excessive force.”

The now-vice president proposed a “National Police Systems Review Commission” that would “collect data and review police shootings and other cases of serious misconduct,” according to the memo. He also pledged to provide the Justice Department with resources to provide grants to fund greater scrutiny of officers who shoot suspects and pledged to reinstate an executive order restricting the sale of certain military equipment to police departments.

Harris' support for weakening law enforcement extends beyond a campaign memo.

In 2020, he praised the defunding of the police movement during a radio interview for calling out “correctly” the amount of money spent on police departments, CNN reported. Harris also praised Los Angeles for cutting its police department budget by $150 million, seconds at the NYP.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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