http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=244805Kamala Harris, California's incoming attorney general, is a self-declared "radical" when it comes to changing the U.S. criminal justice system.
From her own statements, she sees the need for criminal prosecutors to use their positions to "fight" for the great cause of "justice" for minorities, immigrants and the poor.
In the runup to November's elections – where Harris won the slimmest victory in the Democratic statewide sweep – the news media released a flood of glowing profiles of the aspiring politician, casting her as a rising national star, comparing her to Barack Obama, and even labeling her as the "anti-Palin," as one Politico article put it.
She's California's first African-American attorney general and the first woman to hold the office.
"I am radical in my belief in what we can do to improve the [criminal justice] system," Harris told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month, without elaborating much on those sentiments.
But perhaps a more detailed and accurate description of her beliefs can be found in her track record as well as in lectures she delivered that did not receive news media attention.
WND has learned Harris was a lecturer at a 2004 symposium at the law school of the University of California at Berkeley, where she spoke alongside notorious radicals Tom Hayden and Van Jones. Harris at the time was a prosecutor.
Hayden was the principal organizer of the 1960's antiwar movement Students for a Democratic Society, from which the Weatherman terrorist organization splintered. He is known for his antiwar beliefs and has blamed U.S. policies for the 9/11 attacks.
Jones was President Obama's "green" jobs czar until he resigned last September after it was exposed he founded a communist revolutionary organization and called for "resistance" against the U.S. government. Jones described in previous interviews how his environmental activism was a front to push through socialist policies.
In her speech, Harris implied the role of a criminal prosecutor should be to fight for the cause of "justice" for the "poor, the disenfranchised, the people of color, immigrants, children, seniors."
At the 2004 Berkeley speech, Harris stated, "Law enforcement has not, at least always been, in the history of our communities, our friends. It is important for those of us who have a level of sensitivity to the poor, the disenfranchised, the people of color, immigrants, children, seniors, people who have been victimized – it is important for us to also be at the table when decisions are being made affecting those populations instead of just on the outside of the door."
Continued Harris: "As defense attorneys and public defenders always, fighting to get the good offer, fighting to say the charge should be dismissed, fighting to say the charges never should have been filed.
"Instead, why not approach it from the inside as well, looking at the system that ultimately, if done well, was designed to protect all of the people and be there where we can use our perspective and combine it with the immense power that a prosecutor has to do those things in the name of justice?"
She argued for the need to create a campaign around reducing "not the crime but the fear of crime."
At the symposium, Jones took the opportunity to slam "Mr. Professional Incarcerator, Mr. Right Wing Cheerleader for your professional incarcerating friends."
Compared to Obama
Harris has been the recent subject of multiple laudatory news media profiles speculating she will seek a larger national political career. Some of the coverage includes the Los Angeles Times, Politico, Ebony, The Daily Beast, as well as appearances on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" and NBC's "Today Show."
For her attorney general race, Harris was endorsed by a slew of progressives, including Progressive Democrats Sonoma County, led by Hayden.
She also won endorsements from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, as well as endorsements from labor unions, including the socialist-led Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.
Obama has been a big supporter of Harris.
As San Francisco's district attorney, Harris was the first California-elected official to endorse Obama for president. She served as his California state co-chair. The relationship traces back to at least 2004 when Obama, soon after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, hosted a fundraiser for Harris to clear her 2004 campaign debt.
Several recent media profiles even compared Harris to Obama.
Reported Politico: "Both are mixed-race children of immigrants raised by a single mother; both are eloquent, telegenic big-city lawyers with strong liberal credentials who catapulted from relative obscurity to the national stage. And like the first African-American president, Harris has broken a long-standing barrier – she's California's first African-American attorney general and the first woman to hold the office."
Responding to the comparison, Harris told Politico, "It’s flattering." Nevertheless, "these comparisons make me uncomfortable because I know what I want to do. I am really excited about being attorney general."
Wants 'community-based support' for 'mild' offenders
Harris took heat in her 2004 race after it was revealed that as a prosecutor she declined to seek the death penalty against a defendant accused of murdering San Francisco police officer Isaac Espinoza at a routine traffic stop. The San Francisco Police Officers Association and other law enforcement advocacy groups strongly opposed her position.
She's known for her opposition to the death penalty and support for other progressive positions, such as her pro-abortion stance.
She has campaigned for a "Smart on Crime" policy, named after her 2009 book.
The LA Times summarized her views: "She believes that prison should be the punishment for serious offenders and that greater pains should be taken to prod milder offenders with education, counseling, probation and other community-based support."
With research by Brenda J. Elliott
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