More than 160 leaders directly affected by incarceration and criminalization sent a letter to Vice President Harris urging her to develop a campaign platform that addresses mass incarceration.
Hill was interviewed exclusively.letterThe bill calls on Harris to reject the use of harmful language about the criminal justice system, including the notion that this year’s showdown between her and former President Trump is a showdown between “tough on crime” prosecutors and “criminals.”
Leaders say such language is harmful to both Harris’ campaign and people affected by the criminal justice system.
“First, I believe you have been and will continue to be a leader in criminal justice reform. Also, words like ‘criminal’ and ‘felon’ are70 million AmericansIncluding criminal history1 in 3 black men“People who have been convicted of a felony,” the letter states.
Signatories to the letter include co-founder and steering committee member Norris Henderson.Former prisoners and their families movement; DeAnna Hoskins, president and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA, an organization that works on criminal justice reform, and a member of the National Council of Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.
While the total number of incarcerated people has declined significantly since a peak of about 2.4 million in 2008, mass incarceration and its resulting effects disproportionately affect Black and brown Americans, according to FWD, a nonpartisan political group that works to reform the criminal justice and immigration systems.
According to the Prison Policy Initiative, black people nationwide are incarcerated at six times the rate of white people.
Harris is a former attorney general and prosecutor, a history she has emphasized since announcing her presidential bid last week.
“Before I was elected vice president, before I was elected to the United States Senate, I was elected attorney general of California, and before that, I was a trial prosecutor,” Harris said at a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, the day after President Biden announced he was dropping out of the race and endorsing Harris.
“In these roles, I’ve faced off against all kinds of perpetrators: predators who abuse women, con artists who rip off consumers, con artists who break the rules for their own gain. So listen to me when I say this: I know types like Donald Trump.”
But the letter argues that Harris can hold Trump accountable for his actions and the impact of his policy proposals without using “outdated fear-mongering rhetoric that dehumanizes us and opens the door to the ridicule and vilification that has plagued us for so long since the Black Codes.”
“Crying ‘felon!’ without acknowledging the injustice that occurs every day in our courts, prisons and jails undermines the enormous potential of our elections to engage with tens of millions of us with criminal records and the many more American voters who love us,” the letter said.
The signatories of the letter acknowledge that in 2019, Harris was the first candidate to agree to serve in Congress.Criminal Justice Reform Presidential Town HallHe was held in a closed prison.
“You spoke directly to the millions of us on both sides of the prison system who have been personally affected by mass incarceration with a plan that prioritizes safety and justice for our families,” the letter read.
The leaders added that they expect Harris to craft a criminal justice reform policy platform that is “for nothing but freedom.”
