When Vice President Harris sought the Democratic presidential nomination, she made her background as a prosecutor a central part of her appeal to voters and used it as an early attack on her opponent, who has faced numerous legal troubles over the past year.
“I’ve fought criminals of all kinds — predators who abuse women, con artists who deceive consumers, and charlatans who break the rules for their own personal gain,” Harris said at her first presidential campaign rally last month. “So hear me when I say I know what a person like Donald Trump is.”
Her selection this week of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate further strengthens her focus on criminal justice, given that the state passed sweeping reforms during Walz’s tenure, particularly in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. But the civil unrest that followed quickly made Walz the target of Republican attacks on his and his response to the protests.
Harris’ record has also come under intense scrutiny, particularly her time as California’s attorney general before becoming a senator.
But Harris’ experience as a prosecutor and Walz’s progressive record make the newly elected candidates well-positioned to make criminal justice a central focus of their campaigns on areas such as police and prison reform and gun control.
Police Reform
The killing of Mr. Floyd in Minnesota, when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly 10 minutes after ignoring his pleas that he couldn’t breathe, was a major turning point for both Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz.
The nationwide reckoning on racial injustice sparked by Floyd’s killing came just as President Biden was narrowing down his running mate for the 2019 presidential election, with Harris finally being nominated after enduring rigorous scrutiny over her police history and her previous self-description as California’s “top cop.”
Now, four years later, with Harris at the top of the list of potential candidates, how her running mate handles the mass protests sparked by Floyd’s killing could be key in shaping the Democratic nominee slate.
A month after Floyd’s death, Waltz The bill was signed into law. It banned chokeholds, mandated new training, required officers to intervene and report when a colleague uses excessive force, and created an independent investigation unit into officer-involved fatalities and sexual misconduct.
In an interview, Michelle Phelps, author of “Reckoning Minneapolis: Race, Violence, and Policing in America,” described Walz as a centrist Democrat who has responded to calls from the progressive coalition to move left.
“What Waltz did was, Waltz [reforms]”Walz hasn’t blocked them,” Phelps said. “He’s navigated the challenges of signing some pretty progressive policies into law, but he’s explained them in a very common-sense way.”
That was likely part of his appeal as Harris’ running mate, she added.
But Waltz’s central role in the aftermath of Floyd’s death has also drawn criticism.
Republicans have criticized Governor Walz for not acting quickly when civil unrest erupted in Minneapolis, pointing to the days of protests between Floyd’s death and Governor Walz’s activation of the Minnesota National Guard. Hit First of all, activation.
But Waltz defended his decision, Press Conference At the time, he was “taking control” of state government by leaving it to leaders in Minneapolis to deal with the situation first.
Gun Control
Harris has a long record of supporting stricter gun control, but gun rights groups were once big fans of Walz, who grew up hunting and championed Second Amendment rights.
In Congress, Walz has often been at odds with most Democrats for his opposition to gun control. He repeatedly won the support of the National Rifle Association (NRA), boasting an “A” rating, but in 2016, Gun and ammunition magazines They named Walz one of the top 20 politicians most considerate of gun owners.
No more.
“Tim Walz is a political chameleon; he changes positions to achieve his own personal goals,” Randy Kozuk, president of the NRA Political Victory Fund, said in a statement after his selection Monday, suggesting Walz “gave it all he’s got” in running for Minnesota’s top job.
But Walz believes the change in his mind is due to the mass shooting, not his gubernatorial run.
After a Las Vegas concert-goer was shot in 2017, Walz said he donated all of the $18,000 he received from the NRA. The following year, after a mass shooting at a Florida high school, Walz came out in support of a ban on assault weapons.
“Minnesotans want commonsense solutions to end gun violence, and they want it now. Years of obstruction and inaction have caused that for them and for me,” Gov. Walz wrote in the Star Tribune. He wrote an op-ed a few days after the shooting.
By the time he won the gubernatorial election in 2018, Walz had become a reliable ally for gun control advocates, and he signed into law mandatory background checks and red flag laws that allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms deemed dangerous.
Prison reform
Harris is Frequently criticized Some see him as having increased incarceration, especially of minorities, but he was more to the left of Biden on prison reform in the 2020 presidential election. Suggest a change For example, it would establish a Federal Pardon and Sentencing Review Unit to consider early release for people who have served at least 10 years of a sentence of 20 years or more.
But the Biden Administration has not implemented such a policy. A look at Governor Walz’s record shows that more significant steps have been taken.
Last year, he Reforming the state’s criminal justice system The goal is to shorten probation time, reduce recidivism rates and remove barriers to release. On Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court Supported He signed legislation last year that restores voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences.
Phelps said effective criminal justice reform aims to address not just one issue like policing or prisons, but “all of the other structural causes of racial inequality.”
“I have [Walz] “Is the problem solved? Absolutely not,” she said. “But has he made the effort to implement that kind of ‘how can we move forward’ change here and now with the political coalition that we have now? I think he’s one of the Democratic governors who can at least say he has made the effort.”
