Kamala Harris unveils bill to fund, support public defenders

[uawchild]

California Sen. Kamala Harris, a Democratic candidate for president, will unveil a new bill Wednesday that promises to provide hundreds of millions in new funding for public defenders.

Harris' EQUAL Defense Act would allocate $250 million to establish workload limits for public defenders and create "pay parity between public defenders within five years," according to a statement released by her office. It would also authorize an additional $5 million to train public defenders.

Some progressives have criticized Harris, who was San Francisco's district attorney and California's attorney general, for her record as a prosecutor. Harris has responded that she was a "progressive prosecutor" who fought racial bias in police departments, opposed the death penalty, and tried to keep first-time offenders out of jail.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-unveils-new-bill-to-fund-support-public-defenders/

Wow, this is a practical, implementable step forward in reforming a criminal justice system that systemically discriminates against the poor and people of color.

Good job!

[customerserviceguy]

1. Trump would have such a field day with this

"Hey, let's spend a quarter of a billion dollars to get criminals off scot-free on technicalities!" is how he'd approach it if she got the nomination.

[Politicub]

3. Fuck Trump. He's going to lie and piss on everything.

I could care less if he gives someone a nickname, or calls them nasty or any other of his shows of ignorance.

His base is not going to expand because he whining about something else someone says. He has the whiner vote locked.

[customerserviceguy]

4. Of course he will do that with any of our candidates

but this seems like low-hanging fruit for him.

Swing voters always want to know, "What's in it for me if I vote for this person?" The crumbling of the public defender's office is not at the top of their priority lists.

[redstatebluegirl]

2. One of the most unfair things in our judicial system is that poor people have the worst

representation. PDs are underfunded and overworked, they cannot give decent legal representation to anyone they represent. Rich clients come in with a stacked deck of the best legal teams money can buy. There is nothing fair about this.

[loyalsister]

5. She has thoroughly embraced criminal justice reform

She is sitting next to Warren as a potential primary pick for me. I have been generally skeptical of prosecutors, but it looks like she is well aware of how damaging the current system is.
This would go beyond acknowledging the problem to produce measurable results towards disrupting systemic racism.

[DesertRat]

6. Great! Thanks for posting