WASHINGTON—Today, The Heritage Foundation released a bombshell report exposing Vice President Kamala Harris’ pro-crime policies and views throughout her career. The report examines her record as the District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, U.S. Senator for California, and current Vice President. How she has portrayed her time as a prosecutor—whether as tough on crime or as overtly progressive—has varied depending on her audience and the political climate. But make no mistake, her policies have always been soft-on-crime. This report sets the record straight.  
 
Zack Smith, Senior Legal Fellow at The Heritage Foundation and author of the report, stated: 

“Despite touting herself as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, Vice President Kamala Harris’s record reveals a different reality. She has long favored radical, pro-crime policies that make American communities less safe.  

“Vice President Kamala Harris has often claimed that she wants to help members of our nation’s poor and minority communities, but the sad irony is that the policies she now champions will often end up harming those individuals the most. 
 
“This report identifies specific instances of how Harris’s decision-making undermines public safety and often leads to disastrous results for Americans and their communities.” 

Below are some of the report’s major findings: 

• Kamala Harris implemented some of the same policies that today’s rogue prosecutors implement—like not seeking the death penalty even in egregious cases—and has shown support for defunding the police and for radical bail policies that release violent criminals back onto the streets.  

• Many of Kamala Harris’s criticisms from her time as district attorney of San Francisco stem from her failure to do the basic blocking-and-tackling required of her job. Despite claims by some on the Left, she did not vigorously enforce California’s marijuana laws, and she failed to fulfill her constitutional duty to turn over exculpatory evidence to defense counsel, which resulted in the dismissal of hundreds of cases.  

• In California, law enforcement officers have complained that Harris cut “fire-sale deals” to resolve a backlog of homicide cases inherited from her predecessor and refused to seek appropriate punishments even for those who committed unconscionable acts. 

• Kamala Harris’s refusal to seek the death penalty in one case as district attorney proved to be so egregious that it even drew the ire of fellow liberal Democrats including then-Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. 

• As Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris openly defended prosecutorial misconduct in two major cases. 

• As Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris has adopted stronger pro-crime views, claiming that it “is outdated and is actually wrong and backward to think that more police officers will create more safety,” which is certainly incorrect and in direct opposition to some of her earlier statements. 

• While serving in the White House, Harris has characterized herself as a “progressive prosecutor” and cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm rogue prosecutor Rachael Rollins, who subsequently resigned in disgrace, as the United States Attorney in Massachusetts.   

• Though Harris might now try to cast herself as a “pragmatic” prosecutor, there is nothing pragmatic about the policies she has supported. They make our communities less safe and undermine the rule of law.