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2019-05-21 Home Front: Politix

Kamala Harris says she now backs independent probes in police shootings

[Politico] Kamala Harris said police shootings and cases of alleged brutality by law enforcement officials should be handed off to independent investigators, breaking with her long-held resistance to taking prosecutorial discretion away from locally elected district attorneys.

Harris, a former career prosecutor and California attorney general, had long advocated in favor of preserving prosecutorial discretion, taking heat from civil rights activists and African American leaders in her state. While running for Senate in 2016, she was criticized for withholding her support for state legislation requiring the Attorney General’s office to independently probe fatal police shootings. Now, campaigning for president, Harris was asked about her stance amid calls for more scrutiny over the investigative process.

"I believe the best approach is to have independent investigations," Harris said in a Monday interview on MSNBC.

When Harris addressed the question head-on in 2014, she took the opposite approach. Harris said she didn’t think it good public policy to take the discretion from elected district attorneys. "I don’t think there’s an inherent conflict. ... Where there are abuses, we have designed the system to address them," she told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-05-21 04:47|| || Front Page|| [11139 views ] Top

#1 a former career prosecutor and California attorney general

Gee, innovative concept.
Wait! How about investigating the criminals?

Posted by Skidmark 2019-05-21 09:22|| 2019-05-21 09:22|| Front Page Top

#2 "I believe the best approach is to have independent investigations about how I rose in the Democratic Party," Harris said in a Monday interview on MSNBC.

FIFY

Posted by AlmostAnonymous5839 2019-05-21 10:32|| 2019-05-21 10:32|| Front Page Top

#3 She didn't rise in the party by independent probes. They were very calculated probes.

Posted by JohnQC 2019-05-21 11:06|| 2019-05-21 11:06|| Front Page Top

#4 She didn't rise in the party by independent probes. They were very calculated probes.

You mean she slept her way to the top?

Posted by DarthVader 2019-05-21 15:24|| 2019-05-21 15:24|| Front Page Top

#5 Just how prevalent are these instances of 'police brutality' (a semi-subjective term in itself)? They're likely low by two objective criteria (historical averages and compared to other Western countries), so I doubt it's something that's warranted unless the goal is to score cheap political points.

Posted by Raj 2019-05-21 16:52|| 2019-05-21 16:52|| Front Page Top

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