Kamala Harris, JD Biography
- Title:
- United States Senator (D-CA)
- Position:
- Con to the question "Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?"
- Reasoning:
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“As a career law enforcement official, I have opposed the death penalty because it is immoral, discriminatory, ineffective, and a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars…
Black and Latino defendants are far more likely to be executed than their white counterparts. Poor defendants without a team of lawyers are far more likely to enter death row than those with strong representation. Your race or your bank account shouldn’t determine your sentence.
It is also a waste of taxpayer money. The California Legislative Analyst’s office estimates that California would save $150 million a year if it replaced the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. That’s money that could go into schools, health care, or restorative justice programs.”
“Senator Kamala Harris on California Death Penalty Moratorium,” harris.senate.gov, Mar. 13, 2019
- Theoretical Expertise Ranking:
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Experts
Individuals with MDs, JDs, PhDs, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to death penalty issues. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to death penalty issues. - Involvement and Affiliations:
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- US Senator (D-CA), Jan. 2017-present
- 32nd Attorney General of the State of California, Jan. 3, 2011-Jan. 2017
- District Attorney, San Francisco (CA), 2003-2011
- Former Rodel Fellow, Aspen Institute
- Former Board member, California District Attorneys Association
- Former Vice President, National District Attorneys Association
- Managing Attorney, Career Criminal Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, 1998-2003
- Prosecutor, Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, 1990-1998
- Education:
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- JD, Hastings College of Law, University of California, 1989
- BA, Howard University, 1986
- Other:
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- Twitter handle: @SenKamalaHarris
- She is the first woman, the first African American, and the first South Asian to hold the office of Attorney General in the history of California.
- Recipient, Thurgood Marshall Award, National Black Prosecutors Association
- Named as one of “America’s 20 Most Powerful Women” by Newsweek
- Named as one of the “100 Most Influential African Americans” by Ebony Magazine
- Quoted in:
