Vice President Kamala Harris is being asked by more than 160 leaders impacted by incarceration and criminalization to stop using language they believe is "harmful."
In a letter sent to the presumptive Democrat nominee obtained by The Hill, they ask Harris to reject harmful language around the criminal justice system and to stop referring to the race between her and former President Donald Trump as a "tough-on-crime prosecutor" versus a "criminal."
"Words like 'criminal' and 'felon' paint with a broad brush that stains more than 70 million Americans with criminal records including the 1 in 3 Black men who have felony convictions," the letter reads.
Harris served as a prosecutor and California attorney general before she was elected to the Senate and has been touting her record on the stump.
"In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain," Harris said when launching her campaign. "So, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump's type."
The letter said Harris can hold Trump accountable without using fear-mongering rhetoric.
"Shouting 'felon!' without acknowledging the injustices taking place daily in courts, prisons, and jails depresses the tremendous electoral potential of engaging with the tens of millions of us who have criminal convictions and the even greater number of American voters who love us," the letter states.
The letter writers are also asking Harris to create a criminal justice reform platform.
"[There is] nothing less than freedom on the line," the letter reads.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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