Sen. Kamala Harris Regrets S.F.-Born Truancy Policy

[TexasTowelie]

Sen. Kamala Harris, months into her 2020 bid for president, said she regrets that her crackdown on parents of truant students resulted in jail time in some jurisdictions.

The California senator and Oakland native said the policy, which first started in 2008 when she was San Francisco District Attorney, had “unintended consequences” during a Pod Save America episode that aired Tuesday evening. The policy, which threatened parents with prosecution to kickstart a plan to end chronic truancy, was criticized as punitive and as adding to criminalization — as are other aspects of her record as a “progressive prosector.”

No parents in San Francisco went to jail but when Harris pushed the practice as Attorney General, she says other parts of the state took it farther than intended. In 2012, one Central Valley mother in the Hanford was sentenced to 180 days in jail for failing to get her children to school.

“My regret is that I have now heard stories where, in some jurisdictions, DAs have criminalized the parents,” Harris told host Jon Favreau. “The thought that anything I did could have led to that…that certainly was not the intention. Never was the intention.”

Read more: http://www.sfweekly.com/news/sen-kamala-harris-regrets-s-f-born-truancy-policy/

[watoos]

1. As I said long ago,

the attacks on Bernie and Tulsi here were fun and games. I mentioned that none of our candidates are perfect, I mentioned that we needed to stay positive about why we like our candidate not on why we dislike another candidate.

The attacks on Harris are starting, hey Beto fan, your candidate isn't perfect either, just like all of our candidates.

[TexasTowelie]

3. FWIW, I've posted articles and comments that are critical of Beto.

As far as Harris is concerned, it looks like she learned from the experience that sometimes actions done with the best intentions sometimes lead to unexpected/undesired consequences and results. I admire the people who grow with experience, it's the people that fail to learn who scare me.

While Kamala Harris isn't my preferred candidate in the primary, I won't have any apprehension voting for her in the general election if she is the nominee. If my preferred candidate withdraws prior to the Texas primary, then I will certainly consider Kamala Harris and many others as alternative choices.

[JI7]

5. this OP is not an attack. the attacks are things like referring to her as a cop

and blaming her for the problems of criminal justice for minorities .

[MH1]

2. Is there a model progressive approach to handling chronic truancy?

Does it have a strong track record in multiple locales?

Have any of the other candidates been instrumental in progressive policies to address the problem?

I'm not particularly a fan of Kamala Harris, but I don't fault her for trying to do something creative about a difficult problem. If there isn't a better known solution, and she tried something new and it had side effects, I don't fault her all that much. Not that I necessarily agree with throwing parents in jail, but it sounds like that was the result of others extending her policy, not her original policy.

The world is full of difficult problems with no obvious clean answers. I want leaders who are willing to try solutions. With the values to correct when fuck-ups are realized. But not too scared to try anything.

Also from a utilitarian perspective, the children saved by getting better education, might make up for some lives screwed up. That's harsh but do we ignore the harm to kids caused by completely ignoring the issue? That's the dilemma with real-world problems.

[lark]

4. Thank you Kamala for addressing this head on.

Points in my book for Senator Harris!

[BlueFlorida]

6. Honest and forthcoming, taking responsibility

Go Kamala !!!!

She didn't say "I was too busy being AG"

[USALiberal]

7. I am not thrilled how she handled the crime lab scandal either. nt