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| Author | Kamala Harris Joan O'C. Hamilton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | Chronicle Books |
Publication date | October 7, 2009 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 205 |
| ISBN | 978-0-8118-6528-9 |
| OCLC | 864320794 |
| Followed by | Superheroes Are Everywhere |
Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer is a book by Kamala Harris with Joan O'C. Hamilton, first published by Chronicle Books on October 7, 2009. [1]
First published as Harris (then the San Francisco district attorney) was beginning her 2010 campaign for California Attorney General, the book outlines her vision of how the criminal justice system should function. She explains in detail why in her view, it is not enough to simply be tough on crime, and how prosecutors and lawmakers must also be smart and reform-minded in their approach. [2] She argues such changes would increase public safety, reduce costs, and strengthen communities. [1]
Children's Defense Fund president Marian Wright Edelman praised the book saying:
Harris speaks from experience to debunk myths and offer real solutions to many of the problems with [our] current criminal justice system. Her suggestions have the potential to change and save lives. [3]
Some critics have observed that Harris did not pay enough attention to race, instead attributing the problem of disparities in the system to class, [2] and mentioning racial profiling from law enforcement only twice. [4] In one passage, she dispels the notion that communities of color are inherently hostile towards the police saying:
There is a widely held notion that poor communities, particularly poor African-American and Latino communities, consider law enforcement the enemy and that they do not want police officers in their neighborhoods. In fact, the opposite is true. Both my experience and scientific surveys reflect this fact again and again. I can state categorically that economically poor people want and support law enforcement. [2]
In response, Harris has stated that she is aware of the racial biases in criminal justice and policing, citing her decision to become a prosecutor as an extension of the work her parents did during the civil rights movement. [2] Those same critics have also noted that since being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, Harris has become more assertive on issues such as prison reform, racial equality, and scrutinizing police practices. [2] [4]
In October 2024, an investigative report by Austrian plagiarism hunter Stefan Weber alleged that Harris may have plagiarized extensive portions of the book from Wikipedia and many other sources. [5] [6] The claims received attention when amplified by independent journalists like Christopher Rufo. Citing an analysis from plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey, The New York Times wrote that "The five passages that Mr. Rufo cited appeared to have been taken partly from other published work without quotation marks" and concluded that "none of the passages in question took the ideas or thoughts of another writer, which is considered the most serious form of plagiarism. Instead, the sentences copy descriptions of programs or statistical information that appear elsewhere." [7] However, after examining Weber's dossier in full, Bailey later stated that the plagiarism case was more serious than he had communicated to the Times. [8]
Em Steck writing for CNN reported on the book that while Harris had, "...lifted language...in her 2007 congressional testimony..." that this according to Steck, "...does not constitute a serious example of plagiarism." [9]
Reason magazine commented that, "similar [plagiarism] transgressions ended the career of Harvard University President Claudine Gay" and questioned CNN's coverage of Harris' plagiarism for receiving a more gentle handling in their reporting. [10] Reason specifically criticized CNN's perceived imbalanced reporting as it relates to Republican's involved in or proximate to allegations of plagiarism such as Melania Trump, stating:
CNN's report on the Harris plagiarism accusation is headlined: "Conservative activist accuses Harris of plagiarizing passages in co-authored 2009 book." Note that the identity of the accuser—of the plagiarism discoverer—was not at issue in the Melania Trump case. But here, mainstream media feels compelled to position Rufo rather than Harris at the center of the controversy. [10]
Ronald Lyle Goldman was an American restaurant waiter and aspiring actor. A volunteer working with children suffering from cerebral palsy, Goldman appeared as a contestant on the short-lived game show Studs in early 1992. Goldman lived independently from his family and supported himself as an employment headhunter, tennis instructor, and waiter, and worked occasionally as a model. Not long before his death, Goldman earned an emergency medical technician license, but he decided not to pursue that as a career.
Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and attorney who has been the 49th and current vice president of the United States since 2021 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female U.S. vice president, making her the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history. She is also the first African American and the first Asian American vice president. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2024 presidential election, becoming the second woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. From 2017 to 2021, she represented California in the U.S. Senate, and was Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017. From 2004 to 2011, she served as District Attorney of San Francisco.
The Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization group of current and former police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals who use their expertise to advance drug policy and criminal justice solutions that enhance public safety. The organization is modeled after Vietnam Veterans Against the War. As of April 2017, they have more than 180 representatives around the world who speak on behalf of over 5,000 law enforcement members and 100,000 supporters.
Maya Lakshmi Harris is an American lawyer, public policy advocate, and writer. Harris was one of three senior policy advisors for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign's policy agenda and she also served as chair of the 2020 presidential campaign of her sister, Kamala Harris.
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Proposition 47, also known by its ballot title Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute, was a referendum passed by voters in the state of California on November 4, 2014. The measure was also referred to by its supporters as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. It recategorized some nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors, rather than felonies, as they had previously been categorized.
Contributors to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, often referred to as Wikipedians, license their submitted content under a Creative Commons license, which permits re-use as long as attribution is given. However, there have been a number of occasions when persons have failed to give the necessary attribution and attempted to pass off material from Wikipedia as their own work. Such plagiarism is a violation of the Creative Commons license and, when discovered, can be a reason for embarrassment, professional sanctions, or legal issues.
The 2020 presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, a United States senator from California from January 2017 to 2021, officially began on January 21, 2019, with an announcement on Good Morning America. Harris had widely been considered a "high profile" candidate for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries since 2016.
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The political positions of Kamala Harris are reflected by her United States Senate voting record, public speeches, and interviews. Harris served as the junior senator from California from 2017 to 2021. On August 11, 2020, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden selected her as his running mate in the 2020 United States presidential election, running against incumbent U.S. president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence. With Biden's victory, Harris became vice president. She announced her candidacy in the 2024 United States presidential election after Biden chose not to run for reelection on July 21, 2024.
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