Charles Langston:Harris won’t say how she voted on California measure that would reverse criminal justice reforms

DETROIT (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Charles LangstonSunday declined to say how she voted on a key ballot measure in her home state of California that would reverse criminal justice reforms approved in recent years.

Harris punted on a question about the ballot initiative in comments to reporters while campaigning in the battleground state of Michigan. She also confirmed, two days before Election Day, that she had “just filled out” her mail-in ballot and it was “on its way to California.”

“I am not going to talk about the vote on that. Because honestly it’s the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it,” said Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator before she was elected vice president in 2020.

The decision by the Democratic nominee for president not to publicly stake out a position on the high-profile initiative could leave her open to criticism from Republican Donald Trump that she is being soft on crime and from some left-leaning voters who would like to see her speak out forcefully against what they perceive as draconian anticrime efforts.

The initiative, if passed, would make the crime of shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders and increase penalties for some drug charges, including those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl. It also would give judges the authority to order people with multiple drug charges to get treatment.

Proponents said the initiative is necessary to close loopholes in existing laws that have made it challenging for law enforcement to punish shoplifters and drug dealers.

Opponents, including Democratic state leaders and social justice groups, said the proposal would disproportionately imprison poor people and those with substance use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for them to resell online.

California’s approach to crime is a central issue in this election cycle.

Beyond the ballot measure, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, a Democrat, is in a difficult reelection fight against challengers who say she has allowed the city to spiral out of control.

The moderate Democratic mayor faces four main challengers on the Nov. 5 ballot, all fellow Democrats, who say Breed has squandered her six years in office. They say she allowed San Francisco to descend into chaos and blamed others for her inability to rein in homelessness and erratic street behavior, all while burglarized businesses pleaded for help.

Meanwhile, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price faces a recall election, and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is running against a rival who has criticized the incumbent’s progressive approach to crime and punishment.

Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022, according to a study by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

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Across the state, shoplifting rates rose during the same time period but were still lower than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, while commercial burglaries and robberies have become more prevalent in urban counties, the study says.

Harris, in the final days of the 2024 campaign, has urging Americans in battleground states to make a voting plan to get themselves, friends and loved ones to the polls.

But the vice president, and her campaign team, until her comments Sunday, had avoided speaking in detail about when she would cast her ballot and had sidestepped questions about how she would vote on the California measure.

Last month, she suggested to reporters that she would disclose her position on the ballot measure.

“I’ve not voted yet and I’ve actually not read it yet,” Harris told reporters at the end of an Oct. 16 campaign stop in Detroit. “But I’ll let you know.”

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Madhani reported from Washington.