Harris Unveils Criminal Justice Reform Plan; Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) Discusses Sen. Kamala Harris' Record As Prosecutor, Harris' Criminal Justice Reform Plan.
HILL: On the Democratic side, a sweeping new plan for criminal justice reform today from Senator Kamala Harris. The proposal comes in advance of Thursday's Democratic debate and it's amid criticism about her time as a prosecutor. Harris is calling for an end to mass incarceration, federal mandatory minimum sentences and the death penalty. She also wants to phase out for-profit private prisons and cash bail and legalized marijuana. Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge has endorsed Senator Harris for president and she joins us now. Congresswoman, good to have you with us. As we look at Senator --</s>REP. MARCIA FUDGE (D-OH): Thank you.</s>HILL: Thanks for taking the time. As we look at Senator Harris' record, she often points to her time as a prosecutor as being so important for what she understands about the criminal justice system. That being said, that record is at odds with parts of this new plan. In 2004, as San Francisco's U.S. attorney, she pushed for higher cash bails. In 2010, we know she did not support legalizing marijuana. We know that has changed. In 2014, as California attorney general, she didn't back independent investigations for police shootings. Which is a record voters should be looking at? Is it her record as a prosecutor or her record as a candidate?</s>FUDGE: I think it's a record as her prosecutor and a candidate. You have to take a person's total record. You can't just look at bits and pieces of it. She has determined and knows now that the things she may have supported in the past, were not the proper things. We all grow and evolve. I think it's important to know what has happened. In 1994, we did not know that mass incarceration would be where it is today. So no one could guess that she needed to change her plan. No one could guess what was going to happen with solitary confinement. No one could guess what was going to happen with persons who were put into a process basically because of mandatory minimums. I think you do grow and you do evolve. The plan I support is the she has now. The plan she has now, to your support, growing and running, it's an important part all Americans, whether running for office or not as you learn more. Yet, she told "The New York Times, it was not her core ideology that had shifted in terms of this plan. She told "The Times" it was the political environment. Why not just stay, to your point, I grew, I evolved, I learned, instead of, hey, there wasn't the political capital back then?</s>FUDGE: That's a question you'd have to ask the Senator. I don't have the answer to that. What I do have the answer to is the fact that this plan is the most comprehensive plan that has been brought forth today. Her plan is the one that no one outside of the system could have written. She's best prepared to assess, know what is good, know what the flaws are in the system and know how to change the system. Clearly, she doesn't like the laws, as a prosecutor, she enforces them. Just as I'm sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this country, so was she. I think that to accuse her of not doing what she thought was right or changing her mind is really unfair, quite frankly.</s>HILL: I don't think anyone's accusing her. But --</s>FUDGE: -- the conversation.</s>HILL: No. What I asked you is, looking at the record, and you said she grew and she evolved, which makes a lot of sense because it happens all the time.</s>FUDGE: Absolutely.</s>HILL: Please learn, they're educated. That being said, that wasn't the reason that she gave the "New York Times." She said her core ideology hadn't changed. So it begs the question, do you think, as you look at her record, she could have pushed for more, even as recently as when she was attorney general of California? If she felt as strongly about things as she felt now, do you believe she could have done more despite what she believed the political environment thought?</s>FUDGE: We could all do more. But she said her values have not changed. She was opposed to the death penalty then. She's opposed to it now. She was opposed to solitary confinement. She's opposed to it now. She was opposed to locking people up solely because they can't pay their bail and criminalizing poor people. Her values are the same. The policies may be different, but the values are the same.</s>HILL: The Senator had been criticized in the past for not citing forcefully or quickly enough to attacks from her rivals on the trail or in the debates. She talked about that criticism. Do you think that she has addressed it as well as she could have? Have you given her any advice on that?</s>FUDGE: We didn't discuss it.