In 2011, Harris became the attorney general of California.
Harris served as the attorney general of California for six years. During that time, she litigated against mortgage companies, for-profit colleges, and human trafficking, securing major settlements for the state.
The Washington Post‘s Matt Viser reported that President Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump donated to two of Harris’ bids for attorney general.
In her first year as attorney general, Harris supported a law signed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that fined parents of “chronically truant” children several thousand dollars for missing more than 10% of school without a valid excuse. The penalty also included jail time. At the time, Julianne Hing wrote for Color Lines that it was “likely to disproportionately affect communities of color.” Harris apologized for supporting the law on a 2019 episode of “Pod Save America.”
In 2018, The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof called Harris a “flawed political leader” while discussing the case of Kevin Cooper, a death row inmate convicted of murder. Kristof named Harris and then-Gov. Jerry Brown as lawmakers who didn’t allow “newly available DNA testing,” and said new DNA evidence might vindicate Cooper.
That same year, Harris said California should allow DNA testing for Cooper’s case, CBS News reported. In 2023, DNA evidence confirmed Cooper’s guilt, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
In the past, civil-rights groups have criticized Harris’ responses to instances of police shootings, saying she needs to be stricter on excessive force by police officers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A representative for Harris did not immediately respond to Business Insider.
