Harris' bill seeks to level the playing field between prosecutor and public defender. The bill would set workload limits for full-time public defenders and, within five years, make pay equal between public defenders and prosecutors, funded by a $250 million federal grant program. Dubbed the 'Ensuring Quality Access to Legal Defense' (EQUAL) Act, the bill also authorizes funds for training public defenders and reauthorizing student loan repayment programs.
According to a copy of Harris' bill previewed by CNN, the purpose of the legislation is "to protect the rights of defendants in criminal cases to due process and a fair trial under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution."
"After spending my career around the criminal justice system, I've seen up close how it can fail to ensure that poor defendants receive a fair trial and due process, as guaranteed to all of us in our Constitution," Harris said in a statement provided by her Senate office."All too often, our public defenders are overworked and lack sufficient resources. This makes public defense unsustainable over the long haul. And the person who suffers is the defendant, whose liberty is on the line. It's wrong, and it's the opposite of justice."
Advocates say the California Democrat's bill could help correct one of the core inequities of the criminal justice system.
"In too many places, public defenders are so under resourced, overwhelmed, and beaten down, that they have become resigned to processing people through the system," said Jon Rapping, founder of Gideon's Promise, a non-profit public defender advocacy group. The effect, he said, is a courtroom where the accused comes in with a systemic disadvantage.
Gideon's Promise, which is supporting Harris' legislation, says economics pushes the best lawyers away from public defense.
"Many lawyers come out of law school with crippling debt," Rapping said. "Low salaries and crushing debt forces some of our most dedicated young public defenders out of the profession."
Regardless of whether Harris' bill ever makes it onto the Senate floor, Rapping said he's encouraged that someone in Congress is discussing a critical piece of criminal justice reform.
As a presidential candidate, Harris has confronted frequent criticism on her decades as a prosecutor, from her time as San Francisco's District Attorney to California's Attorney General. As a rebuttal to that criticism, Harris has pointed to her initiatives like "Back on Track," which she started early in her career as a district attorney, that diverted non-violent offenders from jail to training and education programs. She's also continued to talk about the need for justice reform, both from the prosecutorial and defense sides.
On the campaign trail, Harris has repeatedly talked about one of the key reasons she became a prosecutor: "to fight for a more fair criminal justice system" that disproportionately punishes people of color. Harris has made reducing the burden of cash bail a part of her campaign, tweeting in February that poor people sit in jail because of the inability to pay bail, "while someone with the same offense but money in their back pocket gets out. This is a serious injustice."
She previously introduced legislation in 2017 with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul to encourage the replacement of the bail system.
Harris' bill has similar tenets to a teacher pay proposal she's offered on the campaign trail. That proposal seeks to improve public education by boosting salaries and training of teachers through federal funds. Harris' campaign says if elected, she would close the wage gap between teachers and other similar professions.
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