FOR 20 YEARS KAMALA FAVORED THE DECRIMINALIZATION OF PROSTITUTION

Kamala Harris flip flops on another major issue... this time involving prostitution

Kamala Harris remains unclear what she believes about decriminalizing sex work

 

By Charlie Spiering

 

Daily Mail

Sep 24, 2024

 

Then-Senator Kamala Harris endorsed the idea of decriminalizing prostitution during her failed 2020 presidential primary campaign 

 

Vice President Kamala Harris remains unclear about whether prostitution should be legal, as she has taken different positions on the issue throughout her career. 

Harris endorsed the idea of decriminalizing prostitution during her 2020 failed presidential campaign, during an interview with The Root. 

'I think so, I do,' she replied when asked during an interview about whether 'sex work' should be decriminalized. 

'When you're talking about consenting adults, I think that, yes, we should really consider that we can't criminalize consensual behavior as long as no one is being harmed.' 

But its an apparent flip-flop of her position on the issue that she held nearly over a decade before.

Harris' shift on the issue was called out people in San Francisco who recalled her position opposing a ballot initiative in the city to decriminalize prostitution.

'I think it's completely ridiculous, just in case there's any ambiguity about my position,' she said in 2008 about legalizing prostitution.

She warned residents that 'it would put a welcome mat out for pimps and prostitutes to come on into San Francisco.' 

The Harris campaign has not returned a weeks-old request for comment on the issue from DailyMail.com on the issue. 

 

 

For 20 years Kamala Harris favored the decriminalization of prostitution

 

Axios also reported Tuesday that the Harris campaign refused to address it. The New York Post reported last week that the Harris campaign also declined to address the issue. 

But Harris was not unsympathetic to prostitutes when she was the District Attorney of San Francisco.

In 2004, Harris refused to prosecute nine women arrested by police officers for prostitution after the police singled out strip clubs in the area for stings after receiving multiple public complaints.

Within minutes, according to reports, undercover police officers were solicited for sex acts by female employees.

'It just leaves me in amazement,' vice Capt. Tim Hettrich said at the time, criticizing Harris for 'almost legalizing prostitution.'

Harris' refusal to prosecute the women arrested for prostitution earned her a mention from Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly on his show in 2004. 

 

San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris at a press conference

 

O'Reilly brought up the story, referring to Harris as a district attorney 'in the most liberal city in the country' who refused to enforce the law.

'Is there an outcry about that kind of anarchy?' O'Reilly asked his guest, San Francisco columnist Debra Saunders who reported on the story. 

Harris argued at the time that she would not prosecute the prostitutes without having the evidence to prosecute their customers.

But O'Reilly warned his viewers that the issue of legalized or decriminalized prostitution would be more of an issue.

'Now the San Francisco syndrome, as I call it, is spreading to other towns,' he warned, pointing out that just because certain city officials did not like the laws did not mean that they should be able to pick and choose whether to enforce it. 

'And that, of course, brings anarchy to any community,' he concluded.