Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies as a California prosecutor once resulted in the arrest and public perp walk of a mother whose child suffered from sickle cell anemia.
On April 18, 2013, two police officers entered a townhouse in Buena Park, California, and arrested 33-year-old Cheree Peoples and walked her to a squad car while she was wearing her pajamas. Outside the home, numerous media photographers were set up to capture the event, snapping photos of the mother during what is known as a “perp walk,” HuffPost reported in 2019.
“You would swear I had killed somebody,” Peoples said in an interview with the outlet.
Peoples’ crime? Her 11-year-old daughter Shayla had missed 20 days of school due to sickle cell anemia, a condition that puts her in constant pain and requires regular hospitalization.
Peoples was the victim of California’s campaign against truancy – a cause Harris championed as the San Francisco district attorney. Harris had pushed for state legislation that would make it easier for police to hold parents accountable for children missing school in an attempt to reduce truancy. California already had laws against truancy, but Harris’ “innovation was to build a really standardized way for local district attorneys to get involved in pressuring parents to make sure their kids go to school,” Huffpost writer Molly Redden told NPR in 2020.
The law Harris pushed for was passed in 2011 and allowed district attorneys to charge parents with a misdemeanor if their kids missed at least 10% of the school year without a valid reason, NPR reported. Under the new law, parents of truant children could face a fine of $2,500 or up to one year in jail.
Harris pushed for the law as part of her campaign for California’s Attorney General, and it was passed shortly after she won the election.
“We are putting parents on notice,” Harris said during her inauguration. “If you fail in your responsibility to your kids, we are going to work to make sure you face the full force and consequences of the law.”
While Harris wasn’t directly responsible for Peoples’ arrest, her campaign against truancy inspired district attorneys around the state to act, including in Orange County, where Peoples was arrested.
Peoples’ daughter had a valid reason for missing school but she was still arrested. Shayla’s school was aware of her diagnosis and medical issues and even had records from the regional children’s hospital specifically saying her condition would mean she would have absences and require special accommodations. As HuffPost reported, Peoples worked with the school to make some of these accommodations.
When she was arrested, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said in a press release that Peoples’ daughter had “accumulated 20 unexcused absences” and that the school principal had referred her to the DA’s office for allegedly lacking interest in solving the problem.
The DA said the school had been sending letters to Peoples about the unexcused absences and requested to meet with her and for doctors’ notes for any further absences. The DA also said that Peoples “was offered counseling and parenting classes.”
“The student was provided the opportunity for a mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County, a mentor at school, monthly meetings with law enforcement officers, a case manager, and a number of incentives to encourage regular school attendance,” the DA’s office said. “The defendant is accused of failing to utilize any of the resources made available to her and her student.”
Peoples told HuffPost that she read these allegations days after her arrest and said she had been arguing with the school to get it to agree to additional accommodations for her daughter.
“This is a young woman who spends a lot of her life in the hospital,” Peoples told the outlet. “How is it that she’s giving off the impression of being a gang member? … Why are they coming after me?”
Shayla is still battling her diagnosis, which she will have for life, and still needs frequent hospitalizations.
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[[{“value”:”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies as a California prosecutor once resulted in the arrest and public perp walk of a mother whose child suffered from sickle cell anemia.
On April 18, 2013, two police officers entered a townhouse in Buena Park, California, and arrested 33-year-old Cheree Peoples and walked her to a squad car while she was wearing her pajamas. Outside the home, numerous media photographers were set up to capture the event, snapping photos of the mother during what is known as a “perp walk,” HuffPost reported in 2019.
“You would swear I had killed somebody,” Peoples said in an interview with the outlet.
Peoples’ crime? Her 11-year-old daughter Shayla had missed 20 days of school due to sickle cell anemia, a condition that puts her in constant pain and requires regular hospitalization.
Peoples was the victim of California’s campaign against truancy – a cause Harris championed as the San Francisco district attorney. Harris had pushed for state legislation that would make it easier for police to hold parents accountable for children missing school in an attempt to reduce truancy. California already had laws against truancy, but Harris’ “innovation was to build a really standardized way for local district attorneys to get involved in pressuring parents to make sure their kids go to school,” Huffpost writer Molly Redden told NPR in 2020.
The law Harris pushed for was passed in 2011 and allowed district attorneys to charge parents with a misdemeanor if their kids missed at least 10% of the school year without a valid reason, NPR reported. Under the new law, parents of truant children could face a fine of $2,500 or up to one year in jail.
Harris pushed for the law as part of her campaign for California’s Attorney General, and it was passed shortly after she won the election.
“We are putting parents on notice,” Harris said during her inauguration. “If you fail in your responsibility to your kids, we are going to work to make sure you face the full force and consequences of the law.”
While Harris wasn’t directly responsible for Peoples’ arrest, her campaign against truancy inspired district attorneys around the state to act, including in Orange County, where Peoples was arrested.
Peoples’ daughter had a valid reason for missing school but she was still arrested. Shayla’s school was aware of her diagnosis and medical issues and even had records from the regional children’s hospital specifically saying her condition would mean she would have absences and require special accommodations. As HuffPost reported, Peoples worked with the school to make some of these accommodations.
When she was arrested, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said in a press release that Peoples’ daughter had “accumulated 20 unexcused absences” and that the school principal had referred her to the DA’s office for allegedly lacking interest in solving the problem.
The DA said the school had been sending letters to Peoples about the unexcused absences and requested to meet with her and for doctors’ notes for any further absences. The DA also said that Peoples “was offered counseling and parenting classes.”
“The student was provided the opportunity for a mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County, a mentor at school, monthly meetings with law enforcement officers, a case manager, and a number of incentives to encourage regular school attendance,” the DA’s office said. “The defendant is accused of failing to utilize any of the resources made available to her and her student.”
Peoples told HuffPost that she read these allegations days after her arrest and said she had been arguing with the school to get it to agree to additional accommodations for her daughter.
“This is a young woman who spends a lot of her life in the hospital,” Peoples told the outlet. “How is it that she’s giving off the impression of being a gang member? … Why are they coming after me?”
Shayla is still battling her diagnosis, which she will have for life, and still needs frequent hospitalizations.
“}]]
