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December 7, 2020
New Los Angeles County DA wastes no time making big policy and sentencing changes
As detailed in this new Los Angeles Times article, headlined "On first day as L.A. County D.A., George Gascón eliminates bail, remakes sentencing rules," a prominent prosecutor is kicking off his new job in a potent way. Here are some details:
George Gascón embarked Monday on a plan to reimagine criminal prosecutions in Los Angeles County, announcing sweeping policy changes he’ll make as district attorney that include an end to cash bail, a ban on prosecutors seeking enhanced prison sentences and showing leniency to many low-level offenders.
The dramatic reversals of deeply ingrained, traditional law enforcement strategies in the nation’s largest district attorney’s office, also will include a review of thousands of old cases to determine whether lighter sentences or prisoner releases should be sought, Gascón said in a speech during his swearing-in ceremony.
“I recognize for many this is a new path … whether you are a protester, a police officer or a prosecutor, I ask you to walk with me. I ask you to join me on this journey,” he said. “We can break the multigenerational cycles of violence, trauma and arrest and recidivism that has led America to incarcerate more people than any other nation.”
The reforms announced Monday added to a list of moves Gascón vowed to make during a contentious election against the incumbent district attorney, Jackie Lacey, including a promise to bar his prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in new cases and to end the practice of trying juveniles as adults. He followed through on both issues Monday, announcing them among the slew of new policies he is implementing....
While Gascón’s victory over Lacey was widely viewed as a repudiation by voters of more traditional, “tough on crime” policies, his focus on reducing incarceration rates could meet resistance at a time when violent crime is surging in Los Angeles. The city has recorded more than 300 homicides for the first time in over a decade this year, and shootings are up more than 30% compared with 2019, according to L.A. Police Department records....
Of all the policy changes Gascón laid out, the end to cash bail, which is set to go into effect Jan. 1, is perhaps the most seismic. Instead of seeking to hold criminal defendants in custody unless they can afford to post an amount of cash determined by a judge, prosecutors will be directed to ask judges to release them, except when someone is charged in a homicide or other violent felony. In those cases, prosecutors will seek to have defendants kept in custody....
On Monday, Gascón also ordered L.A. County prosecutors to stop prosecuting first-time offenders accused of a wide array of nonviolent crimes, including criminal trespass, disturbing the peace, public intoxication and loitering.
Defense attorneys contend such low-level nuisance crimes disproportionately affect homeless and mentally ill defendants, and can have long-term implications when those people try to find work and housing later in life. Instead of seeking plea deals or convictions, prosecutors will be expected to steer such defendants into pre-trial diversion programs that resolve cases through counseling or other forms of rehabilitation....
Gascón went on Monday to say he would put an end to the use of sentencing enhancements, which prosecutors have long used to win longer sentences against defendants with prior felony convictions or who had been accused of being in a gang. Sentencing enhancements have come under fire in recent years for being excessively punitive and, in some cases, reliant on faulty police work. In the last year, for example, several Los Angeles police officers were charged with falsely labeling people as gang members. That bogus information was fed into a statewide database that is sometimes used to justify imposing enhanced sentences on someone.
The district attorney’s office, he said, will also review “thousands” of cases in which defendants in L.A. County were sentenced under the enhancement rules — a move that could lead to prisoners having their sentences reduced or, in some cases, being released....
Gascón acknowledged that the changes might seem enormous and asked doubters to trust him. “For those of you at home who may be skeptical, I want to ask you to take a moment, close your eyes, and imagine your ideal safe neighborhood. I imagine most of you will imagine a neighborhood with parks, playgrounds and manicured laws. With kids playing and after-school programs flourishing. I don’t imagine most of you are imagining a neighborhood with a police officer on every corner,” he said. “We know what safety looks like. But we don’t offer it to every community equally.”
UPDATE: I have found online some of DA Gascon's new policy commitments in memos called "Special Directies." These all make for interesting reads:
DA Gascon Special Directive 20-06: PRETRIAL RELEASE POLICY
DA Gascon Special Directive 20-11: DEATH PENALTY POLICY
December 7, 2020 at 11:32 PM | Permalink
Comments
Perhaps the tide in America has now turned. Maybe we can even get Kentucky prosecutors to go along with some of these ideas, including the end of cash bail.
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Dec 8, 2020 11:10:02 AM
Ugh. It seems that just as many tough on crime prosecutors are willing to ignore evidence that police have the wrong person, we have soft on time prosecutors who are willing to let criminals go even when police have the right person.
In a sane world, one would have prosecutors who want to keep dangerous people behind bars, let innocent people go, and put people convicted of less-serious crime behind bars for a while. But that's not what we appear to be seeing. Instead it's something like this:
too many crimes => voters elect tough on crime prosecutors
=> lots of innocent people locked up, and people guilty of lesser crimes locked up for too long
=> voters elect soft on crime prosecutors (LA is here now)
=> lots of people guilty of heinous crimes, including murder, set free
=> too many crimes, and the cycle repeats . . .
Posted by: William C Jockusch | Dec 9, 2020 6:44:21 AM
Without going into specifics of the case, my cousins were 14 yrs old and 16 yrs old when they were sexually assaulted, tortured and brutally murdered.
The guy who was eventually convicted for these crimes was also suspected in 4 other murders but has never been formally charged. My aunt unfortunately passed away before their murderer was finally caught and brought to justice.
So under George Gascon’s new directives this convicted murderer is now eligible for re-sentencing because he's already served 15 years? This is extremely dangerous and unjust.
Posted by: will | Dec 13, 2020 8:16:03 AM
