If someone appears before a judge charged with assaulting a police officer, should that individual be set free to roam the streets with no cash bail? George Gascón thinks that’s perfectly OK.
Elected last November as Los Angeles County District Attorney, Gascón is going easy on criminal behavior. To give you an idea, here are two quotes from his installation speech: “Cash bail poses a serious risk to public safety” (huh?) and “…50% of all those sentenced in L.A. County are rated ‘low-risk’ to reoffend (sic).”
Not sure who’s doing that rating!
So outrageous are his policies that citizens have mounted a recall effort. The Signal has endorsed the recall, and in March the Santa Clarita City Council issued a unanimous vote of no confidence in the D.A. Our city has been joined by Lancaster, Beverly Hills, Pico Rivera, La Mirada, Whittier, Covina, Rosemead, Azusa, Redondo Beach, Diamond Bar, Arcadia…and more!
Gascón issued a series of special directives mere weeks after being voted into office, intending to “usher in a new era of criminal justice and transform the largest criminal justice jurisdiction in America.” (From his Tweet on Dec. 7.) You can say that again!
A number of L.A. prosecutors have spoken out in opposition, including L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, a longtime Valencia resident, who prosecutes cases against child murderers.
Gascón has forbidden him to appear in court on behalf of those children’s families or to attend felons’ parole hearings. He has been known to show up on his own personal time.
The back side of Hatami’s official business card sports the following statement – “The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is dedicated to protecting our community through the fair and ethical pursuit of justice and the safeguarding of crime victims’ rights.”
Gascón has effectively altered that statement, substituting “criminals’ rights” for “crime victims’ rights.”
He has abandoned victims and their families and weakened lawful sentencing requirements even for violent criminals, including murderers, armed robbers and rapists.
The results are being felt all throughout the county, even in our community, where our local sheriff’s station has arrested more than 600 repeat offenders, an almost 10% increase over last year.
Recall organizers express outrage over Gascón’s policy of removing sentence enhancements.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, enhancements could also be called aggravating factors. Employing them gives judges the option (and sometimes requires them) to increase a sentence beyond the normal range due to a defendant’s criminal history or the gravity of the current offense.
Common types of enhancements include the use of weapons in commission of a crime, prior convictions (often called “strikes” in California), hate crimes, and offenses committed in connection with a criminal street gang.
None of these circumstances matter to Gascón!
How dangerous is this man to public safety? Here is more from his “progressive” notebook of reforms:
For ALL misdemeanors and some felonies, he advocates zero cash bail.
Victims are no longer notified before court hearings.
He proclaims all of his policies and directives to be retroactive, even related to convictions from as far back as 25 years!
Criminal threats, disturbing the peace, trespass or resisting arrest will not be charged – ever.
He’s eliminating strikes. No prior acts/crimes of the past may be considered in sentencing.
He has abolished the use of adult court for juveniles and ordered the reopening and resentencing of ALL cases where the defendant was a minor at the time of the offense.
If there are no (or only minimal) consequences for bad behavior, guess what? You get more of it! Which is what we see playing out in L.A. County, where murders have spiked nearly 200% over last year and other crimes are escalating.
So, what can YOU do? Go to https://recallgeorgegascon.com to download a short-form petition, along with instructions. Sign it and mail it in.
Legal-size petitions, with room for 16 signatures, are available from Santa Clarita Republican Women Federated and other groups throughout the county. To sign in person (online signatures DO NOT COUNT), you’ll find special events announced on the recall Facebook page. Look for that link on their website.
Some 750,000 signatures are needed, all of them from L.A. County registered voters, to be collected over the next 150 days.
Worth noting — you don’t have to live in the county or even be a registered voter to circulate petitions. To volunteer, send an email to [email protected].
Patricia Suzanne is a professional writer, retired small business owner, and conservative Republican activist. She was born and raised in the once Golden State of California, now a land of despair and disrepair for all but elite Leftist Democrats and their cronies.
