CALmatters Commentary: Prosecutors feud over criminal sentencing laws
Dan Walters: CALmatters Commentary
The most stark aspect to California’s evolution from a relatively conservative state into a blue bastion has been an evolving attitude toward crime and punishment.
California in the 1980s and 1990s became a national leader in increasing penalties for crimes large and small, symbolized by a three-strikes-and-you’re-out law calling for life imprisonment of repeat offenders. Not surprisingly, despite construction of many new prisons, they became horrendously overcrowded with inmates.
However, as California made its almost 180-degree political turn to the left over the past couple of decades, attitudes about crime also evolved, culminating in legislative acts, ballot measures and administrative policies that repealed or softened the state’s sentencing laws. The number of felons locked up in state prisons has dropped by at least one-third in recent years.
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Criminal justice reformers nationwide rejoiced when L.A. County voters chose George Gascón to lead the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office, celebrating a big win in a years-long campaign to replace traditional law-and-order district attorneys with ones intent on change.
And just hours after being sworn in, Gascón delivered to his backers: He announced a slew of policy directives that barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, trying juveniles as adults, attending parole hearings or filing most sentencing enhancements that can increase a defendants’ prison term.
Nearly as quickly, the news instigated a brawl among California’s public prosecutors, with the organization representing 57 out of the state’s 58 district attorneys questioning both the legality and wisdom of Gascón’s mandates. Now, many of the state’s old guard of district attorneys are openly sparring with reformer colleagues in a power struggle that could shape criminal justice in Califor
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Criminal justice reformers nationwide rejoiced when L.A. County voters chose George Gascón to lead the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office, celebrating a big win in a years-long campaign to replace traditional law-and-order district attorneys with ones intent on change.
And just hours after being sworn in, Gascón delivered to his backers: He announced a slew of policy directives that barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, trying juveniles as adults, attending parole hearings or filing most sentencing enhancements that can increase a defendants’ prison term.
Nearly as quickly, the news instigated a brawl among California’s public prosecutors, with the organization representing 57 out of the state’s 58 district attorneys questioning both the legality and wisdom of Gascón’s mandates. Now, many of the state’s old guard of district attorneys are openly sparring with reformer colleagues in a power struggle that could shape criminal justice in Califor