Prosecutors in LA County can now look to subject juveniles to trial as grown-ups and seek life imprisonment against defendant parties in some cases. District Attorney George Gascón issued memos confirming the above-mentioned and marking a big change in his uncompromising stances about some criminal justice system reform matters.
Immediately after Gascón took office two years ago, he kept prosecutors from pursuing life sentences or death penalties without the option of parole. At the same time, he not only limited how prosecutors could utilize sentencing enhancements but also ended the act of subjecting juveniles to trial as adults. Thus, Gascón made a big impression early in his term as the DA of LAC.
The moves aligned with the more comprehensive restorative justice platform that the DA ran on. However, Gascón’s detractors have denounced his blanket policies as well as demanded that he think about putting juveniles through trial as grown-ups or pursuing life sentences as defendants are charged with heinous conduct.
The moment of consideration came in February this year. Los Angeles will create committees to evaluate certain cases in which the conduct of defendants might necessitate harsher penalties as compared to those permitted under the DA’s policies.
In cases that involve juvenile defendants, it possibly means moving their cases into adult court. For murder cases, it means prosecutors get to look to submit special circumstance accusations against defendants in some situations, like allegations of killing parole officers on duty. Those situations can make the defendants entitled to maximum life sentences without parole.
California’s law allows sentencing a defendant declared guilty of murder in special circumstances to life or death only without parole. However, the recent announcement does not affect the DA’s ban on capital punishment. Governor Gavin Newsom of California has issued a temporary ban on death penalty throughout the state.
Each committee with prosecutors in important positions and the DA’s executive team members would still have to approve the submissions. Joseph Iniguez, the chief of staff for the DA, will be on the two committees. Alisa Blair, the erstwhile public defender overseeing the juvenile case-related policies of the DA’s office, will be part of the panel determining the future of each teen defendant.
Gascón’s special advisor Alex Bastian stated that the DA has firm principles, including a principle that relates to enhancing public safety thoughtfully. According to Bastian, DA Gascón has done that at all times and will keep doing so. Bastian said that Gascón has been listening to victims, colleagues and community members over the duration of his term.
Earlier this year, the DA announced a small change to his juvenile case policy. Back then, he told the LA Times that he was also open to the idea of evolving the policy and almost said that it would enable extended prosecution of juveniles in the form of grown-ups.
The move arrives when there is not just more criticism against Gascón about how he handles juvenile cases but also the pressure of another attempt to oust the DA.
Earlier this year, a transgender woman could confess in California’s juvenile court to sexually assaulting another person as the crime happened when the latter was a teen. The outcome drew much condemnation against the state’s juvenile justice system. The committee that looks to recall DA Gascón has raised around $2 million, which exceeds the fund pooled to support a recent recall campaign. The union that represents certain prosecutors was also supposed to vote for the recall in the fourth week of February this year.
Gascón’s detractors quickly accused him of using his policies for political reasons rather than for the right reasons.
The spokesperson for the union that represents line prosecutors, Eric Siddall, stated that the policies of the DA have considerably damaged the criminal justice system. As for Siddall, the DA now abandons his big social experiment as he realizes that US politics do not favor him.
Charlie Beck, the former LAPD Chief and one of the DA’s supporters among law enforcement leaders, stopped supporting the man the other week. The DA has also turned to a so-called political football as he campaigns for the LA mayor’s position. Los Angeles Councilor Joe Buscaino revealed his support for the DA’s recall, and billionaire businessman Rick Joseph Caruso has made unkind remarks against the man after announcing his mayoral candidacy.
Speaking for the recall, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami suggested that it is unbelievable that Gascón has changed his belief system all of a sudden. Hatami stated that Gascón would be recalled as a politician and would lose his employment position.