Liberal LA County DA Gascon backpedals on progressive directives amid crime wave, public blowback

[buh buh biden]

Critics called the backpedaling 'smoke and mirrors' as a second recall
petition circulates

Embattled Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is
backpedaling on a number of hardline progressive directives he issued upon
taking office in late 2020, according to a series of memos he sent to his
office Friday regarding how to handle serious crimes.

In five documents, two addressed to deputy district attorneys and the
other three addressed to his entire office, Gascón conceded that he’d come
to accept his policies were too rigid "after listening to the community,
victims and colleagues."

Soon after taking office, he had banned deputy DAs from seeking the death
penalty, life without parole, enhanced charges for particularly heinous
crimes and trying juveniles in adult court in grievous cases.

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<https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/02/SD-22-02-
Alternative-Charging-Evaluation-Policies-and-Procedures.pdf>

His memos Friday backed off of all of those directives except for avoiding
the death penalty, but critics called the moves "smoke and mirrors" and
politically motivated as Gascón looks to fend off a second recall petition
after just over a year in office.

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"George Gascón can’t be trusted with the public safety of Los Angeles,"
said Jonathan Hatami, a longtime prosecutor of child sex crimes in the Los
Angeles DA’s office and an outspoken Gascón critic.

Members of law enforcement, Gascón’s own DAs and others have blasted his
inflexible directives as a boon to criminals. In one case, a 26-year-old
child molestation suspect began identifying as female following an arrest
for the assault of a 10-year-old girl in 2014, according to prosecutors.
That suspect, Hannah Tubbs, pleaded guilty in juvenile court after
Gascón’s office declined to transfer the case to an adult court, and Tubbs
could spend less than 24 months in a juvenile facility – alongside girls.

<https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/02/Gascon-
Memo-Juvenile-Alternative-Charging.pdf>

Gascón also noted that while exceptions to his earlier policies may now be
requested, they will have to go up a chain of command – through new
bureaucratic processes involving officials loyal to him.

Hatami said he’s probably feeling the pressure of the public’s ire toward
a staggering crime wave and spike in murders.

<https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/02/Gascon-
Memo-22-024.pdf>

"We are supposed to believe that he has suddenly changed his entire belief
system overnight?" he asked. "He is a politician and he believes he will
be recalled and lose his job."

Alex Bastian, Gascón’s special adviser, argued that the memos actually
show the DA "is firmly committed to his principles."

<https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/02/Gascon-
Memo-22-025.pdf>

"One of these underlying principles is to constantly refine what we are
doing so that we can continue to enhance public safety in a thoughtful
manner," he said Friday night. "We are now more than one year into his
term, he has listened to community members, victims and colleagues. Based
on everything we have learned we are rolling out these policy
adjustments."

Hatami, who rose to prominence as lead prosecutor of the infamous Gabriel
Fernandez child abuse case, wasn’t buying it.

<https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/02/Gascon-
Memo-22-026.pdf>

"Don’t be fooled, Los Angeles," he said. "Actions always speak louder than
words. Look at what Gascón has done to LA in just one year. We can’t trust
him."

In Gascón’s first full year in office, the City of Los Angeles saw 397
homicides, according to statistics from the LAPD. That’s a 14-year high.

Prior to being elected DA in Los Angeles County, the Cuban-born Gascón,
67, was police chief in San Francisco, and later succeeded Kamala Harris
as San Francisco's district attorney.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/liberal-la-county-da-gascon-progressive-crime-
wave-blowback