New Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, said Monday after taking office that cash bail will be ended for many offenses and sentences in thousands of cases will be reevaluated.
A former San Francisco district attorney and assistant Los Angeles police chief, Gascón has already drawn the ire of prosecutors in his own office, as well as members of the Los Angeles Police Department. His first major meeting upon winning his race was with Black Lives Matter organizers, who were critical of outgoing District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
Gascón also said his office would reevaluate and potentially resentence defendants who had been convicted with enhancements or California’s three-strike law, which requires a state prison term of 25 years to life. Gascón estimated such a move could affect at least 20,000 cases, KTLA reports.
Gascón additionally vowed to stop charging juveniles as adults, cease using sentencing enhancements, prohibit prosecutors from seeking the death penalty — including withdrawing capital punishment filings in current prosecutions — and reopen at least four investigations of controversial shootings by police in which Lacey’s office had declined prosecutions. There have also been reports that Gascón plans to stop pursuing life sentences without parole.
The new district attorney said his prosecutors would no longer request cash bail for any misdemeanor crimes, as well as any felony offenses that weren’t serious and violent.
