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Keeping an eye on latest debate between @JackieLaceyDA & @GeorgeGascon, tonight sponsored by the Beverly Hills Bar Association. About 800 people watching, per moderator.
First eyebrow raise: Lacey is talking about how AB392 (law modifying threshold for when officers can be charged for use of fatal force) could change the way her office prosecutes such cases. She scoffed at such a suggestion to me this summer. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-01/los-angeles-da-race-could-be-reshaped-national-calls-criminal-justice-reform
Gascon was one of the most vocal proponents of the bill last year. Lacey did eventually support it, but only about a month before it passed.
Credit where credit is due -- BH Bar Assn. directive to both candidates to discuss their own policy, as opposed to attacking each other, is leading to a much more substantive conversation tonight.
Great question on use of risk algorithms in place of cash bail here. Gascon championed use of the Arnold Ventures tool for years in SF. Same tool is being tested as part of pilot program in L.A. County now.
Lacey talking about how "some" people released because of COVID repeatedly committed offenses due to Zero Bail order/no risk of incarceration. There is anecdotal evidence of this, but I can't give you objective data because @LASDHQ has been ignoring a PRA we filed since May.
Also year-to-date, per LAPD COMPSTAT -- Violent Crime down 4%, Property Crime down 10%. (Should note there has been a surge of homicides and shootings in L.A. proper over the past month. These numbers are accurate as of early September.)
Chance it turns contentious here. We have a Prop 47 question which Lacey is, understandably, going to de facto turn into an attack on Gascon.
Lacey criticizing Prop 47 as negatively impacting her use of drug courts. Records show her office has only admitted 3,935 people into alternative sentencing programs from 2014 to early this year. That's less than 1% of all misdemeanors filed by her office in same time frame.
Don't mean to pile on here (I presume Gascon will wander into factually murky turf soon) but Lacey also criticizing Tenderloin as an open-air drug market, while working in an office 1 mile from Skid Row is ... weird to me?
OK. This needs to stop. Gascon's circle has repeatedly made Trump references in connection to Jackie Lacey. The only thing Jackie Lacey has in common with Donald Trump is that she has two eyes and a central nervous system. https://twitter.com/JosephFIniguez/status/1313658525478912000?s=20
Gascon talking about "Make It Right" juvenile diversion program in SF. He's right that a study showed it helped reduce recidivism among juveniles. But important context: The sample size for the study was pretty small, just 98 youths.
Time for both of them to dance around their special interest contributions. Gascon talking up his "small donors" while quickly acknowledging yes, a chunk of his money is from Prop 47/anti-death penalty boosters in Northern California. More here: https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-district-attorney-race-top-donors/
Lacey doing the same, trumpeting her millions in police union contributions as those of concerned/interested LEOs, but questioning those who gave Gascon money. “Are they going to live with the experiments they’re going to put on L.A. County?”
Both offer their usual stances on use of gang enhancements (Gascon opposed to them, Lacey says she will use, but only cautiously). Obviously a hot button issue given LAPD's repeated scandals with misidentifying (or blatantly mislabeling) people as gang members.
FWIW - More than half of all homicides in L.A. were gang-related in 2019, down from 57% in 2018. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-31/crime-in-los-angeles-drops-2019-police-community-partnerships-and-gang-intervention
Gascon talking about how public defenders should be funded equally to the D.A.'s office. He worked closely with and had strong support from public defenders up in Bay, and has received endorsement from the L.A. County Public Defender union.
Lacey saying much of the same and touting close relationship with local Pub Def/Alt. Pub Def. offices
Lacey closing argument focused on the balance of safety, justice and reform. Lands a jab on Gascon: “I want to make sure if we implement reforms, we don’t see our community deteriorate … I don’t want people to be afraid to leave their cars outside.”
Gascon really hammering the river of endorsements he's picked up, while trying to draw distinction between him and Lacey, that he's the change agent. “We can continue to have police use force in ways that they are not held accountable, we can continue to harm our communities(1/2)
"How do we build as opposed to break … how do we re-define the term criminal justice?” - Gascon (2/2)
This was probably a bit inside baseball compared to how ours will be Thursday (considering the audience was all lawyers), but I will say this was a much more policy focused debate and really substantive. A lot of good answers from both. Beth Colgan asked excellent questions.
