Los Angeles' new district attorney announces sweeping reforms on first day

On his first day leading the nation’s largest district attorney’s office, the top prosecutor in Los Angeles announced a series of sweeping criminal justice reforms aimed at "permanently" changing the course of California's criminal justice system.

George Gascón, who was elected last month as a reformer, unseating the county's first Black district attorney, said in a lengthy thread on Twitter on Monday that his office will no longer seek the death penalty, which he described as “racist and morally untenable.”

Of the 215 people on death row in Los Angeles County, 85 percent are people of color, he said.

Nor will prosecutors ask for cash bail in misdemeanor, non-serious or non-violent felony cases — a system that he called a “terrible proxy for risk.”

Prosecutors won’t file sentencing enhancements — like California’s “3 Strikes” law — that can send people to prison for far longer terms.

Gascón pointed out that between 1990 and 1999 — five years after that law was passed — California’s prison population exploded, growing from 94,000 to 160,000.

Under his announced reforms, kids will no longer be sent to adult court, low-level crimes associated with poverty, addiction, mental illness and homeless will be diverted to health services, and his office will review cases where lengthy prison terms were “inconsistent” with sentencing and charging policies.

This review could apply to at least 20,000 people behind bars, Gascón said. Cases where people committed non-violent crimes or are older and unlikely to commit more crimes will be given priority, he said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/los-angeles-new-district-attorney-announces-sweeping-reforms-first-day-n1250317?cid=ed_npd_bn_tw_bn