George Gascon outlines plans for LA DA’s office

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County's criminal justice system will likely follow examples set by San Francisco if George Gascon is elected district attorney next year, with the candidate unveiling plans Monday to introduce a young adult court, neighborhood courts, and an in-office sentencing planner.

Modeled on the approach he took as San Francisco's DA, these policies aim to create alternatives to Los Angeles' incarceration system, which Gascon criticized as expensive and ineffective in an interview Monday following a news conference announcing his candidacy. These policies would be "substantially less costly than filling up our jails," he said, and taxpayer money that would have otherwise been used to maintain LA's incarceration system could be instead funneled toward "public education, public housing, and infrastructure."

"Los Angeles has ... the most expensive jail system in the world. LA county sends people to prison at four times the rate that we did in San Francisco. Yet violent crime is at historic low levels in both cities. So you have to ask the question to yourself: What is the price of this over-incarceration?" Gascon asked during the news conference. Held in a plaza kitty-cornered to the Men's Central Jail, and encompassed by bail bonds businesses, the news conference drew supporters who, Gascon noted, traveled from across the state.

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Based on the model Gascon helped launch in San Francisco in 2015, a young adult court would allow defendants between the ages of 18 and 25 to be prosecuted separately from juveniles and from adults over the age of 25.

The neighborhood court system would let communities work with an adjudicator to come up with ways for individuals who have committed low-level offenses to compensate the community, without involving the criminal justice system. The system was introduced in San Francisco in 2012.

Meanwhile, San Francisco's current sentencing planner works with prosecutors to find alternatives to jail or prison.

Gascon's announcement that he would be running for DA arrived only weeks after he abruptly resigned from his post in San Francisco. For months, he has been pitched by supporters as a progressive foil to incumbent District Attorney Jackie Lacey, whose "tough on crime" approach has drawn criticism.

Following Gascon's resignation in San Francisco, Lacey told the Daily Journal Gascon "has every right to quit his office and run for another one, and I welcome him into the race."

On Monday, Lacey launched "First," an ad for her re-election campaign that highlights the mental health division she started in January. The division aims to expand treatment and community-based services for prisoners with mental illnesses, provide training to first responders and attorneys, and allow deputy district attorneys to take mental health into account when considering whether a defendant needs to participate in a diversion program.

"I'd like to welcome San Francisco's D.A. to Los Angeles County. I'm proud of our office's record of fighting for reform while keeping our community safe," Lacey told the Daily Journal by email on Monday. "We've implemented a groundbreaking focus on mental health and treatment rather than incarceration, expunged a million minor offenses for poor and struggling residents, cut juvenile hall cases in half, and cracked down on sex crimes and human traffickers. I believe it's possible to keep our residents safe and make our justice system fairer at the same time, and I am looking forward to having that conversation." Asked about the mental health program at his news conference, Gascon expressed skepticism about its efficacy. "Look at who is going to prison and who is going to jail every day, and then you decide for yourself whether what you hear is actually being done or whether it's window dressing," he said.

"I can tell you there are people inside that office that are telling me they're not even aware of how the diversion program works. ... So while there is no question that there is a program, there is no question that some people are being sent to that program [and] you have a county that incarcerates people at a far higher rate than the state average."

Lacey is endorsed by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, LA mayor Eric Garcetti, and the Los Angeles County Firefighters, among others.