Gascón says he quit DA assocation; they say he wasn't a member

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said Tuesday he has left the California District Attorneys Association, but the group's leaders said he was not a member.

"George has not been a member since he resigned from" the San Francisco district attorney's office, El Dorado County DA Vern Pierson wrote in an email Tuesday. "Not sure why he would suggest otherwise." Pierson is president of the association that includes most of the state's DAs and their offices.

Gascón resigned as DA in San Francisco in 2019 for what became a successful challenge to unseat incumbent Jackie Lacey in Los Angeles County last November. According to Pierson, Gascón never reactivated his membership with the association after becoming DA for Los Angeles County.

But on Tuesday afternoon, Gascón tweeted from his personal account saying, "It's time to leave CDAA behind to create a better, safer, and more equitable future." Attached to the tweet was a two-page resignation letter in which Gascón cited the association's support of a lawsuit challenging his new policies and his involvement in a rival group of prosecutors that aims to challenge the political power of the DAs' association.

"While your decision to join litigation against one of your own members was disappointing, it was not a surprise given the politics of the organization," Gascón wrote in a letter addressed to Pierson. "CDAA continues to be a member organization solely for those willing to toe the 'tough on crime' line. For the rest of us, it is a place that fails to support us, our communities, or the pursuit of justice."

Last month, the association filed an amicus curiae brief supporting Gascón's deputies, who sued him over policies they argued, and a judge later found, were unlawful. Gascón is appealing that decision.

A man who works closely with Gascón's executive team and has knowledge of the DA's decision said on condition of anonymity that while Pierson is correct Gascón was not a member, the resignation letter was meant to inform the association that the LA County DA's office would no longer be paying membership dues.

Gascón also said his office will no longer provide personnel to conduct research or analysis on state legislative proposals. He said he was proud to be a founding member of the nascent Prosecutors Alliance of California, which he said serves 30% of California's population.

In 2019, San Joaquin County DA Tori Verber Salazar left the association after growing frustrated with a group she described in a letter to then-president Alameda County DA Nancy O'Malley as "out of touch and unwilling to find new approaches to criminal justice." Salazar is a member of the Prosecutors Alliance of California.

In his letter, Gascón said, "What has become clear to me after a decade of participation is that the organization is unwilling to change and grow with its members and our constituents. The vacuum of prosecutorial leadership on criminal justice reform left by CDAA will be filled by those willing to truly stand up for prosecutorial excellence."