LA DA says policies are ‘major cultural shift,’ warns opponents

In a speech highlighting his first 100 days in office Wednesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón described his contested policies as a “major cultural shift,” and he signaled a warning against anyone who has challenged them from continuing down that path.

“I think that we all have to recognize that there’s a major cultural shift, and some people, unfortunately, will never embrace this process,” Gascón said. “And eventually, we will have to deal with those accordingly.”

Since taking office in December, Gascón has faced a flurry of opposition from within his office, on the bench and from law enforcement members.

Gascón mentioned a recent case involving a detective commenting on the stand about his disagreement with removing some charging enhancements and said it was unfortunate that the judge allowed those comments. It’s unclear what case or judge he was referring to, but Gascón described the judge’s decision as “outside character and not what the norm would be.”

Many judges pushed back against Gascón’s sentencing policies early on, saying they weren’t in the interest of justice. And despite a recent court order enjoining several of them, Gascón said that he would continue to train personnel in the office to understand the science and data he says drive his directives.

“I think collectively we’ll get to a place where there will be a strict adherence to the process,” Gascón said.

Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, who has been a vocal critic of the DA and is suing him and one of his advisers alleging discrimination, said he took Gascón’s comments as a threat to both himself and every employee in the DA’s office. He demanded an apology and a retraction.

“It is the legal and constitutional right of a Los Angeles County employee to disagree with their employer, especially if the employer tells the employee to break the law,” he said. Hatami and the deputy district attorneys’ union won a superior court ruling that some of the directives were unlawful. Gascón is appealing.

No one from the DA’s office was willing to respond on the record to Hatami’s comment about a threat.

Gascón also avoided questions about a rumor circulating in the office that he plans to downsize or disband the Hardcore Gang Unit next month and replace it with what some deputy district attorneys have called a “Decreased Community Violence Division.” The hard core gang unit was established in 1979 to target and prosecute habitual gang member criminals in juvenile and adult court.

A special adviser to Gascón said the questions were personnel-related and the office could not comment. But after several reporters pressed the question, Gascón said he has “been evaluating all the functions of this office” and said he’s conducting a management audit to identify areas he wants to prioritize for resources.

During his news conference, Gascón positioned the DA’s office as a leader in youth justice.

“We are at the cutting edge of this work,” he said, noting he has already withdrawn 77 pending motions to transfer juveniles to adult court since December.

Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Rahn Minagawa, an expert on adolescent brain development who often testifies in juvenile proceedings, said Gascón is the first DA to ask for his advice in more than 25 years of working in California’s juvenile justice system.

Minagawa said science shows that 16- and 17-year-olds should not be prosecuted as adults because their brains are not fully developed. He said their ability to regulate their emotions, make appropriate decisions in the heat of the moment and withstand peer pressure is limited until they are around 25. He also said influences outside a minor’s control often contribute to delinquency.

“If you’re a minor growing up and you cannot walk to school safely, it changes your view of the world,” Minagawa said. “It also makes you more vulnerable to the influence of other minors who feel that they have to take matters into their own hands for protection.”

Gascón said he is trying to create a juvenile justice system that holds youth offenders accountable but in a way that supports proportionate rehabilitation.

“Accountability has to be relevant to the convictions of the youth,” he said. “Simply sending somebody to pick up trash, while it may be appealing for some, it’s not necessarily going to improve the capacity of this young person to transform him or herself,” he said.

Gascón also highlighted that the death penalty was taken off the table in 17 active cases and said he’s filed 71% fewer enhancement charges between December and February over the same time last year. That reduction, he said, prevented more than 8,000 years of unnecessary prison exposure and saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The DA also convened his crime victims advisory board to work with the office’s Bureau of Victim Services to explore technological solutions to notify crime victims more expeditiously.

All of these changes, he said, set the stage for future progress. Gascón said he is seeking to hire former federal prosecutor Lawrence Middleton as an independent prosecutor to handle police misconduct cases; has requested all law enforcement agencies in the county to turn over a list of officers with tarnished records; and is creating a pre-filing diversion program for nonviolent crimes where charges made by police would never be charged in court if a defendant completes the program.

“We are doing all of this because the science and data tell us so,” Gascón said.