This 12 months’s Los Angeles District Lawyer race is pitting incumbent George Gascón, broadly seen as a progressive felony justice reformer, in opposition to former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who’s operating on a extra conventional method to prosecuting instances.
Whereas each candidates have cited totally different statistics to make their case as as to whether L.A. County is safer immediately or not, it’s voters, arguably, who will make that dedication. Many view this race as a referendum on the present state of public security within the nation’s largest county – and whether or not voters really feel roughly secure than earlier than Gascón took workplace practically 4 years in the past.
By now, voters in L.A. County have received their mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5 general election. For these nonetheless deciding which candidate to vote for, right here’s an outline of who the candidates are, the problems driving this election and different details about this race.
The candidates
Gascón was 13 when he and his household fled from Havana, Cuba, and arrived in the USA in 1967.
Now 70, Gascón is looking for a second time period as district legal professional for L.A. County – a place he was first elected to in 2020 when, buoyed by a progressive voter base that was hungry for felony justice reforms following the death of George Floyd that 12 months, he defeated then-incumbent Jackie Lacey.
Gascón’s profession in regulation enforcement spans greater than 4 many years.
He spent about 28 years with the Los Angeles Police Division, first as a patrol officer, then working his manner as much as assistant chief of police, a place he held from 2002 to 2006. After he left the LAPD, Gascón served as police chief in Mesa, Ariz. for 3 years.
In 2009, he was appointed chief of police in San Francisco. Two years later, he was tapped to function San Francisco’s district legal professional, a task he held from 2011 to 2019.
His opponent on this election, in the meantime, touts his 34 years as a prosecutor.
Hochman, 60, was born and raised in Los Angeles. From 1990 to 1997, he served as an assistant U.S. legal professional for the Central District of California the place he prosecuted over 100 instances, together with instances involving gang members, drug traffickers and corrupt public officers. He additionally ran the environmental crimes part of his workplace, going after air, water and land polluters.
Hochman later served as an assistant legal professional normal overseeing the U.S. Division of Justice’s tax division from 2007 to 2009.
He later served 5 years on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, which enforces town’s ethics legal guidelines and doles out punishments to metropolis officers and others who violate these legal guidelines. He was president of the fee from 2015 to 2016.
Hochman at present works for a personal regulation agency the place he focuses on felony protection, tax litigation and complicated enterprise litigation.
Method to regulation enforcement
The state of public security in L.A. County is on the poll this November. A minimum of that’s what number of view the race between Gascón and Hochman.
Gascón was elected as L.A.’s district legal professional in 2020 based mostly on a progressive felony justice reform agenda. His marketing campaign has highlighted his function in exonerating 14 harmless individuals who had been wrongfully convicted, some once they had been kids.
And in keeping with his marketing campaign, his workplace has filed 5 officer-involved capturing instances and 10 extreme pressure instances in opposition to regulation enforcement officers. His marketing campaign mentioned that’s a stark distinction to the only officer-involved capturing case the D.A.’s workplace filed within the twenty years earlier than Gascón took workplace.
“My high priorities are defending group security, bringing accountability to Los Angeles’ felony authorized system, and enhancing victims’ providers by trauma-informed approaches and group partnerships,” Gascón mentioned in a recent questionnaire he accomplished for the Los Angeles Every day Information.
However Hochman, operating on a tougher-on-crime platform, says Gascón is simply too lenient on criminals and that crime has worsened consequently. He’s accused Gascón of not looking for gun sentencing enhancements typically sufficient, nor gang enhancements. The enhancements add further jail time to an individual’s sentence in the event that they’re convicted of a criminal offense.
“We now have given you, Mr. Gascón, virtually 4 years to run your social experiment with our security, and you’ve got failed,” Hochman mentioned throughout a Sept. 11 debate. “Individuals and companies dwell in concern, justifiably so, of getting their dwelling or automotive or shops robbed. … The one group that doesn’t dwell in concern are criminals.”
Gascón, in that debate, countered that his administration has “developed” since he first headed up the D.A.’s workplace in Los Angeles and that his workplace seeks “balanced reform” that ensures there are “applicable penalties for felony conduct.” He mentioned there’s now a committee to evaluate instances when prosecutors really feel the workplace ought to search sentencing enhancements or to think about prosecuting a minor as an grownup.
Gascón has additionally mentioned his workplace has been “very aggressive” in tackling hate crimes, human trafficking and waste theft.
In his response to the Daily News’ questionnaire, Gascón mentioned his workplace’s submitting charge for violent felonies like murder and rape is “on par with the workplace’s common for the last decade earlier than I took workplace.” He mentioned his workplace’s submitting charge for hate crimes is the very best in California and that it information greater than 4,000 gun enhancements on common per 12 months. (In 2020, the final 12 months then-District Lawyer Jackie Lacey was in workplace, the D.A.’s workplace filed 8,845 gun enhancements.)
“The place there have been adjustments are on nonviolent misdemeanors — equivalent to driving on a suspended license with out the presence of medication, alcohol or reckless driving; instances like which can be higher dealt with in visitors court docket, permitting us to maintain our courts and jails with the capability to deal with extra critical crime,” Gascón wrote.
Gascón has mentioned that individuals need the felony justice system to be truthful, and his workplace is cautious to keep away from wrongful convictions.
”We don’t need to return to the times of mass incarceration, looking for the demise penalty, sending a whole lot of youngsters to grownup jail,” Gascón mentioned through the Sept. 11 debate. “These are the issues that we’re avoiding, and we present that our work is having an affect.”
Gascón has accused Hochman of favoring mass incarceration – a declare Hochman denies. Hochman mentioned he’s neither for mass incarceration nor what he calls “Gascón’s de-carceration” coverage.
Hochman mentioned he would undertake a “arduous center” method wherein each case could be thought of individually, based mostly on a defendant’s felony historical past, the crime or crimes dedicated and the affect on any victims.
“I need to restore security and safety in L.A. County, restore the folks’s belief within the D.A.’s workplace to get the job completed, and convey again a profitable and productive partnership between the D.A.’s workplace and regulation enforcement,” Hochman wrote in his response to the Daily News’ questionnaire.
Is crime up or down?
In latest debates, Gascón has cited LAPD statistics displaying that homicides are down within the metropolis of L.A. He mentioned that year-to-date statistics from the LAPD present that crimes in opposition to folks and property have decreased.
He’s acknowledged the issues with retail and auto thefts and mentioned his workplace is coping with them, prosecuting many organized retail theft instances and taking part in activity forces targeted on the issue.
Hochman has pushed again on Gascón’s reliance on LAPD statistics. LAPD statistics solely present crime traits within the metropolis of Los Angeles, whereas information from the California Division of Justice present crime traits for all 88 cities in L.A. County.
The countywide information present that between 2020 and 2023, violent crime, property crimes and hate crimes elevated by double digits — and shoplifting skyrocketed 133% countywide, he mentioned.
Get together affiliations
Each candidates have at one level or one other been registered as Republican, although Gascón now identifies as a Democrat whereas Hochman switched to “no occasion desire” final 12 months.
Nonetheless, each candidates have criticized their opponent’s prior affiliation with the GOP.
Gascón has repeatedly sought to tie Hochman to former President Donald Trump, accusing his opponent of being a “fearmonger” who tells “half truths and … lies.”
Hochman ran for state legal professional normal as a Republican in 2022. He mentioned he’s operating now as an impartial as a result of the D.A. is a nonpartisan workplace and the work of the D.A. shouldn’t be political.
Hochman mentioned he was a Democrat for 20 years earlier than turning into a “centrist Republican.”
Paradoxically, he mentioned throughout another debate last month, “what (Gascón) isn’t telling folks … is that he’s been Republican in his life virtually twice so long as I’ve.”
Gascón mentioned after that debate that he “more and more turned very uncomfortable” with the course the Republican occasion was taking the nation and switched to being a Democrat about 14 years in the past.
Gascón then countered that Hochman was a Republican rather more not too long ago than him.
“He ran as a Republican for (state) legal professional normal (in 2022) – after Trump ran in 2016, after Jan. 6 when people tried to overthrow democracy, after the Supreme Court (overturned) Roe v. Wade. He continued to run as a Republican,” Gascón mentioned.
Hochman mentioned his opponent is making an attempt to color him as a conservative Republican when Hochman considers himself a centrist who’s pro-choice and helps LGBTQ+ rights.
Hochman mentioned he didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020 and plans to vote for Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, in November.
Endorsements
Gascón is endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Get together, the highly effective L.A. County Federation of Labor which represents greater than 300 union and labor organizations, and progressive teams like L.A. Ahead and LA Progressive.
Native elected officers who again him embrace L.A. County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath, Holly Mitchell and Hilda Solis; L.A. Metropolis Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martínez and Imelda Padilla; and L.A. Metropolis Controller Kenneth Mejia.
Hochman is endorsed by the Affiliation of Deputy District Attorneys, which represents deputy D.A.s in L.A. County, and quite a lot of native police unions in addition to the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs’ Affiliation.
He’s additionally endorsed by former L.A. County District Lawyer Lacey, who misplaced to Gascón in 2020; L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger; L.A. Metropolis Councilmembers John Lee and Traci Park; and former L.A. mayoral candidate and businessman Rick Caruso, who as soon as served as president of the L.A. Police Fee.
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