Metropolitan News-Enterprise: Statewide Prosecutors Group to Aid ADDA’s Battle Against Gascón

A statewide association of prosecutors yesterday said it will seek leave to file an amicus curiae brief in Los Angeles Superior Court in support of the position of the local county prosecutors’ union that “special directives” issued by District Attorney George Gascón are unlawful.

That announcement came the same day that the Victims of Violent Crime for the Recall of George Gascón declared that it has filed papers enabling it to accept campaign donations and that it will begin circulating a recall petition on March 8. Collecting of signatures is legally barred until a public official has been in office for at least 90 days.

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The Signal: Widow seeks justice for murdered sergeant

For the last four years, Owen and her family have sought only what any family who has to deal with a murdered loved one would want, she said: “justice.” However, under a recent series of special directives by District Attorney George Gascón, she’s now worried that that day might not come, which was part of why she was in court Wednesday for a proceeding that was unusual, by its very nature, even for someone with a career in law enforcement like Tania Owen. Click to read the complete article.

California Globe: CA District Attorneys Support Lawsuit by LA Assoc. of Deputy DAs against District Attorney George Gascón

The California District Attorneys Association announced Tuesday it will file a friend-of-the-court brief later this month supporting the lawsuit recently filed by the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys against Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón because of his radical new directives.

The Los Angeles County prosecutors asked the District Attorneys Association (CDAA) to weigh in on Gascón’s recent directives and announcement that he would be getting rid of all crime enhancements, ordering prosecutors not to attend parole hearings, and eliminating cash bail, despite California voters rejecting the elimination of cash bail in the November election.

In many respects, with these new directives, Gascón is telling Deputy District Attorneys to violate the law as well as their duty of professional responsibility.

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Daily News: Sacramento County, L.A. County prosecutors trade criticisms over policies

Sacramento County’s chief prosecutor has informed Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón that her office will no longer grant him jurisdiction over any crimes that involve Sacramento County because of Gascón’s special directives that have been criticized by victims’ advocates as too soft on crime.

Gascón campaigned on criminal-justice reform, but many were taken aback by the lengths he went to when he announced upon taking office that prosecutors would no longer pursue the death penalty, try juveniles as adults, seek cash bail for misdemeanor and non-serious, non-violent felonies, or add gang and other enhancements to criminal complaints.

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