LAist: ‘Highly Unusual For A DA’: DA Touts His Push To Cut Prison Sentences
During last year’s campaign, Gascón promised to address mass incarceration and racial disparities in the justice system. Sentencing enhancements may be his biggest effort to do that.
But the union that represents his own prosecutors sued to stop his enhancements policy, arguing it was too broad. A judge said Gascón could not force prosecutors to withdraw previously filed enhancements as part of a blanket policy, but he is allowed to have a policy that reduces their use going forward.
The dramatic drop in prison time for criminals will result in “incalculable losses in public safety,” said Eric Siddall, vice president of the Association for Deputy District Attorneys. He argued that sentencing enhancements provide a strong deterrent to crime.
Siddall called Gascón’s approach to enhancements a “reckless experiment.”
