George Gascon: A Poxy on Los Angeles

In November 2020, George Gascon, the former District Attorney for San Francisco from 2011 to 2019, and a former Assistant Police Chief for the Los Angeles Police Department, defeated the incumbent, Jackie Lacey, to become the new District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles. Gascon ran on a platform of progressive ideas, primarily based on ending cash bail, banning prosecutors from seeking enhanced prison sentences, and showing leniency to many low-level offenders. This includes, as stated at his swearing-in ceremony, a review of thousands of old convictions to determine whether lighter sentences or prisoner releases should be sought.

On the one hand, Lacey was a vulnerable candidate uniquely susceptible to losing her job in the political climate of 2020. Throughout her term as District Attorney, Lacey never filed criminal charges against any police officers for alleged wrongdoing. Nowhere was this error made more egregious than her decision to decline to prosecute the officer that shot Brandon Glenn, the crime of which was caught on videotape and of which the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department joined the public chorus in seeking prosecution against one of his own officers. Lacey also avoided getting involved in high-profile or celebrity cases, with her office declining to charge Ed Buck (a prominent Democratic donor) for curiously having two black men die in his home…