AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott
The effort to force a recall election of the hard-left Los Angeles district attorney, George Gascon, whose radical approach to criminal justice unleashed mayhem on the city, has been dealt a potentially fatal blow.
On Monday, Los Angeles County announced that an extraordinarily high portion of the signatures for the recall petition—27%—have been ruled invalid. Although the recall effort’s backers plan to challenge the County’s findings, the announcement would, if it stands, leave the campaign without the required number of signatures for the measure to be included on the ballot this fall.
The setback leaves America’s second largest city facing the prospect of at least two more years with Gascon in the prosecutor’s office, as the city is being torn apart by a historic crime wave brought on by his extreme left-wing policies.
Gascon, meanwhile, far from being deterred by the threat of the recall effort against him, has only doubled down.
Just a few weeks ago, with the recall campaign in full swing, Gascon announced that he was disbanding the Parole Unit, more commonly known as the “Lifer Unit,” which is charged with notifying victims when their assailants are up for parole. The Lifer Unit, in addition to providing information about sentencing, also provides valuable emotional support for families who have been victims of violent crime.
While the DA’s office claims this was done to protect against the “triggering” of victims, victim advocacy groups have argued that it only further shields criminals from accountability –paving the way for them to be released back onto the streets, often to commit more crimes.
Patricia Wenskunas, founder and CEO of Crime Survivors Inc., a California-based organization focused on helping victims of violent crime and their family members, told Fox News that Gascon is “going against every grain of support that the victims deserve and should have. And he’s supporting offenders and criminals.” Deputy District Attorney Julianne Walker, a longtime Gascon critic, further suggested that the real reason Gascon disbanded the unit was so that he “and his public defender cronies can, in essence, do what they’re doing in the dark, and no one will ever know.”
Deputy DA Walker’s skepticism is not unfounded. Throughout his tenure, Gascon has displayed a penchant for defying norms and even written law to enact his extremist agenda. Immediately after assuming office in December of 2020, for example, Gascon enacted a number of “reforms” to change how cases are prosecuted. Among these measures was one barring deputy district attorneys from prosecuting “strikes” and other sentencing enhancements. California has a “three-strike” rule that extends sentences for repeat offenders. This rule has effectively ensured recidivist rapists, murderers, and drug dealers remain in prison. In July, a court ruled against Gascon in a lawsuit and said that he must abide by the state’s three-strike rule. Never deterred, Gascon is appealing that decision – hiring one of the most high-profile and expensive lawyers in the country to represent him in his appeal efforts. California taxpayers will be footing the bill.
Meanwhile, Gascon’s soft-on-crime policies are continuing to wreak havoc on the lives of LA residents. Last month, police in Culver City, an area under Gascon’s jurisdiction, reported that “there has been a 90% increase in crime in 2021 and 2022, compared to numbers from 2018 and 2019.” Just last week, police officer Gardiel Solorio was gunned down by a repeat offender who was recently released early from prison thanks to Gascon’s policies – at least the third such incident this year of a convicted criminal being released early only to go on to kill a police officer. Last November, alleged gang member and convicted murderer Andrew Cachu was released only six years into a 50-year sentence. In July, police discovered Cachu passed out and intoxicated in a vehicle blocking traffic with a gun and “many drugs” in his car. The list goes on.
Throughout all of this, Gascon has remained unrepentant. In an interview with Politico’s Playbook Deep Dive, he bragged about how he won his election “handsomely” and thus has the right to implement whatever policies he wants. He also dismissed criticism of him as the result of a California “deep state,” blaming his ineffectiveness on not being able to fire the deputies critical of his tenure and replace them with loyalists. In a June appearance on a local LA tv station, Gascon boasted, “I know how to keep communities safe.” In 2021, LA had 397 murders, the highest total since 2007. Murders in 2022 are on pace to top even that.
Los Angeles County’s announcement this week marks a second, and likely decisive, defeat for the city’s residents who want to see common sense restored to the prosecutor’s office. After the first recall push against Gascon fizzled out last year, hopes for this second effort were high following the successful recall of fellow far-left prosecutor Chesa Boudin in San Francisco.
Regardless, the growing backlash against far-left criminal justice policies, often centered in deep blue urban centers like LA, has sent an undeniable message to leftist prosecutors nationwide – and their liberal billionaire backer George Soros – that, even if they cling to power, for now, the days of their assault on law and order may well be numbered.
Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.