In office less than a month, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón has brought dramatic changes into the criminal courts with his progressive agenda. In his biggest move so far, he has directed prosecutors to seek shorter prison sentences for most criminal defendants by eliminating sentencing enhancements.
While winning plaudits from some quarters, the new policy has run into opposition from some of Gascón s deputy DA s and some judges. Some prosecutors reportedly are not making a forceful case to drop enhancements, and in at least a handful of cases judges have refused their requests.
Gascón says his move is designed to address two huge problems in the criminal justice system: There are too many people in prison and too many of them are Black and brown men. California s mass incarceration problem can be tied directly to enhancements and the extreme sentencing laws of the 1990s, he declared on his first day on the job.