Embattled Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon cannot refuse to abide by the state’s three-strikes law, which results in lifelong prison terms for violent repeat felons, an appellate court unanimously ruled Thursday.
Gascon had challenged a lower court order that said he had no legal right to enact a policy barring prosecutors from enforcing the law. The 800-member Association of Deputy District Attorneys sued Gascon in 2020, saying members were prohibited from fulfilling their duties.
“The district attorney overstates his authority,” wrote Justice John Segal of California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals. “He is an elected official who must comply with the law, not a sovereign with absolute, unreviewable discretion.”
Segal later wrote, “Deputy district attorneys who continue to follow the Special Directives and refuse to plead known prior strikes violate the law.”
Gascon’s office responded to the ruling by saying, “The ruling maintains the District Attorney’s discretion and authority as an elected constitutional officer. The court affirmed his ability to pursue his policy goals in the furtherance of justice.”
The Washington Examiner asked for clarification on whether this meant that Gascon was going to continue with his anti-three strikes policy but did not receive an answer.
The decision does not bode well for Gascon’s inevitable recall election. A bipartisan coalition has raised $6.5 million and collected most of the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. Organizers include crime victims as well as prosecutors and law enforcement.
Gascon swept into office in 2020 on a progressive platform funded by George Soros and backed by Black Lives Matter. He immediately instituted reforms that blocked prosecutors from enforcing the state’s strict sentencing laws against gangs, sexual assault, hate crimes, gun usage, and other violence as a way to keep felons from serving extensive sentences. This was later slightly modified but largely remains intact.
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It quickly enacted the ire of prosecutors and Sheriff Alex Villanueva as crime surged and families of victims rebelled.
“I would view this as the end of King Gascon’s rule and hopefully his eventual recall,” prosecutor and California attorney general candidate Nathan Hochman told Fox News.
Eric Siddall, vice president of the ADDA, said the state has never had a case in which a court needed to tell a chief prosecutor to follow the law.
“He must follow the rules,” Siddall said. “While we are heartened by the court’s ruling, we continue to be disappointed that Los Angeles’ chief prosecutor seems not to understand these fundamental principles of American government. Fortunately, the judiciary does.”
Voters enacted the three-strikes law in 1995 after the home invasion kidnapping and murder of Polly Klass, 12, shocked the state. It doubles the felony sentence of an offender with a previous violent conviction and imposes a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life for two previous violent felonies.
Gascon has repeatedly stated that he wishes to reform criminals and not subject them to extensive stints behind bars. He also ordered prosecutors to refrain from attending parole hearings on behalf of victims and their families. This practice is standard throughout the state and is a stopgap measure between the public and the release of a felon.
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The impact of this rule was magnified when the killer of Robert F. Kennedy was granted release last year following a hearing that had no legal argument against it by the district attorney’s office. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed this decision.
