On today’s podcast we present an exclusive conversation with Eric Siddall vice president of the ADDA the professional association for Deputy District Attorneys of Los Angeles county. Siddall joins me to discuss the first year of Los Angeles district attorney George Gascons term in office.
In a November New York Times article entitled He’s Remaking Criminal Justice in L.A. But How Far Is Too Far? Emily Bazelon and Jennifer Medina compare the tenures of reform oriented prosecutors Kim Fox in Chicago and Larry Krasner in Philadelphia to George Gascón’s experience here in Los Angeles.
Both Fox and Krasner won reelection even as the murder rates in their cities climbed significantly. According to Bazelon and Medina, “Their victories showed that district attorneys could stand for progressive change and survive a rise in violent crime.”
But those elections differed somewhat from Gascón’s situation in Los Angeles, as he faces a second effort to recall him: “They suggested the political wisdom of making careful case-by-case decisions about releasing people who have committed serious acts of violence.”
