George Gascón takes over as LA County District Attorney with a sweeping reform agenda.
No more trying minors as adults.
No more gang, Three Strikes or other sentencing enhancements.
Pending allegations will be dismissed.
"These policies yield no benefit to public safety. They undermine rehabilitation, they increase racial and other inequities in our justice system and they decimate families and communities," Gascón says.
Gascón's also doing away with the death penalty. Prosecutors won't ask for it going forward and will seek to resentence those who've already been sent to death row.
One longtime LA County prosecutor, who asked to not be identified, says, "Everyone's in shock" and this is a "complete culture change" for the office.
While Gascón says he's out to "break the multigenerational cycles of violence, trauma...arrest and recidivism" that have taken a toll on communities of color, the prosecutor says much of the violent crime is taking place in black and brown communities...and worries how they'll be affected by the reforms.
The LAPD officers union, which spent a lot of money trying to keep Gascón from becoming DA, insists his plans "will do nothing but further victimize [LA] residents, especially Black and Hispanic residents."