Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón suffered another legal defeat on Thursday as the California Appeals Court ruled that he cannot order prosecutors to ignore state rules on enhanced sentencing and “three strikes” life sentences.
Gascón, who benefited in the 2020 election from millions of dollars in spending by left-wing billionaire George Soros, took office in December that year and immediately canceled cash bail, the death penalty, and enhanced sentencing in most cases.
His policies were immediately controversial, as they resulted in prosecutors asking for reduced penalties in even the most egregious cases, such as a multiple murder in which the accused had also allegedly murdered L.A. Sheriff’s Department Deputy Joseph Gilbert Solano.
Before his first month was through, Gascón had been sued by the union representing prosecutors, the Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA), who argued that Gascón’s new policies violated state law.
A Los Angeles Superior Court found against Gascón last year. He appealed and lost Thursday.
NBC Los Angeles reported:
A three-justice panel of the California Appeals Court ruled Thursday that LA County District Attorney George Gascón cannot order prosecutors to sidestep elements of the state’s three-strikes law that may increase prison terms when filing criminal charges, and cannot order prosecutors to drop or withdraw special circumstance allegations that could lead to sentences of life without the possibility of parole.
“We conclude the voters and the Legislature created a duty…that requires prosecutors to plead prior serious or violent felony convictions to ensure the alternative sentencing scheme created by the three strikes law applies to repeat offenders,” the Appeals Court said.
Prosecutors will still be able to ask the court for permission to seek reduced sentences or exemption from the “three-strikes” law.
On Thursday, the campaign to recall Gascón announced that it had collected 500,000 signatures, just short of the 566, 857 needed by July 6 to force a recall of the unpopular DA, one of many Soros helped elect in big cities in recent years.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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