Anything or anyone can be sacrificed for the ideology, for the gang, for the greater good, or, in this case, the greater evil

We’ve all heard of tales of corrupt district attorneys.

Leander Perez ruled Plaquemines Parish (a parish is what they call a county in Louisiana) with an iron fist and even by Louisiana standards his level of corruption was eye watering.

The fiercely segregationist Democrat raked in enough cash from the other politicians he owned to be able to buy even more politicians.  His vote fixing was blatant, he stole somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million dollars – between 1940 and 1965 or thereabouts, so about $1 billion dollars today –  in oil lease royalties, and he stayed in office for nearly 40 years before switching over to leading the parish commission and putting his son in as DA.

Every aspect of life in the parish – it surrounds the mouth of the Mississippi River and goes north toward New Orleans – was controlled by Perez; he was the kind of pol who would fix a ticket for you and then stop by eight years later and dump toxic waste on your property and you wouldn’t say boo.

And the bayous and marshlands trailing to and from the Mississippi had more than alligators floating in them.  

He was so bad he was actually ex-communicated by the Archbishop of New Orleans; he was the archetypal power sleaze elected official that movies are made about.

He even smoked cigars.

Click here for his photo – it has to be viewed on the Smithsonian’s website.

As to fictional DAs, there is Ellis Loew from the fantastic film noir L.A. Confidential. While exuding a certain amount of panache Perez never did and actually getting his comeuppance – you may remember his character being dangled out a window by Russell Crowe – Loew is the picture of the smooth dismissive big city dirty politician who thinks he is untouchable.

A little more recently – and much more real – is Democrat Mike Nifong of Durham County, North Carolina.  Nifong slandered a group of Duke University lacrosse players and charged them with rape for political reasons.  He had been appointed DA in 2005 and faced a tough election in November, 2006. 

It was in March of that year he brought the charges against the students and he squeaked through the November vote only about a month before it was revealed he knew of and purposefully hid DNA evidence that would have cleared the students.

Nifong was shortly thereafter removed from office, disbarred, jailed for a time, lost $180 million dollars’ worth of student lawsuits, and went bankrupt.

So he, too, got his comeuppance.

Will George Gascon?

Granted, there have been no reports of bodies found in the LaBrea tar pits or even of personal enrichment.  But – like other dirty DAs – he serves only to specifically further himself and the interests of a set gang of groups and people as opposed to serving the interests of the community at large.

His gang, his cronies, his enforcers are not bag men and sleazy cops and underworld overlords (kinda,) but progressive activists wedded to a farcical and dangerous ideology and – like Loew, Nifong, and Perez – he will stop at nothing to advance those interests, that ideology.

The list of his gang members is a litany of organizations that have played and are actively playing leading roles in the decline of the city and the state in general.

Big labor, the Democratic Socialists of America, the decarceration mob, the homeless-industrial complex, community “nonprofits” that are actually get out the vote operations, and certain “burn it all down” moneyed interests that infest the west side and act that way out of a feeling of guilt about being rich (these are typically not the people who made the money, just the people who use the money other people made for them.)

Gascon has purposefully helped create an environment in which his compatriots can thrive – more homeless means more money for the complex, more social anxiety about saying “the wrong thing” leads to more self-censorship, more misplaced guilt means more donations, more problems mean the need for more people to solve them, and more hesitant cops means more intentional chaos on the streets.

Until a society has had enough and pulls up people like Gascon and Perez by the roots, that chaotic gray area created is a very convenient place from which to pull strings. While Perez stayed in power for 40 years by being personally ruthlessly detailed, Gascon merely creates the atmosphere in which others can take care of the ruthless details.

For most in power, the goal is permanence.  For those involved in a fetid corruption of society like Loew and Gascon and Perez, permanance is not just a goal but an absolute necessity and anything can be justified in that pursuit.  For when the power finally ends, there is hell to pay and the repucussions go far behind merely not being in office anymore.

But the cabal goes beyond Gascon and may be beginning to see him as expendable, hence “George-lite” DA candidate Jeff Chemerinsky who, if elected, will keep the odious social justice campaign alive but occasionally convict a criminal and treat his employees better.

Gascon is personally less important than the hive and if he has to go, so be it.  His two “allied” county supervisors who are up for election next year – Holly Mitchell and Janice Hahn – have a choice:  endorse him or blame him.  One expects it will be discovered by Hahn and Mitchell that Gascon – if his re-election is looking as bleak as it is now, is the reason for everything wrong with Los Angeles County, from crime to homelessness to the bus being late to that crack in the sidewalk you almost tripped over.

In other words, while he is in fact to blame to much of the recent disaster he will be blamed for everything else, too (the other supervisor up, Kathryn Barger, may follow suit but she won’t go as far and she has been properly opposing Gascon and his policies from day one so, unlike, Mitchell and Hahn, she will not be a hypocrite when she criticizes him) to allow the wokeblob to stay in power.

He can be sacrificed, if need be.

Fitting, as Gascon has sacrificed the safety of the people of Los Angeles County on the altar of his – and his mob’s –  twisted ideology.  He has done so as dismissively as Loew dismissed Russel Crowe’s character:  

“So what if some homo actor is dead?  Boys, girls, ten of them get off the bus every day.”

Re-writes of that line for Gascon could run along these line:  

“So what if some rich guy is inconvenienced by getting his watch ripped off his wrist?  He can just get another one.”

“So what if some guy goes free without bail and rapes someone the next day?  Keeping people out of jail is more important than some unfortunate incident.”

“So what if they’re not really a non-profit?  They are part of the movement.”

“So what if the so-called ‘regular’ people in the community suffer?  They’ve been privileged too long.”

“So what if stores get robbed?  They’ve got insurance.”

“So what if hundreds of homeless people die every year?  They make my friends money.”

Anything or anyone can be sacrificed for the ideology, for the gang, for the greater good, or, in this case, the greater evil.

Click here to read the full article in California Globe

‘Crime is up and the current filings are not reflecting the reality’

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón has been criticized – rightly – for any number of justice system reasons: soft on crime, does not add gun enhancements to charges, does not support victim’s families, does not oppose the parole of violent offenders, does use no cash bail which often results in a nearly instantaneous re-offense by the criminal, etc.

But it also appears he’s just really bad at even the most basic part of the job – filing criminal cases.

The office has a case backlog slightly larger than a whole month’s worth of offenses.  The office is sent about 11,000 cases a month – it’s reportedly behind by about 13,000.

In his “mid-term report,” Gascon said the office’s felony filing rate is in fact about the same as previous district attorneys.

But that means the backlog could also represent an increase in crime.  

“If felony filings are the same as before, and there is a huge batch of unfiled cases, that means crime is up and the current filings are not reflecting the reality,” said Marc Debbaudt, retired veteran prosecutor and former president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys.

The issue of staff incompetence should cut across the political spectrum, said longtime deputy district attorney Eric Siddall.  

“He’s a disaster, no matter the politics,” said Siddall.  “This had not happened with previous district attorneys – he just doesn’t know how to administer.”

DA’s office spokesperson Venusse Navid defended the operations, saying a new computerized and centralized filing system has helped and that office leadership went through every office to conduct a physical hand count, we “looked on shelves, on desks, in drawers, in boxes” to find every case.

“Up until 2021, the office mainly operated with hard-copy, paper file submissions,” Navid said.  “Two years ago, we dramatically expanded the use of the award-winning electronic charge evaluation system known as ‘eCER.’While the workload is high, we prioritize custody cases. We are proud to say that no case submitted for custody filing has been left unreviewed and unfiled by our office since December 2020.”

Siddall said Navid crowing about “custody filing” is irrelevant as those are cases involving people already in jail and – per the constitution –  must be filed within 48 hours.

But the system change – along with the office being unable to replace the hundreds of experienced deputy district attorneys who could not abide Gascon’s ludicrous, and often illegal, prosecution-related orders and directives have exacerbated the problem.

Debbaudt said he understand that the new system has ballooned the time it takes a deputy district attorney to actually file a case. “You used to be able to do 40 or 50 a day,” Debbaudt said.  “Now’s it about five.”

The new centralized system does have one benefit for Gascon – it allows him to monitor and control what gets filed, Debbaudt added.

The mid term report also noted that charges for misdemeanor offenses have dropped about 40 percent while charges for misdemeanor “addiction related offenses” have essentially dropped to zero per office policy, a policy many say has directly led to the degradation of the city.

Those offenses not charged anymore include drug possession, drug use, public intoxication, and possession of paraphernalia, etc.

The report states: 

“Do no harm” is also an overriding principle in our office, and we have decided to shift resources away from misdemeanors where prosecution serves no public safety benefit. We have, therefore, dramatically decreased our filing rate for cases associated with addiction, while focusing on those misdemeanors where violence, and especially domestic violence, occurs.

Click here to read the full article in the California Globe

Head Deputy Shawn Randolph calls George Gascón’s administration an ‘epic failure of leadership’

A Los Angeles County jury awarded $1.5 million in damages Monday to a senior prosecutor who alleged she was transferred from a prestigious position to a “dead-end job” after complaining about District Attorney George Gascón’s juvenile sentencing policies.

The verdict in favor of Head Deputy Shawn Randolph capped a two-week trial that included testimony from Gascón, who said she was not retaliated against and was transferred as part of staffing adjustments.

The verdict marks the first time that a jury has awarded monetary damages to a deputy district attorney suing Gascón for retribution. More than a dozen prosecutors have similar lawsuits that are still pending against the controversial district attorney, who survived a recall campaign last year when supporters failed to secure enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Outside of the courtroom after the verdict, Randolph said Gascón’s tenure at the helm of the District Attorney’s Office has been “an epic failure of leadership.”

Beth Correia, one of Randolph’s lawyers, said the case “shined a light on what’s been happening in the DA’s Office.” She said her recommendation to other plaintiffs awaiting trial is to “hang tough.”

Eric Siddall, vice president of Los Angeles County Association of Deputy District Attorneys, said the verdict should send a strong message to Gascón.

“We all know what George Gascón thinks about public service,” Siddall said. “He has called lifelong public servants ‘internal terrorists.’ And he has treated them as such. He silenced their voices, he engaged in petty and vindictive acts of retaliation and rewarded political loyalty instead of competency and professionalism. Far worse, he did so at the expense of public safety.

“Today jurors spoke out against Gascón’s incompetence and condemned his illegal machinations. He sat in front of them and testified.  They listened.  And they saw right through him.”

The jury’s decision is disconcerting, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

“We are disappointed by the jury’s verdict and stand by our decision to reassign this and other attorneys to new positions within the office,” said the statement. “As any manager will tell you, moving around personnel in order to improve the level of representation this community receives is absolutely critical to a functioning office. We will consider our options over the next several days.”

Randolph, a former head deputy for the Juvenile Division, said in a 2021 lawsuit that Gascón transferred her to the Parole Division in downtown Los Angeles after she complained he had abolished the ability of prosecutors to file certain crimes against juveniles governed under California’s “three-strikes” law.

Randolph also repeatedly disclosed to her superiors that criminal charges made under Gascon’s policies for violent juvenile offenders were not “truthful charges” and that they violated the ethical and statutory duties of prosecutors. Additionally, she said the directive violated California’s Marsy’s Law by preventing families of victims from giving input into the decision on whether to try juveniles charged with homicide as adults.

Click here to read the full article in the OC Register

The Recall DA George Gascon campaign announced on Wednesday that more than 450,000 signatures have been collected as of May 13th, closing in quickly on the 566,857 needed and the safety goal of 800,000 that the group wants to submit to the LA County Registrar in 50 days.

The second petition to recall Gascon has seen an explosion of support in recent months, especially when compared to the first petition. Following the election in 2020, Gascon, who previously was the DA of San Francisco, quickly instituted several so-called “reforms,” including ending policies that had juveniles being tried as adults, many crimes reduced to misdemeanors or having jail time reduced, and the removal of cash bail for most crimes despite California voters voting to keep it in 2020 in Prop 25. However, these policies led to criminals being emboldened and rising crime in the County, despite the COVID pandemic. Crime rates went up in everything from homicides to robberies. A petition was started up last year, but it fizzled out by October.

Supporters vowed to get another petition in place, and were emboldened by the smash and grab crime spree in LA and San Francisco in late 2021. With the public more aware of Gascon’s policies, more and more people began voicing opposition against Gascon. Entire City Councils, including the Beverly Hills City Council, voted outright in favor of his recall, and more than 30 cities in the County voted no confidence in him. The successful signature effort in San Francisco to recall their DA, Chesa Boudin, also encouraged many to give it a second chance.

In late January the second petition was approved by the County. With high crime, a lack of prosecution attempts against criminals, crime victims believing that the DA supports the criminals more than them, and previous petition factors being amplified, the 2022 petition quickly garnered signatures. Many lawmakers and political candidates immediately threw their support behind the recall, and by mid-March over 125,000 signatures were collected.

Over 450,000 signatures collected so far

On Wednesday, that figure shot up by over 300,000 signatures. As recall supporters are to send out more petitions to millions of LA County residents ahead of the June 7th primary, the recall campaign is now on track to not only meet the 566,857 needed signature line of 10% of all county voters, but is also likely to hit the 800,000 safety figure to account for double signatures, invalid signatures, and other factors that may result in their signature being removed.

“With 50 days to go, we are continuing to see increases in signature collection and anticipate additional bumps as our mail program is fully deployed,” the Recall DA George Gascon campaign said on Wednesday. “We are on the cusp of qualifying this recall and positioned exactly where we need to be to hit our goals within the remaining timeframe.  If residents and community leaders continue to step up, this will be the beginning of the end of George Gascon’s reign of terror over Los Angeles.”

Experts noted that other outside factors may only increase the number of signatures in the final stretch of collection days until the deadline in early July.

“Crime continues to play the big reason people are signing the petition. That and Gascon not prosecuting or going after criminals,” said James Long, a neighborhood safety planner in Los Angeles, to the Globe on Wednesday. “I mean, he is, but to nowhere near where he should be, not with crime this high and those arrested just walking out.”

“But that Boudin recall up in San Francisco has been encouraging to many. Outside at petition signature gatherings, one of the oddest groups of people who have come out in support of the recall have been former San Francisco residents who moved here. They still see the news from back home, and they have seen that Boudin is now all but certain to be recalled next month. To them, that’s amazing. They’ve seen how wrong things have become in both cities, and hey, if San Francisco can recall their guy, so can LA.”

Click here to read the full article at the California Globe