We are in the midst of a lot of backlash, and that is a part of how politics is played. LA County District Attorney George Gascón – a former LAPD officer – has already been the target of multiple recall campaigns, all them failures. He is still in office for good reasons.
While the polls show a close race, it’s a bit absurd. The whole “soft on crime/tough on crime” is an argument that holds no water, as crime is down across the board. Nationally, statewide, locally – crime is down.
The police unions that fund a lot of campaign advertising want you to think that there’s a lot of crime; that’s job security for cops. Who actually already have a whole lot of job security – note the term ‘police unions.’
Listening to Gascón at an event earlier this year, there are two points that he holds central; see if you agree. First, children should not be tried as adults. Second, the State should not be using the death penalty.
I’ve had a reinforcing education on this recently, reading The Rent Collectors by Jesse Katz. It’s a book abut the 18th Street gang, who controlled MacArthur Park to such an extent they were charging ‘rent’ to street vendors to have a spot on the sidewalk – at a time when all street vending was illegal in Los Angeles. A teenager who was set up by a gang to commit a murder could have been give a death sentence. That he wasn’t, and he has since educated himself while serving his sentence means he could have a life ahead of him that will really help others.
Putting teenage boys into prison with adults is another kind of death sentence; imagine your children incarcerated in a place where every aspect of life is controlled by adults who see them as either competition or resources.
George Gascón truly isn’t doing anything that could be considered radical. Not wanting to put the wrong person to death, (some cases do get exonerated, and they are (obviously) irreversible) and not putting teenagers in prison with adults, I see both of these as smart, humane choices. As a former cop on the street, he’s admitted to putting in his share of shade on criminals. But in the court system, it’s not about playing on your team. It’s really about considering justice – for those arrested and indicted, and society at large.
Vote for Gascón. We need to keep moving forward.
Judith Martin-Straw
Photo courtesy City Journal
