Legal Insurrection has been following the disturbing crime wave created in the wake of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s implementation of a spate of super-progressive criminal justice policies.
The last time we reported on Gascón, the second recall effort appeared to have gathered enough signatures to get approval for placement on the ballot.
About a week after California Governor Gavin Newsom rad an ad in Florida smearing Governor Ron DeSantis, it appears the state’s leading politician cannot comment about the disaster occurring within California’s largest city because he has no idea what is going on:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday in a television interview that he doesn’t “know enough” about the job performance of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon to determine if he’s doing a “good job.”Newsom made the statement during an interview with FOX 11 Los Angeles, and added that he’s “deeply concerned” with some of the criticism that Gascon has received.”Is he doing a good job?,” the governor was asked.”I don’t know enough about the job he’s done. I’m deeply concerned about the criticism,” Newsom responded.
Perhaps Newsom should take the time to learn. Now would be an excellent time to use political muscle to persuade Gascón to change course. The DA is planning to fight a recent court ruling mandating ‘three strikes’ charges be implemented.
The progressive district attorney, who is facing a recall push, announced Thursday that a June ruling by a three-judge panel of the California Second District Court of Appeal mandating prosecutors file such cases “sets a dangerous precedent” in the Golden State.“The court is effectively taking the charging decision out of the prosecutor’s hands — the core function of a prosecutor’s office,” Gascón said.But a vocal critic of Gascón who supports the recall effort against his boss told The Post he was dismayed the district attorney will now “spend taxpayer money” to fight the ruling.Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami said Gascón issued a “blanket policy” in December 2020 forbidding the filing of strike priors.
Unfortunately, there is some troubling news related to the recall.
Last week, the office of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk acknowledged receipt of 715,833 signatures thus completing the first step of the petition to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.But a sample audit of those signatures found that only 78.2% were valid while a full count will need to reach 79.2%:“Los Angeles County completes its random sample verification of signatures for the recall of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, validating 27,983 / 35,793 (78.2%). It proceeds to a full count verification, and will need to improve to 79.2% in the full count to qualify.”
Here’s hoping the statistics improve in the next phase of the signature review.
Meanwhile, perhaps Newsom should try to get over his Red State envy.
Apart from DeSantis, Newsom also brought up his other favorite Republican target — Abbott — during Thursday’s interview. He criticized the Texas governor for his recently announced decision to — at least try — to eliminate access to free public school for undocumented immigrants in his state. Newsom likened it to California’s now-infamous Proposition 187, a ballot initiative state voters passed in 1994 which, before being struck down by a federal district court, prohibited undocumented immigrants from using non-emergency health care, public education and other state services.”Look what Abbott is doing. Abbott is talking about eliminating a fundamental right for people, regardless of their immigration status, to get an education,” Newsom said. “This is a real moment for diverse communities, and it’s not just [DeSantis] (Newsom referred to him as ‘DeSantos’ here, which he’s done before) it’s Abbott, it’s Kentucky, it’s South Dakota, you go down the list [and] with these red states there’s a ruthlessness.”
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