Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón took office on Monday and released nine special directives to his deputy district attorneys, which outline a number of policy updates for his office.

The directives touch on a range of subjects including the prosecution of misdemeanor charges, youth policy, sentence enhancement, the death penalty and resentencing, among others, as well as changes to the operating guidelines of a number of specialized units under the D.A.’s office.

Under Special Directive 20-07, Gascón highlights a number of misdemeanor charges that his office will decline to prosecute, with certain exceptions in place.

Misdemeanors with no listed exceptions include, drug and paraphernalia possession, minor in possession of alcohol, drinking in public, under the influence of a controlled substance and public intoxication.

The most frequent exception listed was similar repeat behavior in the preceding 24 months, which was listed for driving without a valid or suspended license and loitering, among others crimes which also included more exhaustive lists of exceptions for prosecution.

The more serious crimes included in the list with a larger set of exceptions to prosecute were trespassing, disturbing the peace, criminal threats and resisting arrest.

The directive describes these changes as part of an effort to “reorient our focus towards combating violent and serious criminal offenses.”

In addition to the changes to the prosecution of misdemeanor crimes, in those crimes which the D.A.’s office does choose to prosecute, Gascón has directed his deputy D.A.s to no longer seek to apply “sentence enhancements”, which lengthen a prison sentence when certain additional requirements are met.

“Sentencing enhancements are a legacy of California’s “tough on crime” era,” wrote Gascón in Special Directive 20-08. “It shall be the policy of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office that the current statutory ranges for criminal offenses alone, without enhancements, are sufficient to both hold people accountable and also to protect public safety.”

Gascón cites a University of Michigan study as part of his reasoning for the policy change, which found that while incarceration does initially prevent crime through incapacitation, “each additional sentence year causes a 4 to 7 percent increase in recidivism that eventually outweighs the incapacitation benefit.”

In part of the effort to reduce the severity of sentencing, Gascón announced in Special Directive 20-11 that his office will not seek the death penalty in any new cases.

While many of these policy changes are geared towards the application of future justice, Gascón also announced changes impacting those previously sentenced as well.

In Special Directive 20-14, Gascón calls for the application of new sentencing, enhancement and juvenile policies to sentences where the judgement is final with equal force.

“This office commits to a comprehensive review of cases where the defendant received a sentence that was inconsistent with the charging and sentencing policies in force after Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, at 12:01 a.m.,” wrote Gascón. “The ultimate goal shall be to review and remediate every sentence that does not comport with the new Sentencing, Enhancement and Juvenile Policies.”

Gascón specifically committed to an expedited review of out-of-policy cases for people who:

• have already served 15 years or more;
• are currently 60 years of age or older;
• are at enhanced risk of COVID-19 infection;
• have been recommended for resentencing by CDCR;
• are criminalized survivors;
• were 17 years of age or younger at the time of the offense and were
• prosecuted as an adult.

In total, the DA’s office estimates there are 20,000 to 30,000 cases with out-of-policy sentences.

The juvenile policies referenced in Gascón’s directive on resentencing include the Youth Justice policies implemented in Special Directive 20-09.

“This office will do its part to find alternatives to detention and make diversion the default,” wrote Gascón. “The following changes to existing practices seek to bring this office in step with the trend to seek ‘care over cages’ and address ‘need over deed.’”

The main changes in the directive include ending the practice of sending youth to the adult court system, declining to charge youths for a number of misdemeanor crimes, the establishment of a specialized juvenile division of the DA’s office and the end of the Abolish Chronic Truancy (ACT) unit and other truancy interventions by the DA.

If deemed necessary and appropriate, youth accused of misdemeanor offenses and low-level felonies will be referred to pre-filing, community-based diversion programs.

Finally, Gascón issued operating guidelines for several offices under his authority, including the Habeas Corpus Litigation Unit, Bureau of Victim Services (BVS) and Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU).

All of Gascón’s day-one special directives are available in full, here.

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