LA's New District Attorney Says He Won't Prosecute Misdemeanors Including Criminal Threats, Drugs and Resisting Arrest

Brittany M. Hughes | December 8, 2020
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In his first day on the job, Los Angeles County’s new District Attorney has announced that he’s lost his mind his office will decline to prosecute a whole spate of misdemeanors, damning a city already struggling with high levels of violence to accept even more crime in the name of “social justice.”

According to a new statement from the DA’s Office and detailed by FOX LA’s Bill Melugin, L.A. County DA George Gascon, who previously worked as San Francisco's DA (and we see how well that turned out) says his office will no longer prosecute, with some exceptions for repeat offenses, misdemeanor crimes for:

- Trespassing 

- Disturbing the peace 

- Driving on a suspended license

- Driving with no license at all

- Prostitution 

- Resisting arrest

- Criminal threats 

- Drug & paraphernalia possession 

- Being a minor in possession of alcohol 

- Drinking in public 

- Under the influence of a controlled substance 

- Public intoxication

- Loitering 

This is the same county where a business owner can be fined, potentially jailed and lost their business license if they open their doors to customers outside of local COVID guidelines, and where bar owners and restaurateurs have been banned from serving customers inside their own walls or even in their outdoor dining spaces. But you can be a loud, drunk hooker with a pocket full of coke hanging out on someone else’s property and resist arrest, and that’s O.K.

The DA’s Office says the new directive seeks to limit public interaction with police while helping combat mental health issues and homelessness, which they say comprise the vast majority of those arrested on misdemeanor charges. Gascon also announced the end of cash bail for most crimes and a ban on prosecutors seeking enhanced prison sentences.

The move comes as violent crime in Los Angeles continues to rise. According to the LA Times, murders are up 25% over last year and shootings are up more than 32%, even as the LAPD looks to lay off hundreds of cops as part of department-wide budget cuts.

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