An expansive field of candidates for the role of Los Angeles County District Attorney squared off in a Nov. 15 debate held at the Santa Monica Public Library. Hosted by the Santa Monica Democratic Club for its November meeting, incumbent District Attorney George Gascón and seven challengers took part in lengthy discussion about a host of hot-button issues, including balancing reform and punishment tactics as DA and the recently-implemented Zero Bail system in the county.
The Democratic Club noted that the debate was "not made to be an echo chamber" despite the party affiliation, promoting differing views that the candidates brought forth. Only registered Democrats in the field were able to participate, excluding newly-registered independent candidate Nathan Hochman from the field. The 2024 election for Los Angeles County DA takes place in March, with CalMatters projecting a runoff election due to the size of the field.
Representing the wide field of DA candidates were incumbent Gascón and challengers Judge Debra Archuleta, Jeff Chemerinsky, Jonathan Hatami, John McKinney, Judge Craig Mitchell, Maria Ramirez and Eric Siddall. Speaking to around 150 audience members at the library and approximately 300 watching live via Zoom conference, the field consistently criticized Gascón’s record as DA, with all but Chemerinsky having previously supported recall efforts against the incumbent.
In defense of his record, Gascón stated that "fake news" has dominated the dialogue surrounding the DA’s office, and that the county supported his election in 2020 and still supports a reform agenda that "has made a difference." One of the first questions asked of the field was if they consider Los Angeles a safer place since Gascón took the position, something candidates rejected expeditiously.
"People right now don’t feel safe … that’s a real problem," said Chemerinsky, who did not support recall efforts against Gascón but still took the incumbent to task. "I think people need to feel confident that the law is working for them … we’ve lost that sense of confidence right now. I think that goes back to the lack of confidence in our District Attorney."
Other candidates pointed to the rise in violent crimes, retail theft and hate crimes against populations like the Jewish community as severe blemishes on the incumbent’s record.
"Violent crime is up," said McKinney, whose time in the Major Crimes Division included securing a first-degree murder conviction for Eric Holder Jr., convicted for the fatal shooting of Los Angeles music artist Nipsey Hussle. "You can see it, you can hear it, you can feel it … crime is up, that’s why you’re all here tonight, that’s why you’re all looking at the District Attorney’s race five months in advance."
On the balance between prioritizing reform or punishment as a DA, several candidates pushed public safety as the top job of the position, with Gascón stating that public safety is about holding people accountable with "thoughtful policies" and while people that need to be "locked up" should be sent to prison, it cannot be the only answer. Mitchell took a harder stance in the direction of punishment, stating that it is not a "dirty word" and that his time working on Skid Row made him realize that criminals "need a place for reform."
A place of more agreeance came during discussion of the county’s newly-implemented Zero Bail policy. Starting in October, every police agency in the county has followed a new bail system that largely eliminates the need for cash bail while evaluating severity of a crime, a suspect’s risk to the public and repeat offenses.
According to the Santa Monica Police Department, officers now have three choices with an arrestee: cite and release (arrestee is released at location of the arrest), book and release (arrestee booked in jail and then released on own recognizance) or magistrate review for select cases.
At a recent Santa Monica City Council meeting, councilmembers voted 4-3 to join a lawsuit over the system, agreeing with critics that say it will contribute to rising crime trends.
Gascón defended the policy, stating it is for "poor people" who cannot pay bail even though they’re "not posing a danger," and that those who are at risk still should not be released.
Critics of the policy included Hatami, who stated that many crimes he considered harsh remain under zero-bail conditions, and nobody should ever be released with charges such as sexual battery, child abuse or elder abuse. Ramirez added that while the system’s ethics are "admirable," the zero-bail implementation has been "flawed" due to just looking at the charge itself, not based on a "complete review" of the arrestee.
