Prepare not to be surprised. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has made the brilliant decision to dissolve a group of victim advocates and prosecutors in the DA’s office who are responsible for informing victims and their family members about their assailant’s parole hearings according to Fox News.
This is yet another story showing that progressive district attorneys are far more concerned with protecting criminals than the victims they harm. Unfortunately, there are far too many of these types of officials in power – but that might be changing sooner than we think.
The Parole Unit, also known as the “Lifer Unit,” is the group that Gascon is disbanding, as RedState reported in an exclusive piece Wednesday, and it will be gone by the end of the year. “The move comes after Gascon has banned prosecutors from attending parole hearings,” according to Fox.
So, why is Gascon making this decision?
The DA’s office told Fox News that it is disbanding the unit because reaching out to the victims can be “triggering” to them and uses up too many resources. They also claimed the task of notifying the victims falls under the purview of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“While a victim has a right to be notified, they also have a right NOT to be contacted,” Gascon’s office argued in a written statement. “Lawyers in the parole unit have been using Victim Service Representatives, paralegals, and Bureau of Investigation resources to contact victims and their next of kin who have not requested to be notified of parole hearings.”
The statement also explained that the DA’s attorneys are “needed in line operations to prosecute cases as we are greatly understaffed.”
This would be easier to believe if Gascon’s office didn’t constantly find new and innovative ways to let criminals back on to the streets after they are apprehended.
Deputy District Attorney Julianne Walker criticized Gascon’s decision, as my colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connel wrote later on Wednesday.
Walker pointed out that Victim Service Representatives “are not lawyers and do not understand the legalities of the parole hearing,” in an interview with Fox News.
Their skills are providing emotional support and services. Gascon continually puts forth ‘services’ as if he is protecting their ‘rights.’ He is not. He is abandoning their constitutional rights and thinks a band-aid of some type of service like counseling will make up for his refusal to protect their rights.
Gascon is currently facing a recall attempt. Earlier this week, the effort to remove the district attorney collected 715,833 signatures, which far exceeded the 500,000 required. RedState’s Bob Hoge explained:
There’s still one hill left to climb, though: the Registrar has until August 17 to verify the signatures. Although the office can be notoriously tough regarding signature verification, they would have to disqualify an awful lot of people for this to fail. Signature validators will use the “random sampling technique,” where they will check only 5 percent of the signatures for legality.
Last month, San Francisco residents voted to oust District Attorney Chesa Boudin for the same reasons that Gascon faces being recalled. While he was in charge, crime in the city surged. Nevertheless, he chose to implement policies favoring criminals over civilians.
But it’s not just policies that protect criminals that are the issue. In New York City, a man is facing prosecution for murder charges for defending himself while being assaulted in his own place of business. Last week, surveillance video emerged showing Jose Alba, a 61-year-old bodega worker, fatally stabbing Austin Simon, 35, during an altercation that stemmed from Simon’s girlfriend complaining about her EBT card being declined.
The footage clearly shows that Alba was defending himself while Simon and his girlfriend were assaulting him. Nevertheless, New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg is charging Alba with second-degree murder. He held Alba on a bail of $250,000, which was reduced after the footage surfaced and the community pushed back.
But wait, it gets even worse.
The woman who helped Simon assault Alba was also stabbing the bodega worker. Guess what charges she is facing? Absolutely none.
That’s right. Bragg didn’t bother to charge the female assailant with any crime because in his twisted mind, it was the man defending himself who was in the wrong.
At this point, there can be no denying that these woke DAs are not trying to create a fairer justice system. Instead, they are just working to protect criminals under the guise of “equity.” What is so equitable about charging a Latino bodega worker for defending himself?
Hopefully, more residents in major cities will wise up the way San Francisco voters did. Gascon’s job might be on the chopping block, but if this is going to change nationwide, we need more people to fire these corrupt officials. There is hope. If it can happen in a deep blue city like San Francisco, it could happen elsewhere, right?
