Where L.A. D.A. candidates stand on death penalty, juvenile justic

Polls show nearly two-thirds of voters remain undecided in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s race. With a historically large field of a dozen prosecutors, judges and attorneys attempting to unseat George Gascón, the challengers have struggled to differentiate from one another. Even their campaign ads have sounded identical.

If you’re still staring at the ballot in confusion, here’s a quick guide to the candidates who have staked out the strongest and most distinct positions on some of the most hotly debated issues in the contest.

Sentencing Enhancements

Gascón has taken flak for many of his reform-minded policies, with his heavy limitations on the filing of sentencing enhancements chief among them.

Enhancements can add years to the prison sentences of defendants in a variety of scenarios, including crimes connected to gang activity or where a gun is used. Critics argue they are disproportionately used against people of color.

While Gascón has somewhat relented on his position on enhancements — they are still often filed in cases where police officers are hurt or killed in the line-of-duty, for instance — virtually the entire field of challengers has expressed a desire to push for more years behind bars whenever applicable.

Former federal prosecutor Jeff Chemerinsky and defense attorney Dan Kapelovitz are the only candidates who have expressed hesitance about completely undoing Gascón’s work on enhancements. Chemerinsky says their use in gang cases need to be closely scrutinized, warning they have been “abused” in the past.

Kapelovitz, the only candidate running to Gascón’s left, has been dismissive of all policies that he says contribute to mass incarceration, including enhancements.

Death Penalty

Gascón barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty when he took office, a move that is somewhat symbolic since Gov. Gavin Newsom had already placed a moratorium on capital punishment in California in 2019.

Among the leading challengers to Gascón, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman and Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Hatami have promised to seek the death penalty in extreme cases, both citing mass shootings and the killings of police officers as examples.

Chemerinsky has said he does not support the death penalty. Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Siddall is also opposed to the death penalty, arguing its impractical given Newsom’s executive order.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge David S. Milton has been the only candidate to seem enthusiastic about the use of capital punishment, often citing his experience winning death verdicts as a prosecutor as a reason to vote for him.

Juvenile Justice

Gascón came into office with a blanket ban on trying juveniles as adults. He rescinded it in 2022 after national criticism for the Hannah Tubbs case, which saw the office allow a 26-year-old to plead guilty to sexually assaulting a child in juvenile court. Gascón has since modified his policy, creating a committee that has approved 14 cases to be considered for transfer to adult court, according to a district attorney’s office spokeswoman.

Hatami and Chemerinsky say they would largely treat juveniles as such, though neither would commit to specific cases where they would seek to try teens as adults. L.A. Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell said in an interview with The Times last year he would likely only seek to try teens accused of murder or child rape as adults.

Experience Factor

The general election winner will take charge of an office in turmoil, leading some to call for a pair of steady hands to replace Gascón.

While many of the candidates boast decades of legal experience, Deptuy Dist. Atty. Maria Ramirez has spent the most time in a management position within the office she seeks to run. With 30 years on the job — 12 of those in management — she served as the office’s director of specialized prosecutions before clashing with Gascón early in his term. She has since sued the office, claiming she was moved out of that post for challenging Gascón’s policies.

Hochman boasts the most diverse job resume in the field, having served as a federal prosecutor, defense attorney, candidate for statewide political office and president of the L.A. Ethics Commission during a 34-year professional career.

Cash Bail

The L.A. County Superior Court system overhauled the way it uses cash bail last year, triggering a lawsuit from more than a dozen cities that a judge all but struck down last December. Hatami has been the most vocal supporter of the lawsuit among Gascón’s challengers, claiming during a debate last year that the new bail schedule is leading to a rise in repeat offenders. Data provided by the court system, however, show just 3% of the roughly 5,000 people processed under the new schedule were re-arrested during the first three weeks it was in effect.

While Gascón enacted a policy limiting when prosecutors could seek bail, only the court system can govern the types of cases for which a defendant can be cited and released.

Chemerinsky says he’s supportive of “bail reform,” but has not offered much in the way of specifics. Siddall, Ramirez and Mitchell have all said bail is “imperfect.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney has offered the most thorough position on how bail could be changed. He champions risk-assessment tools that judge a defendant’s likelihood to re-offend by analyzing their criminal record, history of failing to appear in court and other similar factors.

Misdemeanors

The district attorney’s office filed charges in just 47% of the misdemeanor cases it was presented last year, down from 72% in 2020, then-Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey’s final year in office. The drop-off is by design, as Gascón wants the office less focused on what he deems low-level offenses.

Gascón’s overall effect on misdemeanor crime in the county is debatable. He has no impact on misdemeanor prosecutions in large population centers like L.A. and Long Beach, which have their own city attorneys to handle those cases. But his stance on low-level offenses like drug possession and trespassing has fed into the perception that Gascón is soft on crime.

Citing his time working with homeless and mentally ill people through the Skid Row Running Club, Mitchell says he’s the most qualified to improve the office’s stance on misdemeanors. If elected, the judge says he intends to charge defendants with simple drug possession with the intent of leveraging the person into a treatment program.

Hochman and Hatami have also championed the use of drug courts for defendants suffering from addiction, and Chemerinsky is supportive of diversion programs for similarly situated defendants.