The voters’ attorney
Re “D. A.’ s reform plans meet resistance,” Dec. 19
The resistance shown by rank- and- file Los Angeles County prosecutors to Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s reforms is as illuminating as it is predictable.
The district attorney’s office is supposed to be the people’s law firm, but the prosecutors’ petulance highlights the office’s actual function: a state bureaucracy tasked with caging society’s marginalized members, heavily concentrated in communities of color.
The district attorney’s office does not represent crime victims, law enforcement or property owners. It represents the people. This requires prosecutors to consider all people, including defendants. It also requires a deference to the client’s electoral choices.
Gascón was transparent about what he would do if elected. If these prosecutors feel they cannot abide by their client’s wishes, they should resign. Charles Kohorst
Glendora
The writer is an attorney.
Implicit in the article but not really answered is the question of how much of Gascón’s reforms are consistent with the law.
No district attorney has the authority to override duly adopted legislation that was promulgated after hearings and votes by our elected officials. These cannot be overridden by a prosecutor bent on reform; that is up to the Legislature.
This bears more scrutiny and, in many instances, I would not be surprised if Gascón is trying to change legislative and case applications of the law through administrative directions. He cannot do this.
Michael Miller and Stephanie Scher
Los Angeles The writers are both retired city attorneys who each served as president of the City Attorneys Assn. of Los Angeles County.