Lara Gressley for Riverside County DA

Riverside County District Attorney is unapologetic about his office’s tough approach to crime. But is it working?

In 2020, the Death Penalty Information Center noted that only two counties in the country imposed more than one death sentence, and Riverside County was one of them. “This was the third time in the last five years that Riverside County led the nation in death sentences,” DPIC noted.

Just 13 death sentences have been carried out in California since the 1970s and there are over 700 people on death row. All that’s being achieved is a death-sentence-in-nameonly and a waste of taxpayer money.

The American Civil Liberties Union notes that racial disparities exist in how the DA’S office handles cases, with Latinos, Black and Indigenous Americans more likely to face sentence enhancements.

Yet, for his tough-on-crime approach, Hestrin notably punted when it came to offduty LAPD officer Salvador Sanchez, who shot and killed an intellectually disabled man and also shot the man’s parents. Hestrin opted to hand the matter to a grand jury and chose not to act when the grand jury declined to return an indictment. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has since filed charges against Sanchez.

At the same time, homicides have spiked considerably in the years since Hestrin has been in office, about 70%, in fact. So, clearly, something isn’t working.

Hestrin faces two challengers: former judge Burke Strunsky and appellate attorney Lara Gressley. Their messages overlap considerably.

They have set themselves apart from Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, emphasizing the importance of discretion rather than blanket policies.

Both are critics of the use of capital punishment, taking law enforcement union money as a DA and vow to bolster diversion programs.

While we think both are credible alternatives to Hestrin, we endorse Lara Gressley. As a no party preference candidate, Gressley is beholden to neither dominant partisan political tribe. Strunsky is backed by, among others, Gov. Gavin Newsom, while Hestrin is a Republican friendly with Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. It’s time to give the DA’S office an independent perspective. Vote for Gressley.