Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is expanding a program to drop criminal proceedings against juveniles charged with a range of felonies, according to a leaked memo.
The Restorative Enhanced Diversion for Youth (REDY) program was launched as a pilot basis last month, and Gascón is expanding it to cover a range of felony charges, according to the memo obtained by KTTV reporter Bill Melugin.
The memo states that youth who are charged with arson, vandalism, theft of vehicles, burglary and assault would now be eligible to receive ‘diversion’.
Some felonies are not eligible for diversion. These include homicide, forcible and rape as well as gun crimes and serious injury.
‘Accordingly with this policy, prosecutors from the LA DA office say me that if a juvenile followed you home, pulled a knife against you and threatened to kill, and then used force on you to rob, they would be eligible to diversion rather than prosecution’, Melugin tweeted.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is expanding a program to drop criminal proceedings against juveniles charged with a range of felonies
The Restorative Enhanced Diversion for Youth (REDY) program was launched as a pilot basis last month, and Gascón is expanding it to cover a range of felony charges
Gascon’s most recent move was criticized by some, including David Sacks, a venture capitalist.
Critics were furious at the expansion of the REDY programme, and venture capitalist David Sacks tweeted: ‘Gascon works to the benefit of criminals and not for the common people.
DailyMail.com inquired about Friday’s incident but did not receive a response.
Gascón is a progressive prosecutor who has been vocal about his belief that the criminal justice system needs to focus more on intervention and rehabilitation, blasting ‘tough on crime’ policies as racist and a failure.
‘This program will help repair the immense harm that criminal behavior inflicts on our community by giving crime victims the opportunity to actively participate in the restorative justice process,’ Gascón said in a statement on the launch of the REDY pilot last month.
“Restorative justice” is an innovative approach to criminal law that involves mediating between victims and offenders in order for them to discuss their crime with the ultimate goal of reaching some sort of resolution.
An example: The victim could be offered an apology or an offer of replacement for stolen or damaged items.
Officials with Gascón’s office say that the REDY program seeks to ‘expand opportunities for young people to be connected with services that support their development while offering opportunities to take accountability for their actions through a process that also supports those who have been hurt and their needs.’
Gascón is a progressive prosecutor who has been vocal about his belief that the criminal justice system needs to focus more on intervention and rehabilitation
The DA said that eligible candidates could avoid criminal prosecution if they participated in programs designed to ‘address underlying issues that contribute criminal behavior’.
Gascón has been outspoken in his belief that tough-on-crime policies are a failure, most recently lamenting that the career criminal accused of killing philanthropist Jaqueline Avant in her home hadn’t been properly rehabilitated.
Gascon laments that Aariel Maynor, the accused murderer (above), was not adequately rehabilitated sooner in his criminal career
Aariel Mainor, 29 years old, was currently on parole and arrested for the home invasion murder of Avant in Avant’s Beverly Hills house.
Maynor was sentenced to five-year and four-year prison terms for separate robbery convictions. He also had convictions on domestic violence charges and grand theft.
Gascon stated that, as far as they can tell, he didn’t receive any kind of meaningful intervention which could have saved his life. Gascon said that he did not receive any meaningful intervention to prevent the tragedy.
He said, “I am angry about a system which allows a disturbed young male with a track record of violent behaviour to be cycled into and out of prison without little to no meaning intervention in order to have access to an AR-15 military style weapon and go to kill Jacqueline Avant,”
A disturbing increase in crime led to the December 1 murder of Jacqueline Avant, Clarence Avant’s wife and philanthropist.
According to statistics from the LA police, crime in LA is increasing. Los Angeles crime is on the rise by 46%, 53 percent more car thefts and 51 percent more shootings compared to November 27th 2019.
Los Angeles and many other American cities have seen an alarming rise of violent crime in the last 2 years.
The number of homicides committed in City of Angeles has increased by 52 percent compared to the same period of 2019 and the number of shootings is up by 59 percent according to LAPD statistics.
There have also been a number of organized smash-and–grab attacks and follow-home robberies in this city.
Gascon is accused of permitting dangerous criminals to run wild while they wait for their turn in court.
Police in Los Angeles arrested 14 people on December 2nd. They are accused of being involved in eleven recent smash-and grab robberies. The robberies saw nearly $340,000 in merchandise stolen from stores.
The zero-bail city policies allowed the suspects to be released in a matter of hours. They are now walking on the streets as they await the outcome of their cases.
“If you take a look at these 14 people, they could be charged. There could have been bail amounts established, but that wasn’t done because the District Attorney refuses to accept a leadership role on this matter,” Eric Siddall, prosecutor, told Fox. He criticized the Gascon office for its do-nothing attitude to the rampant criminal wave currently plaguing cities across California.