Written by Lev Finzi
The second recall of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon has gotten a total of 450,000 signatures to its safety goal of 800,000. The recall still needs to make it to an approximate 566,857 signatures until the group can submit it to the LA County Registrar in a total of less than 50 days.
George Gascon, the former DA for San Francisco, has faced controversy since his “reforms”, such as terminating policies that had younger individuals tried as legal adults. Other policies that California voters have been against include punishment for crimes being lowered to misdemeanors or sentences being minimized and the removal of the possibility of cash bail for the mass of crimes. Regardless of the global pandemic, these reforms led to a rising crime rate, which then led to a petition being started, but unfortunately, it had died by the end of October. Groups had now used the “smash and grab” spree in the Los Angeles area and San Francisco to propel a second recall to get Gascon out of office.
Having more awareness of the growing issue, more than 30 cities in the county had voted on the no side of confidence in him. After this surge of popularity, other politicians and figures had shown their support for this recall, and it quickly achieved a 125,000 signature start by mid-March. Just in the last couple of weeks, the number of signatures collected had gone up to 300,000 and is predicted to meet the 10% line of every county voter. The group has less than 50 days to submit the completed petition to the state to certify the recall.
Lawmakers and citizens agree that these “reforms” had little to do with actually helping the community. Instead, it leads to more rampant crime and a less controlled environment. If the county isn’t going to do anything to help keep citizens safe, why have the people in charge of those laws out? People have become inspired by the recall in San Francisco to recall their own DA. In total, over 450,000 signatures have been collected so far. The deadline for the petition to be submitted to the registrar is July 6th, 2022.
Photo Cred: Trevor Stamp/ Los Angeles Daily News
