Will the country’s most progressive prosecutor survive? (w/ DA George Gascón)

In the aftermath of the social protests inspired by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer, a wave of progressive prosecutors were elected across the country dedicated to rolling back the tough on crime lock-em-up policies that have defined criminal justice in this country for decades. None of those prosecutors have proven more controversial than Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón. From his first day in office, Gascón - a former street cop, issued sweeping directives to put an end to cash bail, the death penalty, life sentences without parole, and the prosecution of anyone younger than eighteen as an adult without exceptions. But today, as violent crime rates in Los Angeles and across California spike, Gascón's reforms have triggered a ferocious pushback. Including from his own prosecutors who sued him for his efforts to bi-pass California's so-called "three strikes and our out" law. Now, Gascón is facing a well funded recall campaign that has already raised over three million dollars. Will Gascón survive the effort to remove him from office? And if he doesn't, what message will that send to progressive prosecutors across the country. Gascón joins us to give us his take on what he still thinks he's gotten right as well as some of the admitted mistakes he's made.

GUESTS:

• George Gascón (@GeorgeGascon), LA County District Attorney
• Andrew Romano (@AndrewRomano), National Correspondent, Yahoo News

HOSTS:

• Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff), Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News
• Daniel Klaidman (@dklaidman), Editor in Chief, Yahoo News
• Victoria Bassetti (@VBass), fellow, Brennan Center for Justice (contributing co-host)

RESOURCES:

• Isikoff & Romano's latest piece on DA Gascón - Here.

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