© (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles County)The union representing L.A. County prosecutors sued Dist. Atty. George Gascón in late December, alleging some of his policies restricting the use of sentencing enhancements violated state law. (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles County)
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Monday granted a petition sought by the union that represents county prosecutors that will bar Dist. Atty. George Gascón from implementing policies that would end the use of sentencing enhancements in thousands of criminal cases.
The union sued Gascón in late December, alleging some of his policies restricting the use of sentencing enhancements violated state law and put line prosecutors in an ethical bind. The enhancements can add several years to a defendant's time in prison if they meet certain criteria, such as using a gun that caused severe injury during the commission of a crime.
The lawsuit takes particular issue with Gascón's policy barring the use of sentencing enhancements for prior felony convictions, arguing that under California's "three strikes" law, prosecutors do not have discretion "to refuse to seek the enhancement."
In his ruling, Judge James Chalfant blocked Gascón from ordering prosecutors to dismiss sentencing enhancements for prior strike offenses in active cases. Chalfant described Gascón's policy as "unlawful" in his 46-page ruling.
The ruling also bars Gascón from ordering prosecutors to dismiss special circumstances allegations in active cases that could result in a defendant being sentenced to life without parole, or any other enhancement in an active case unless they have legal grounds to argue doing so would be in the interest of justice. Since Gascón issued the directives in December, a number of judges had already been blocking such motions to dismiss on those grounds.
There are 10,794 defendants with active cases in which sentencing enhancements are filed in L.A. County, according to statistics provided to The Times in response to a public records request.
Gascón can still bar prosecutors from filing most sentencing enhancements in new cases, though enhancements for prior strike offenses must still be charged, according to the order. The district attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Gascón is expected to appeal the decision.
In a reply filed in January to the union's suit, lawyers for L.A. County argued that prosecutors have broad discretion over whether to file strike enhancements and contended that if a judge granted the union's motion, it would be an unprecedented overreach from the bench.
"The Union asks for something no California court has ever ordered, as no California court has ever deemed itself to have the power to require, via mandamus, a district attorney to plead any particular criminal charge or sentencing enhancement," the reply read. "To the contrary, courts have long held that such charging power is almost entirely unreviewable and is uniquely within the district attorney's discretion."
The day he took office, Gascón announced an array of sweeping changes that included putting an end to the use of enhancements, severely restricted when prosecutors can seek to hold defendants in lieu of bail, ended the use of the death penalty in L.A. County and stopped the practice of trying juveniles as adults.
The seismic policy shifts have drawn Gascón praise from other progressive prosecutors and criminal justice reformers nationwide, but left him at odds with his own prosecutors and many of the local law enforcement officials he must work with to try cases.
The union lawsuit was being watched closely by law enforcement officials around the state, with some of Gascón's allies worrying a ruling like the one issued Monday would have a "chilling effect" on the authority of elected prosecutors to enact reforms.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.