Newly elected LA County DA to focus on overturning Gascon’s blanket progressive policies

Newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has listened intently for more than a year — to frustrated prosecutors, law enforcement officers and aggrieved crime victims.

And now, in just over two weeks, he plans to incorporate their views as he swiftly moves the largest local prosecutorial office in the nation beyond what he describes as the “failed social experiment” of current District Attorney George Gascón.

Hochman, a former federal prosecutor elected in a landslide victory Tuesday, Nov. 5, vows to immediately eliminate the blanket policies aimed at decarceration embraced by his progressive predecessor. That includes Gascón’s most controversial directives banning prosecutors from charging juveniles as adults, filing sentencing enhancements, seeking the death penalty, attending parole hearings and requesting cash bail for defendants accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

But Hochman insists that doesn’t mean all of Gascón’s ideas were misguided.

Rather, he plans to take a “hard middle” approach to justice, eschewing political ideologies and granting prosecutors authority to thoughtfully analyze each case individually while focusing on fairness and accountability for defendants, victims and victim families.

“The hard middle looks at each case differently,” he said in an interview with the Southern California News Group. “You have to work within the (justice) system and respect everyone’s rights.”

Nationwide, progressive “reform” candidates lost in 13 of the recent election’s top 25 district attorney races — even in liberal bastions, according to the New York Post.

The results suggest that even Democrats wanted to move on from what they perceived as Gascón’s soft-on-crime policies. Vice President Kamala Harris, for example, is winning Los Angeles County by 33 percentage points in her unsuccessful race against President-elect Donald Trump, yet Gascón is losing by 20 points to Hochman.

The District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Hochman’s plans for his administration.

Optimism, pessimism

Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, said prosecutors are encouraged by Hochman’s plans. “We hope that this approach will give us room to resolve cases in a more just way, so they best fit the defendant, the victim, the crime and the circumstances,” she said.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents about 9,000 sworn LAPD officers, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that communities and crime victims “paid a heavy price” for Gascón’s “experiment.”

“The nightmare is over,” the post said. “Now, there’s hope that we can return personal accountability to the criminal justice system.”

Larry Rosenthal, a professor at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, said he doesn’t believe Hochman will have much success shaking up the status quo.

“The research shows that there is, in fact, very little evidence that electing tough-on-crime prosecutors has much effect on crime,” said Rosenthal, himself a former federal prosecutor. “I don’t see any particular reason to believe Los Angeles County is about to be an exception.”

Rosenthal also expects Hochman to seek longer prison sentences in more cases than Gascón, which could lead to higher taxes.

“Eventually, it requires the taxpayers of California to pay very large costs for housing elderly prisoners and their medical care,” he said. “Prosecutors are rarely held accountable for the fact that, in 20 or 30 years, taxpayers are saddled with very large costs.”

Gascón elected as trailblazer

Gascón’s sweeping directives, introduced upon his inauguration in 2020, became a focal point of his administration — and its Achilles heel.

Progressives heralded Gascón as a trailblazer, while at least two dozen deputy district attorneys sued him, alleging they faced retaliation for defying orders that they considered illegal. Gascón also received no-confidence votes from elected officials in numerous cities in Los Angeles County and fended off two recall attempts that failed to gather enough valid petition signatures.

Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for reform-minded prosecutorial change and policy solutions, urged Hochman to reconsider rescinding Gascón’s directives.

“Now that the campaign is over, we are hopeful that the new DA will closely examine the work and not make drastic rollbacks,” DeBerry said in an email. “A look at the data will show that limiting extreme sentences is good for public safety and for taxpayers. DA-elect Hochman committed to a balanced approach and a sweeping rollback will not achieve that goal.”

Reforms detailed

Hochman maintains that while Gascón considers himself an ardent progressive, he hasn’t advanced policies that reasonably serve all segments of the criminal justice system.

“To bring about real and effective criminal justice reform, we need to create progress for all people in the system,” said Hochman, who has noted Gascón proposed some good ideas but executed them poorly.

Hochman, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney general during President George W. Bush’s administration and as president of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, opposes mass incarceration and acknowledges prison isn’t appropriate for every defendant. He said some low-level offenders could benefit more from community service or diversion programs.

However, Hochman has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to the fentanyl crisis, vowing to aggressively prosecute and seek lengthy prison sentences for “poisoners” who in 2023 were responsible for 1,970 deaths in Los Angeles County.

Hochman also has promised a comprehensive campaign to educate middle and high school students and parents about the lethal threat of fentanyl, said he will aggressively prosecute smash-and-grab robbers and plans to restore the Hardcore Gang Unit in the District Attorney’s Office that Gascón disbanded in 2021.

As for the death penalty, Hochman said it should be sought in only the rarest of cases, such as police officer killings, school massacres and deadly terrorist attacks.

He said he also may request that the court provide more time to review the high-profile case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who have spent more than 30 years in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents, in advance of a Gascón-backed resentencing hearing next month.

Won’t hire public defenders

Hochman said that, unlike Gascón, he won’t be hiring attorneys from the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. “I will do my best to bring in people with the most experience and highest level of integrity and leadership skills and then use those skill sets in the most advantageous way possible,” he added.

Earlier this week, Hochman named veteran Los Angeles County prosecutor Steve Katz, whom he has known for more than 40 years, as his chief of staff. Katz, who joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1990, will be responsible for overseeing all operations.

Despite their differences, Hochman agrees with Gascón that law enforcement officers need to be held accountable when they violate the law, and supports a robust review of potential wrongful convictions.

Looking ahead, Hochman’s goal is to go back to 2014, which he said was the safest year in Los Angeles County in five decades. “I want to create a society where people take safety for granted,” he said. “When safety is prevalent, they get on with other things in their life.”