This is awesome!! Now, we MUST work on these reforms state-wide including in our own backyards, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo Counties. Please join us in the fight for equality and justice.
Yours In the Fight,
Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt
President
Santa Maria-Lompoc NAACP
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Jeff Rosen who has been known as a tough on crime, law and order Prosecutor took courageous steps today and followed suit of many other Prosecutors who are responding not only to the realities of the Pandemic but the call for racial and social justice including a call for the elimination of cash bail.
Santa Clara DA Jeff Rosen held a press conference today where he announced many reforms to his office’s practice. He emphasized that these were the beginning of his reforms, not the end. Notes of those reforms are below. Here is a link to watch the press conference on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiPYhc9H3dU and here is a link to a newspaper article about the changes: https://www.mercurynews.com/santa-clara-county-district-attorney-unveils-wide-ranging-reform-plan-to-address-racial-equity-disparities-in-prosecutions
Reforms fall into 4 general themes
[1] Community initiatives
The seizure of money from defendants. This money will now be awarded to organizations that are working with communities that are victims of crimes.
More DA representatives will be sent into the community.
[2] Internal Office and Practices
Moving forward, the question internally will be “what should we prove, not what can we prove”.
This change in policy will include race and immigration considerations.
DA will also create a system for defense attorneys to provide a pretrial social history to prosecutors.
More office-wide visits will be required for prosecutors to prisons such as San Quentin to better understand the full scope and ramifications of the criminal justice systems.
Ride-alongs with police officers are already a part of a prosecutor’s duties. This will now include ride-alongs and interaction with community-based organizations.
[3] Police Misconduct
DA’s Office will create a Public Law Enforcement (“PLE”) Integrity team.
It will be an expansion of the current Public Integrity Unit in the DA’s Office
DA says he is not looking to become the Internal Affairs Department for the County.
[4] Systemic Changes
DAs will seek to eliminate cash bail.
The focus will no longer be on how much money does the defendant have? Rather, the focus will be on whether it is safe to release a defendant to the community.
DAs will no longer file misdemeanor charges for driving on a suspended license for a failure to pay fines and fees. These will be charged as infractions.
Gang enhancements will no longer be charged with misdemeanors without extenuating circumstances.
DA’s Office will offer a way for defendants that are gang members to get a lesser sentence if they agree to leave the gang and debrief.
DAs will seek to suspend fines and fees for indigent clients.
The DA Office will now automatically expunge crimes for defendants who successfully complete probation and eliminate the need for a defendant to file a petition.
[5] Death Penalty
Rosen took a recent trip to Montgomery, Alabama and he became convinced of the Death penalty’s unfair application to indigents and racial minorities. His office will no longer seek the death penalty.
There are 20 death row inmates from Santa Clara County.
Governor Newsom has a moratorium on the death penalty. If that changes, he will move to have these sentences changed to LWOPs.
NOTE: Recently, the DA got its ass handed to them in a case where they were seeking death. The defendant was found NOT GUILTY.
OTHER TOPICS COVERED:
Santa Clara has a long delay for defendants charged with gang crimes particularly in multiple defendant cases. They will be proactive in attempting to speed these up. The Civil Grand Jury highlighted the issue. The time lags have gone down significantly since. However, there is a COVID backlog.
DA believes his duty is to make sure that the community trusts law enforcement.
DA notes that Stand-alone 148 charges African-Americans are disproportionately charged. The changes to prosecuting PC 148 crimes will not apply to PC 69 crimes involving violence.
Some of these changes will take effect immediately [death penalty]. Other will take some time; for example, automatic expungement may take some time to set up due to software issues, etc.
Drug possession crimes. U/I several thousand fewer prosecutions. His office’s focus is on Public Safety not Public Health. The effort is to have many of these drug offenses dealt with by Public Health.