{"id":1555304,"date":"2022-07-14T18:49:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T22:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1555304"},"modified":"2022-07-14T18:49:25","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T22:49:25","slug":"los-angeles-da-gascon-to-dissolve-unit-that-informs-victims-when-attacker-has-parole-hearing-deputy-district-attorney-debunks-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/los-angeles-da-gascon-to-dissolve-unit-that-informs-victims-when-attacker-has-parole-hearing-deputy-district-attorney-debunks-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles DA Gasc\u00f3n To Dissolve Unit That Informs Victims When Attacker Has Parole Hearing, Deputy District Attorney Debunks Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flos-angeles-da-gascon-to-dissolve-unit-that-informs-victims-when-attacker-has-parole-hearing-deputy-district-attorney-debunks-claims%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1555304&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Amid facing a recall for his \u201c<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.recalldageorgegascon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pro-criminal agenda<\/a>,\u201d Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office told prosecutors on Tuesday his administration plans to dissolve a unit that contacts victims and their family members when authorities either schedule a parole hearing for the attacker, releases their attacker, or their attacker has died.<\/p>\n<p>Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office confirmed to\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/los-angeles-da-gascon-disbands-unit-notifies-victims-assailants-parole-hearings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>\u00a0the Parole Division Bureau of Prosecution Support Operations, otherwise known as the \u201cLifer Unit,\u201d will disband by the end of the year, adding it\u2019s the responsibility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to inform victims of such events.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile a victim has a right to be notified, they also have a right NOT to be contacted,\u201d Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office told\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillFOXLA\/status\/1547374514308276232\/photo\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>. \u201cContacting victims and their next of kin can be very triggering, especially if they do not welcome the intrusion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet Julianne Walker, a deputy district attorney in the unit, debunked the claim from Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office, saying while the CDCR provides every victim and their family member with a form at or before sentencing, the process does not routinely occur.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven when a family has registered 15, 20, 25 years ago, the information is often out of date, and CDCR makes no effort to find the current contact info,\u201d Walker <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillFOXLA\/status\/1547379045024862212\">told<\/a> Fox News. \u201cThe onus is put entirely on the traumatized victim and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walker added that changes in laws allowed for early parole dates for perpetrators without the victims, their families, or public knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office said lawyers in the parole unit had used Victim Service Representatives, paralegals, and investigator resources to contact victims or family members who have asked for privacy.<\/p>\n<p>But Walker argues such representatives do not understand parole hearing legalities as they\u2019re technically not lawyers and only have skills to provide emotional support and services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGasc\u00f3n continually puts forth \u2018services\u2019 as if he is protecting their rights,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is abandoning their constitutional rights and thinks a band-aid of some type of service like counseling will make up for his refusal to protect their rights,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Expert consultants have convinced the Los Angeles D.A.\u2019s office to believe the trauma-informed approach falls short for victims.<\/p>\n<p>However, Deputy District Attorney Walker said Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s administration does not have a trauma-informed approach and called the terminology offensive and hurtful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFurther, how is it possibly trauma-informed to deny victims and their families current information and the legal expertise of a DDA at the hearing and in preparation of their statements,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office said former Los Angles District Attorney Jackie Lacey\u2019s administration initially disbanded the Lifer Unit claiming it went from 15 lawyers down to three lawyers before Gasc\u00f3n took office. But Walker again argued that contract employees and others were either let go or not rehired due to county-wide budget shortfalls from COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>She said district attorneys were still sent to parole hearings but as volunteers. But when during Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s first week, victims she had prepped had \u201cthe rug pulled out from under them\u201d when policies that allowed district attorneys to attend hearings were dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was horrible to tell these families the news,\u201d she said. \u201cHeartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles District Deputy Attorney John Lewin told Fox News that Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s intention not only leaves victims and their families unaware of their attacker\u2019s parole hearings but also keeps prosecutors and district attorney\u2019s offices in the dark.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen that happens, that means that (Gascon) and his public defender cronies can, in essence, do what they\u2019re doing in the dark, and no one will ever know,\u201d Lewin said.<\/p>\n<p>Fox News reported that Gasc\u00f3n recently banned prosecutors from attending parole hearings.<\/p>\n<p>Organizers running Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s recall said his policies turned Los Angeles into a nightmare by emboldening criminals, abandoning victims, and leaving residents feeling unsafe.<\/p>\n<p>The effort to recall Gasc\u00f3n submitted over 700,000 signatures to the County Registrar\u2019s office earlier this month \u2014 more than 150,000 more than required. The Registrar\u2019s office has 30 days to verify the signatures. If the recall has enough verified signatures, Los Angeles residents have the chance to remove Gasc\u00f3n from office in November.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles Magazine\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lamag.com\/citythinkblog\/gascon-halts-da-office-notifying-victims-of-assailants-parole-hearings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>\u00a0the controversial district attorney spoke to his supporters at a fundraising event for the anti-recall group Stand with Gasc\u00f3n.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sent me to the D.A.\u2019s office to reform the criminal justice system\u2014by ending mass incarceration, ending cash bail, ending the death penalty, and protecting our communities by holding cops accountable,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ve done \u2014 and that\u2019s what I\u2019ll continue to do as D.A.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amid facing a recall for his \u201cpro-criminal agenda,\u201d Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office told prosecutors on Tuesday his administration plans to dissolve a unit that contacts victims and their family members when authorities either schedule a parole hearing for the attacker, releases their attacker, or their attacker has died. Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office confirmed &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":1555338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1555304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1555304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1555338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1555304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1555304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1555304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}