Posted by Vanguard Administrator source

Dear Attorney General Bonta,

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the undersigned organizations request that you exercise your authority pursuant to CA Civ. Code sec. 52.3 and initiate a pattern or practice investigation into the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA). Over the last several decades, the OCDA has been embroiled in controversies that have illuminated injustices
within the county’s criminal legal system.¹ 

The OCDA’s latest scandal involves the head of the office, District Attorney Todd Spitzer. Specifically, it has been reported that DA Spitzer made racist statements during a closed-door case strategy discussion with high-ranking prosecutors.² This controversy serves as just the latest confirmation of what has been apparent for years: the policies and practices of the OCDA are stained by systemic racism and bias that produce measurable harms against Black and Brown people in Orange County.

The OCDA has demonstrated a historical commitment to upholding systems of power that oppress people of color throughout Orange County. The recently published report “In(justice) in Orange County: A Case for Change and Accountability” analyzes the disparate impact of OCDA policies and practices on communities of color.³ In Orange County, Black people are overrepresented among individuals charged with a crime. Black residents represent just over 2 percent of the county’s total population yet make up nearly 6 percent of the people charged by the OCDA.⁴ Black residents are more likely to be criminally charged and face jail or prison time for low-level divertible offenses than members of any other racial group. The report indicates that there are persistent racial disparities in access to diversion programs in Orange County.⁵ Whether revealed by the brazen racial disparities in the office’s charging, sentencing, and diversion practices, its criminalization of homelessness,⁶ or by its well-documented failure to seek charges against police officers who kill people of color,⁷ there is ample evidence that systemic racism is deeply ingrained within the policies and practices of the OCDA.

The OCDA’s recent controversy suggests a culture in which prosecutorial decisions, practices, and policies rooted in racism are not only accepted within the office but are modeled explicitly from the top down. DA Spitzer’s alleged disclosure to his colleagues that “he knows many Black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and situations by dating white women” is not only an example of an individual prosecution tainted by racial bias, it suggests a broader pattern of racially biased prosecutions by the OCDA against Black people and other individuals of color under DA Spitzer’s leadership.

Additionally, DA Spitzer’s alleged statements implicate AB 2542, also known as the California Racial Justice Act (CRJA). The CRJA was developed as a legislative mechanism to mitigate exactly the type of racial bias and animus evidenced here—that which “undermines public confidence in the fairness of the state’s system of justice and deprives Californians of equal justice under law.”⁸ As the California Legislature stated in section 2(g) of the CRJA, “In California… we can no longer accept racial discrimination and racial disparities as inevitable in our criminal justice system and we must act to make clear that this discrimination and these disparities are illegal and will not be tolerated in California, both prospectively and retroactively.”

Under Article V, Section 13 of the California Constitution and California Civil Code Section 52.3, the Attorney General holds the authority to oversee and authorize civil investigations into a district attorney’s office that has engaged in a pattern or practice of violating state or federal law. Accordingly, we call upon the Office of the Attorney General and the California Department of Justice to further investigate systemic and institutional racism within the policies and practices of the OCDA. In presenting this request, ACLU Foundation of Southern California joins coalition partners and residents of color in Orange County who continue to suffer due to the historical malfeasance of the OCDA, and who demand accountability and transparency.

As the California Court of Appeals opined in 2016, “The magnitude of the systemic problems [in the OCDA] cannot be overlooked.”⁹ Today, we ask that the Attorney General and the California Department of Justice not overlook evidence of glaring systemic racism embedded within the policies and practices of the OCDA. We request that you take this crucial first step in addressing the immense damage inflicted by the OCDA upon Black and Brown residents throughout Orange County.

Sincerely,

• ACLU Foundation of Southern California ACLU Foundation of Northern California Chispa OC
• Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) HB Huddle Peace and Justice Team
• Housing is a Human Right, Orange County (HHROC) Law Enforcement Accountability Network (LEAN)
• Los Angeles County Public Defenders Union – Local 148 Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC) National Action Network Orange County
• Orange County Emergency Response Coalition Orange County Justice Initiative
• People’s Budget Orange County Stop The Musick Coalition
• The Orange County Rapid Response Network The Peace and Justice Law Center Transforming Justice Orange County
• United Communities for Peace

Posted by Darling Gonzalez source

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Orange County District Attorney candidate Pete Hardin reported on multiple injustices in the OC DA’s office, using a recent ACLU report demonstrating lack of transparency, racial disparities, and low police accountability.

The ACLU report, entitled “In(Justice) in Orange County—A Case for Change and Accountability,” details a lack of transparency with current OC DA Todd Spitzer and key evidence demonstrating lack of improvement in the office.

After the ACLU requested charging data from the OC DA’s office, DA Spitzer denied the release of data from his tenure and instead only provided Spitzer’s predecessor Tony Rackauckas’ data.

However, the ACLU obtained Superior Court records from 2019 and 2020 through the Voice of OC and provided data demonstrating that low-level offenses were the most common charges and showed key disparities in the OC DA’s charging practices.

“There were persistent racial disparities across the OCDA’s Office’s charging practices, and Black people were more likely to be charged with a crime, more likely to be charged with a felony, and more likely to be negatively impacted by discretionary charging practices related to wobblers, enhancements, and diversion than white people,” the ACLU report noted.

The ACLU’s report has recommended for the OC DA’s office to improve on these injustices by listing key improvements to internal policies in the office.

These internal policy recommendations include filing wobbler charges as misdemeanors and “eliminating the use of sentence enhancements, which are a major contributor of extreme sentencing and racial disparities.”

Under “Police Accountability,” the ACLU commented, “Even when publicly available information suggests gross police misconduct, the OCDA’s Office declined to file charges in every instance,” after reviewing the 24 police shootings between 2019 and 2020.

The ACLU also recommended that certain actions be taken by the OC DA’s office, including the creation of an independent office that can investigate and hold police accountable for their illegal conduct.

Although the ACLU’s report details plenty of the racial disparities and injustices in Orange County’s DA’s office, Hardin’s statement alleges racist remarks made by DA Spitzer and refers to an article in the Los Angeles Times titled, “O.C. DA. made racist comments in the case of Black defendant, former colleague alleges.”

The story notes that, while discussing the case of a Black man, Jamon Buggs, former prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh claimed that DA Spritzer had said that he knew “many Black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating white women.”

The Times story includes a response made by DA Spitzer where he explains to The Times that Baytieh’s claim was incorrect and clarified that his comment said that Black men date white women “to improve their stature in the community.”

Hardin noted that Spitzer has been involved in an evidence booking scandal, a jailhouse informant scandal, and has defamed a victim of OC’s deadliest mass shooting.

According to Hardin’s press release, there is a changing electorate with Democrats now outnumbering Republicans in Orange County, with a 4.1% voter advantage.