California Crime Policy Takes Conservative Turn

Why do California voters keep electing progressive prosecutors and keep voting them out of office?

That’s the question some criminal justice advocates are asking themselves after the defeats of two progressive district attorneys — Pamela Price in Alameda County and George Gascón in Los Angeles County — this month, California local news fellows Cayla Mihalovich and Joe Garcia report.

It wasn’t unprecedented: In 2022, Chesa Boudin was recalled as San Francisco’s district attorney amid rising crime concerns and a public desire for stricter crime policies — the same concerns that fueled the referendum on Price and Gascón this year. Gascón survived two prior recall attempts, but was ousted by Nathan Hochman, a former prosecutor who vowed to reverse Gascón’s “social experiments.”

Their losses — combined with the overwhelming approval of Proposition 36, a statewide measure to increase some theft and drug penalties — signal a shift from nearly a decade ago, when progressive prosecutors who championed alternative policies to incarceration found success across the nation. But bold reforms are often met with resistance, and in California, voters are allowed to recall elected officials early, leaving them little time to implement any policies before being ousted, some experts say.

Ultimately, district attorneys must recognize what voters need, said Dan Schnur, a University of Southern California professor.

• Schnur: “The best politicians are those who are able to adjust to and address those changes in public opinion. Those who aren’t able to adjust become former elected officials.”

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