Does George Gascon’s ‘Prosecutors Alliance of California’ Have a Future?

What’s up with the Prosecutors Alliance of California – that “bipartisan” coalition of elected prosecutors who include George Gascon and Chesa Boudin? The alliance came together in 2020 to form a “progressive alternative” to the state’s traditional prosecutors’ group, the California District Attorneys Association, whose membership includes nearly all of the 58 District Attorneys in the state. CDAA also represents thousands of non elected deputy prosecutors.

Launched in September 2020, the Prosecutors Alliance of California was formed by George Gascon, prior to being elected Los Angeles District Attorney. After forming the group, he issued a press release saying he was resigning from the California District Attorneys Association, even though he was not actually a member.

Joining Gascon was San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, and San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar, according to TheAppeal.org.

According to other California District Attorneys, this is about as far as the membership drive went.

With a membership of so few District Attorneys, does this alliance have a future?

• Chesa Boudin was just recalled by San Francisco voters.
• Salazar just lost her reelection in the June Primary with only 45.5% of the vote to Ron Freitas who was elected with 54.5% of the vote.
• Gascon is facing a November recall election, with the “Recall DA George Gascon” committee submitting 717,000 signatures.

This could leave Contra Costa County DA Diana Becton as the sole remaining member.

The Globe emailed DA Becton’s office and asked if she will remain in the Prosecutors Alliance of California, if she would be leading the Alliance in the future, and if so, what her focus would be?

We did not receive a reply but will update the article when we do. If her name rings a bell, DA Diana Becton made the news and ruffled some feathers during the Covid lockdowns when she hosted a wedding reception at her home, in violation of State and Contra Costa County Covid-19 Restrictions, the Globe reported in 2020.

Tori Verber Salazar, who is a Republican, just lost her race for reelection in the June 7, 2022 primary. She must have been the token “bipartisan” Republican, because this is her statement upon the formation of the Prosecutors Alliance of California:

“A broad spectrum of political ideologies believe in a smaller, less punitive, and more equitable system of justice.”

Salazar was the first of the state’s 58 district attorneys to leave the CDAA.  “’As criminal justice reform sweeps through California and the nation, I witnessed the CDAA oppose most reform-based initiatives, which tells me the association is out of touch and unwilling to find new approaches to criminal justice,’ she wrote in her resignation letter,” TheAppeal.org reported in 2020.

“The Prosecutors Alliance, meanwhile, has called for a ban on law enforcement contributions to DAs, citing the undue influence such donations can portend, and supported legislative efforts for increased data transparency amongst DA offices,” Boltsmag.org reported.

Boltsmag.org also reported right before the June 2022 Primary Election that Salazar and Becton “have become inextricably linked, joining hands in 2020 to form an alliance in support of criminal justice reform, breaking with the established order for California DAs.”

Becton, who was a retired Superior Court judge, was appointed by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors as district attorney in 2017, and elected to the post in 2018, backed by $275,000 from billionaire oligarch George Soros. She just won another reelection with 56% of the vote, with another Soros PAC contribution of more than $1 million, according to PleasantonWeekly. This left Becton the only one of the four DAs viable in the Prosecutors Alliance, with Gascon primarily using it to fight his recall.

Becton joins Gascon and Boudin who also received sizable campaign contributions from Soros. Soros spent $3 million on the successful campaign of George Gascon for Los Angles DA, according to Parker Thayer at the Capital Research Center, which lists all of the Soros-funded DAs throughout the country. “Soros was the largest spender in the race, and Gascon won easily,” Thayer said.

Pleasanton Weekly reported all four members of the alliance were backed by the Soros-funded PAC in 2018.

Just how bipartisan is the Prosecutors Alliance? All of their sponsored legislation in 2021 and 2022 is authored by Democrat Assembly members and Senators.

Cristine Soto DeBerry is the Founder and Executive Director of the Prosecutors Alliance, an older website bio said. “She spent a decade as the Chief of Staff to San Francisco District Attorneys George Gascón and Chesa Boudin.” This has since been removed on the Prosecutors Alliance “About” page.

Perhaps more telling is this from the Alliance “About” page: “We are guided by the principles the 21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor developed by Fair and Just Prosecution, The Brennan Center and The Justice Collaborative as we work to implement both local and statewide reforms.”

Notably, the 21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor are identical at Fair and Just Prosecution and the Brennan Center.

These “21 Principles” include ending cash bail, promoting Restorative Justice, shrinking probation and parole, “change office culture and practice,” address racial disparity, hold police accountable, work to end the death penalty, and calculate the cost of incarceration. These are just some of the “principles.”

The Justice Collaborative is financially supported by the Tides Foundation, which since 2007, has reported revenues totaling $2.6 billion, according to InfluenceWatch.org, and is linked with other well-funded far-left advocacy groups.

The majority of the prosecutor-members at the Fair and Just Prosecution are Soros funded as well.

As Thayer notes, “the patterns within the list are clear: skyrocketing violent crime, countless murders, little to no accountability, limited prosecutorial experience, a proclivity for scandal, and a tendency to unfairly prosecute political adversaries. George Soros certainly has a type.”