Judge Mitchell, Candidate for LA DA

Judge Craig Mitchell is running for Los Angeles County District Attorney.

And – as founder of the Skid Row Running Club – he means it when he says running.

The club, founded 11 years ago, meets/runs downtown at least twice a week, is about spreading a message of help and health throughout the homeless community and has had more than a few true success stories.

But this latest run may be his most important.

“For the past three years, I’ve watched (current District Attorney George Gascon’s) policies play out in a courtroom that do not produce a just result,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell has been a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge for 18 years, handling serious felony cases, and was a prosecutor (and high school teacher) before that.  He has taken a leave of absence from his judgeship to campaign for office.

Mitchell said that Gascon’s blanket policies and penchant for light sentences does not lead to actual justice.

“I have witnessed certain offenses that are appropriate for LWOP (life without parole,)” Mitchell said, specifically referring to a case in which a defendant burned his five-year-old son so he wouldn’t have to pay child support.

He is not a proponent of the death penalty (he said his Roman Catholicism informs that stance) and does see the need for certain reforms but is distressed at how Gascon’s policies have impacted victims.

Mitchell said one victim in a relatively recent case – the man had been stabbed 13 times, seemingly at random – was visibly stunned when he discovered his assailant had been charged with assault with a deadly weapon – four years max sentence – as opposed to attempted murder.  

In another case, a defendant who already had four strikes committed another armed robbery but Gascon’s office did not – per policy – add a gun enhancement, shifting the penalty from 25 to life to 8 years.

“The pendulum has swung too far to the left,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell also criticized Gascon’s for his day-to-day operation of his office, noting the loss of 20% of the prosecutors and Gascon having three years to fill the spots but hasn’t.

“He is so clueless as to the requirements of hiring,” Mitchell said.

Failing to consult with experienced prosecutors when he implemented his initial directives was also a bad management choice, let alone continuing to freeze them out of internal processes (Gascon has been sued by his own staff rather often and he is, so far, losing those suits.)

As to the current crime wave, Gascon’s approach to misdemeanors – the shoplifting/smash and grab craze – “offends our basic sense of what it means to live in a civilized society.”

Mitchell said any approach to criminal justice must be grounded in reality and, under Gascon, “we are living in an alternate reality.”

As he notes on his campaign website:

“Los Angeles is in crisis. We have a homelessness, mental health, and crime crisis that cannot be solved with one-size-fits-all justice. We need a District Attorney with the experience and compassion to work with law enforcement, our Deputy District Attorneys, and criminal justice reform advocates to craft common sense policies that take a case-by-case approach. 

We all deserve to feel safe.”

The primary election is in March.  The judge’s website is:  https://thejudge4da.com/