In April, San Diego District Attorney Samer Stefan announced that he was ending his use of civil warrant, a tactic used by law enforcement for years to restrict the movement of suspected street gang members in designated neighborhoods.
Sanctions were almost entirely imposed on the Latino neighborhoods, which had long been ignored by many residents. In recent years, advocates of criminal justice reform in San Diego have called for their abolition.
Thus, the victory of the reformers seemed to come when Stephen announced on April 27 that his office had filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court lifting all 20 such restraints still in place in the state, freeing և 350 people from restrictions.
“In our county, the orders of civilian gangs were applied 10-20 years ago, they are mostly outdated, in many cases they continue to cause difficulties for people who have moved, are trying to find a job or get in touch. “With relatives,” he said at the time.
But just weeks later, և 500 miles away, Stefan took a different approach to another important issue for the reform movement. He was strongly opposed to the state legislature bill, which in many cases eliminated the ability of prosecutors to file charges of expanding the gang.
Such improvements can add years to the sentence. According to the author of the bill, studies have shown that 92% of people who get their job done are people of color. However, in a three-page letter to the Senate Public Safety Committee, Stefan said the legislation was wrong and would harm victims of the group’s crimes.
He cited his lifting of group barriers as “the latest example of our progressive reforms” in the office. Then he added:
The two events, which have been separated for several weeks, illustrate how Stefan moves to the criminal justice reform debate. One that changed the justice system of the state by reducing or eliminating penalties for crimes, reducing the number of prisoners, and reversing a harsh crime policy. over the past decades.
“Smart Reform”
The controversy has split the state-elected district attorneys, with progressive attorneys pushing for sweeping reforms in Los Angeles and Sacramento, while more conservative leaders such as Riverside and Orange reject them.
During his second term, Stephen elaborated on what he called “smart crime reform” by adopting some, but not all, measures to meet the reformers’ pressure to drop out of mass imprisonment. can rehabilitate criminals ծրագր programs underlying the root causes of crimes.
In Sacramento, Stefan is seen by some local activists as a traditional approach to prosecution.
“Maybe he thinks people are not paying attention to what he is doing in the legislature,” said Natasha Minsker, a legal adviser and political adviser to the Smart Justice CA Reform Group.
He said that the bills aimed at promoting with the support of the San Diego DA. Stefan has his own lobbyist who regularly travels to Sacramento.
Local folk groups, which also demand significant changes to the system, are not impressed. “If you like spices, no spices, this is it,” said Laila Aziz, director of column operations in the San Diego Community. “He is very soft on reforms.”
But for San Diego, that approach could have political implications.
“The majority of the public is reluctant to pay the police,” said John on Dadian, a political analyst in San Diego. “I think he is in a perfect position. As for the reforms, he is going to use a scalpel, not a knife. “
Stefan was appointed by the Supervisory Board to DA 2017, when former DA Bonnie Dumanis resigned before his term expired. Dumanis wanted Stefan to replace him, so he helped plan his appointment through the council.
Mostly months after he became president, Stefan easily won the post. In October 2019, he changed the registration of his party from the Republican Party without any party preference.
Stefan, without seeing any opponent, receives a series of approvals – almost $ 250,000 on his pre-election account – is running in the 2022 elections as a pro-second favorite. Dadyan said that any potential competitor should run in the race for the June by-elections.
Stefan said he did not care where he fit in.
“I do not consider myself fit in any box,” he said. “I think we are writing our own book, chapters, on how you are implementing responsible reforms that have not only these great slogans, but more real solutions.”
Fight against pirates on the veranda
Stefan’s pre-election website highlights many initiatives. Clearing up mass rape collections, launching a community justice initiative that directs nonviolent offenders from prison to local rehabilitation programs, and holding law enforcement officials accountable for their behavior. Stefan took the rare step of prosecuting a former San Diego deputy sheriff for fatal shootings on duty and a La Mesa officer for lying to a police report.
While those other steps he took are in line with some of the goals of the reform movement, Stephen fought others in court in Sacramento.
In addition to the gang expansion bill, Stephen opposed two bills that could be based on a devastating 2018 state amendment to the crime killing rule. Under the amendment, accomplices to murder can only be charged with murder if the person directly participated in, assisted, or supported the murder, or acted as a “major participant” or acted with reckless indifference to human life.
It paved the way for people convicted of crimes to be punished again, and eventually hundreds of people did so around the state. Stefan was standing before the prosecutors who went to court in 2018, challenging the new law. Stopping the re-argumentation of prisoners’ demands for months, until in 2019 the Court of Appeal did not satisfy them.
This year’s bill could extend the amendment to a small group of accomplices who can still be charged under a felony, death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. In a letter to anti-law senator Dave Cortez, Stephen wrote that it was “an urgent piece of legislation that benefits criminals at the expense of victims of crime,” that it violates the 1990 law. Terms of the measure approved by the voters.
“Unfortunately, the SB 300 gives the most cruel individuals, whom the jury judges consider to be complicit in unimaginable crimes against their loved ones, deprivation of death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” he wrote. The bill did not pass.
The other bill, which Stefan opposed, would make convicted felons convicted of attempted murder or negligent homicide. The bill was passed and is in the hands of Governor G. Newsom’s office.
Stefan said he was opposed to the enactment of the law, which was passed, and was awaiting the signature of Governor G. Newsom, as it went too far, making it more difficult for prosecutors to prove the gang’s connection. He added that he now has a new policy, which says that the increase should be charged in “exceptional cases”.
Minsk pointed to the 2019 bill, which provided for the theft of delivery packages – the so-called entrance piracy, in some circumstances a potential crime. Stephen was a key support witness at a Senate Public Safety Committee hearing on May 20, 2020, where he met with skepticism from senators who said the current petty theft laws were adequate and the new law would be redundant.
Stefan testified that the bill was needed to tighten sanctions on balcony pirates who have been abused 36 times three times. He singled out burglary as petty theft, arguing that burglary is a more “organized crime” in which thieves systematically carry out neighborhoods.
Many criminal justice reform organizations opposed the bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Brian Ones, a senator, in part because it could be used to target people of color in some neighborhoods as they drive out of the house or do other legal business. The bill failed in the commission.
To push more
Stefan also supported the legislation of both sides in discussing the reforms.
In 2019, Stephen’s office sponsored a bill that tightened penalties for early parole for sex offenders, another that barred older sex offenders from parole, and a third that extended a ban on guns by another state. :
He also co-sponsored a bill that requires the state to provide a valid identification card for people released from prison to facilitate their entry into society. And he defended a bill sponsored by Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, which penalized employers for confiscating visas, passports, and other employee immigration documents.
That bill was joined by a new program started by Stefan this year. In-Office Justice Department, which will prosecute wage theft, labor trafficking, and other crimes involving employee exploitation.
And in May, he launched a subversive program for juveniles accused of low-level crimes, sending them to therapy and mentoring services before going to court.
“This is not a small step in the reforms,” he said in an interview. “It’s a big flight.”
Local activists are demanding more.
“I think in his mind, I think he thinks he is a reformer in some way,” said Cornelius Bauser, a Bishop of the Benevolent Apostolic Church, an outspoken activist in police and justice reform. “I always look at him, I kind of see him in the middle. He has his limits on how far he will go. ”
Stephen was the first state to use a new law passed in 2019 that allowed prosecutors to review the long prison terms served by some inmates and return to court to reduce their sentences. He said the office is currently reviewing about 100 cases.
Stephanie is co-founded by Rise Up San Diego co-founder Chain Osizio. But he said it was typical of his reform efforts, limited or cautious.
Osizioma said his group had been meeting regularly for nearly a year with Assistant District Attorney Dwayne Woodley to discuss reform, and came up with a list of reforms the group wanted. These included the denial of campaign donations by law enforcement groups, the establishment of a prosecutorial oversight committee, and the withdrawal of complaints of ill-treatment, as well as the complete cessation of the group’s expansion.
They were looking for a meeting with Stefan, but did not find one.
“I think the term ‘smart reform’ means reforms that are not really a heavy burden,” he said. “It is a low hanging fruit.”