California has suffered from a serious decline in law enforcement over the last decade – which has become evident after a parole board panel opened the door to free political assassin Sirhan Sirhan.
Believe it or not, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon won’t lift a finger to stop that from happening.
RFK assassin Sirhan seeks parole; DA won't challenge release
JULIE WATSON and BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press
Aug. 26, 2021Updated: Aug. 30, 2021 5:11 a.m.
1of3This image dated Aug. 25, 2021, and provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows Sirhan Sirhan. The Los Angeles District Attorney's office is not opposing the release of Sirhan Sirhan, who is now 77 and faces his 16th parole hearing on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, for fatally shooting Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. His defense attorney says he should be let go because of his age and his not a danger to society. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP)AP
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Sirhan Sirhan faces his 16th parole hearing Friday for fatally shooting U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, and for the first time no prosecutor will be there to argue he should be kept behind bars.
After the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s death penalty law in 1972, Sirhan and the late Charles Manson were among the 100-plus death row inmates whose sentences were commuted to life, which left open the possibility of parole. (The death penalty is back in California as Golden State lawmakers and voters have approved multiple death penalty measures since 1972.)
Hell freezes over
While observers had opined that no parole board ever would grant the political assassin parole, because it would be like touching a subway’s third rail, a parole panel recommended just that in August. Weeks before the recall, even.
Next the full board will vote, and if it recommends parole, Gov. Gavin Newsom will have 30 days to uphold, amend or reject the recommendation. You might think that no California governor would dare free Sirhan, but Newsom is the elected official who installed Gascon into power.
And Gascon returned the favor by declining to send a prosecutor to speak against parole for a man who committed premeditated murder against not only a man, but an election as Kennedy was running for president.
Unbelievable, except we’re talking about Gascon.
California voters might want to consider Gascon as they mull over their vote on the recall. Because if you think Sirhan should not be freed, you might not want Newsom as your governor.
Newsom appointed Gascon to be chief of the San Francisco Police Department in 2009.
In that position, Gascon announced a policy to allow unlicensed drivers pulled over by police to call friends, who could drive away their cars to avoid an automatic 30-day impound that. He explained the policy was designed to help those "who can't get a driver's license because of their immigration status, as well as those who could not afford driver training.”
The Special City should have put up a banner: Bad Drivers Welcome.
Later Newsom appointed Gascon to serve as San Francisco District Attorney.
As District Attorney, Gascon co-authored Proposition 47, dishonestly named the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, which downgraded some theft of goods valued under $950, fraud and drug felonies into misdemeanors.
Police groups blame the law, passed by California voters for an uptick of crime since the passage of the 2014 ballot measure.
I don’t meant to suggest that Gascon would never throw the book at someone. Because I’ve seen Gascon go tough-on-crime once – he prosecuted a Black woman after the hit-and-run death of her two-year-old niece.
Big problem: Loyresha Gage, 25, didn't run over her niece Mi'yana Gregory. A hit-and-run driver killed the little girl. Gage was crossing the street with her twin niece and nephew. When she realized her nephew hadn’t followed her into the crosswalk, she let go of her niece’s hand to get him. That’s when a light turned green and a white sedan plowed into the poor girl.
The driver never was caught. Gascon nonetheless prosecuted Gage for child endangerment. A jury found Gage not guilty — because she never should have been charged.
Don’t free Sirhan Sirhan
While there has been a lot of coverage of the two Kennedy sons who want to open prison gates for Sirhan, six of the late Senator’s surviving nine children oppose parole. Here’s a statement daughter Rory Kennedy tweeted.
Figure that unlike the L.A. D.A., they’d have sent a prosecutor to recommend against parole.
Debra J. Saunders is a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. Contact her at dsaunders@discovery.org.
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