Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words

Articles written by Eric Siddall


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  • California Officials Shouldn't Whine About Gun Violence Unless They're Willing to Enforce the Law

    Eric Siddall, Association of Deputy District Attorneys|Jun 5, 2023

    June 1, 2023 - For as long as he's been our governor, Gavin Newsom has advocated for stronger gun laws. On the national level, he has condemned lax enforcement in Florida, Texas, and Missouri, where gun laws are far less stringent than in California. On the state level, he has passed regulations to combat gun violence. Every prosecutor would agree that gun violence is an American epidemic. We see it, up close and personal, almost every day. And we fervently believe, like the governor, that...

  • Gascon Uses Taxpayer Money to Defend Himself Against Lawsuits Arising From His Unethical and Illegal Policies and Procedures

    Eric Siddall, VP Association of Deputy District Attorneys|Nov 18, 2022

    "Internal terrorist" is an old LAPD management term used for those who don't "get with the program." Much has changed within LAPD, but not for some of its alums. One in particular, George Gascón-former LAPD brass-used the antiquated term during his campaign for district attorney. When asked how he would work within civil service rules to implement his agenda, he was not concerned. "I know certainly how to deal" with "internal terrorists." He wasn't lying. Since Gascón took office on December 7...

  • The LA Times is Wrong and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon Should Follow State Law

    Eric Siddall, Vice President Association of Deputy District Attorneys|Aug 22, 2022

    On August 12, 2022, the Los Angeles Times published an editorial by Erwin Chemerinsky, Gil Garcetti, and Miriam Aroni Krinsky. The article criticized a recent state court appellate decision that ruled that District Attorney George Gascón violated California state law when he ordered his deputies not to follow California's Three Strikes law. No one at the Los Angeles Times wrote the piece, but a quick fact check would have turned up a slew of egregious mischaracterizations. The piece begins...

  • Gascon Has Made DA Office Into Image of a Badly Run Airline

    Eric Siddall, Association of Deputy District Attorneys|Jan 24, 2022

    Often questioned about his lack of prosecutorial experience, George Gascón has compared running the District Attorney's Office to managing an airline. Experience? Expertise? They don't matter. What matters-according to Gascón -is his management credentials. And after one year, the Gascón administration does feel a bit like a domestic airline. Terrible service. No trust. Low employee morale. Chaotic. The feeling of being abandoned. Los Angeles is increasingly become unsafe. Yet, the DA has no pla...

  • Gascón ideology is not making us any safer

    Eric Siddall, Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys|Aug 21, 2021

    According to District Attorney George Gascón, "The past four decades have not made us any safer." This recent ahistorical statement is incredible for two reasons. First, it reveals willful ignorance by Los Angeles's top prosecutor of the historic decline in crime since the 1990s. Second, it reflects an ideological bent that snubs the progress we have made in public safety. Despite his claimed allegiance to data and science, statements like this are devoid of both. Bill Maher calls this...

  • Excuse Me: Science and Data Do Not Prove We Should Reduce Sentences for Criminals, DA Gascon

    Eric Siddall, Association of Deputy District Attorneys|Apr 21, 2021

    Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón says that "science and data" justify his criminal justice policies, including his decision to eliminate sentencing enhancements and abandon the three strikes law. According to Gascón, scientific evidence unequivocally confirms that longer sentences harm public safety by boosting repeat offenses. "While initial incarceration prevents crime through incapacitation, studies show that each additional sentence year causes a 4 to 7 percent increase i...

  • Why Local Law Enforcement Should Not Be Immigration Agents

    Eric Siddall, ALADDAs|Feb 10, 2017

    A prosecutor's job is to seek justice for all people who are victims of crime, whatever their legal status in this country. To accomplish this goal, there needs to be cooperation from victims and witnesses, willing to both initially tell the police what they observed and then willing to testify in court. However, people will not cooperate when they believe there is a personal downside for aiding law enforcement. Sometimes it is because there is a threat of retaliation from a criminal or their...

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