Reform candidates are increasingly winning district attorney elections in the United States. The movement represents a  direct challenge to the decades-long tough-on-crime era, characterized by punitive sentencing laws, significant investments in police forces and prisons, and the criminalization of mental health—culminating in the highest incarceration rates in the world. Opponents are fighting back, with the most recent example being Los Angeles County, where a union representing hundreds of prosecutors has sued newly elected District Attorney George Gascon. We examine the fight over prosecutorial discretion—long cherished by self-styled law and order prosecutors—and what the contentious battle in Los Angeles means for reformers nationwide.

News Beat is a Morey Creative Studios production: www.MoreyCreative.com

Producer/Audio Editor: Michael "Manny Faces" Conforti
Editor-In-Chief: Chris Twarowski
Managing Editor: Rashed Mian
Episode Art: Jeff Main
Executive Producer: Jed Morey

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