By Lauren Smith
GEORGIA – Deborah Gonzalez, the first Latina DA in Georgia and first female Puerto Rican District Attorney in the U.S., announced a series of criminal justice reforms that took effect day on of her term in office as Georgia Western Judicial Circuit.
“Prosecutors have the power to charge or not to charge, to choose which charges to bring, to offer a plea or not, and to recommend a sentence based on those charges,” said Gonzalez. “These decisions substantially impact people’s lives, their sense of justice, their liberty, their livelihood, and their families, in addition to the community’s fundamental faith in the system.”
In a legal memo, Gonzalez outlined 40 policy changes “designed to devote greater attention and resources to offenders who are driving significant proportion of serious and violent crime, while reducing the impact on low-level, non-violent, or first-time offenders, for whom rehabilitation and second chances would be the goal.”
Gonzalez added: “Instead of focusing solely on punishment, we need to focus on outcomes. Relying on probation and incarceration alone has not made our state safer or more secure. The cost of such punishments also reduces resources available for rehabilitation, substance abuse treatment, counseling, job training, economic development, and policing, all of which are a better investment in the future.
“When we incorporate diversion and restorative justice as prosecutorial tools, we get better outcomes at a lower cost — in both economic terms, and human ones.”
To support her goals, Gonzalez had called for the following changes:
- “Eliminate practices shown to be biased, expensive, and ineffective at deterring crime and repeat offenses, including no longer seeking the death penalty.”
- “Decriminalize poverty by eliminating charges and punishments that penalize the poor such as cash bail for non-violent offenses and coercive ‘trial taxes’ that punish the exercise of constitutional rights, and by making incarceration alternative available to any eligible defendant regardless of income.”
- “Reduce negative long-term impacts for victims, defendants, and communities by considering victim impact, economic impact, and the backgrounds and circumstances of defendants including mental health & rehabilitation needs, immigration status, and other factors.”
In addition, the DA’s office “will discourage schools from referring students to the criminal justice system” for offenses that can be handled through the school’s disciplinary system and will “promote alternative processes such as teen accountability courts, restorative justice, and family counseling.”
The DA’s office is also in the process of creating a data dashboard that complies and publishes statistics on convictions, sentencing data and charges by ethnicity, gender, and race.
“I want this community to know exactly what we are doing, how the numbers look, and what progress we are making” Gonzalez stated. “These are the first of many reforms that we know will improve both equity and safety in our community. When you’re repairing more than two decades of neglect and injustice, it can’t all be fixed at the stroke of midnight.
She argued, “(W)e have an aggressive plan in place to follow through on every promise I have made to this community to transform the Western Judicial Circuit. That means not only addressing the known issues, but shining a light on every aspect of the criminal justice system in this Circuit to address challenges that a lack of transparency may have hidden from public view.”
Lastly, Gonzalez has created a community transition team led by David Lyle, a lawyer and progressive activist, and Travis Williams, a “pro-justice advocate and activist” who will “help establish priorities, troubleshoot problems, and maintain a high level of transparency and community accountability.”
“For too long, the voices of this community have fallen on deaf ears in the Western Judicial Circuit. Lives have been destroyed, money has been wasted, and our streets and homes are not safer. The mindset of our new DA is by contrast one of partnership with the community,” said Williams.
“Our transition team symbolizes that shift: Deborah has opened the doors to our expertise and input. She is inviting us in, along with the daylight, to identify what must be changed and to recommend best practices for making those changes successfully. It’s a new day in this District and this community will be working alongside our new District Attorney to achieve a more just system and a safer, more thriving place to live.”
In addition to criminal justice reform policies, Gonzalez also announced that Rebecca Fogal, 15-year veteran prosecutor in the DA’s office, will be the Chief Assistant District Attorney and “increase staff training, implement up-to-date human resources practices, and increase both internal and external communication.”
Over the next one to two months, Gonzalez plans to review all open cases and the pretrial diversion program.
Lauren Smith is a fourth year student at UC Davis, double majoring in Political Science and Psychology. She is from San Diego, California.
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