LOS ANGELES – A growing rift between Los Angeles County’s public defenders and the District Attorney’s Office exploded into public view this week after DA Nathan Hochman announced a return to seeking the death penalty—a move sharply condemned by the LA County Public Defenders Union.
In a searing public statement, the union denounced the decision as “state-sanctioned murder” and called on Angelenos to join their opposition. “The death penalty does not deter crime. The death penalty does not repair harm. Abolish the death penalty,” the union declared in a tweet that quickly gained traction.
The public defenders accused the DA’s office of moral hypocrisy, noting that while Hochman claims to seek justice for murder victims, he now supports policies that produce more state-sponsored killings. “You either condemn murder or you don’t,” the union wrote. “Seeking the death penalty is not a moral loophole.”
The DA’s office, meanwhile, sought to portray itself as reform-minded. In a series of posts, Hochman touted his meetings with reentry-focused nonprofits like the Amity Foundation and framed himself as a centrist reformer rejecting “extreme decarceration” and “mass incarceration.”
But for many in the legal defense community, the optics didn’t match the policy. “It’s performative,” said one public defender who asked to remain anonymous. “You can’t pose for photos with reentry nonprofits one day and announce executions the next.”
Critics say Hochman is attempting to have it both ways—talking reform while embracing tough-on-crime policies. And in a county where the public defender system represents the vast majority of people facing serious charges, the opposition from inside the courtroom carries weight.
As the national debate over the death penalty reignites, Los Angeles has become a flashpoint—not just over policy, but over who gets to define what justice looks like.
