Orange County deserves more than Todd Spitzer – Orange County Register

Documents that appeared this week found the Orange County District Attorney, Todd Spitzer, to be inappropriate and race is illegal in a meeting to decide whether California should execute a Negro.

Prosecutors who attended the meeting kept his remarks in writing after concluding that they were abhorrent and discoverable — meaning the mere fact that the DA made the remarks must disclosed to the court. According to multiple reports, Spitzer commented that, “he knew many black people who got out of their bad situations and bad situations by only dating ‘white women.’

The revelations are not only appalling but disqualifying, as our justice system must be colorblind to ensure the integrity of our prosecutions and the trust of the communities we serve.

The implications of these remarks are far-reaching and go far beyond the immediate case. The questions facing the OC’s criminal justice system are many, like what other cases cross DA Spitzer’s desk involving a person of color?

Does his racism infect those cases?

Eventually, Todd Spitzer’s views on black people were made public, and they infected cases across the office by shadowing every prosecution involving people of color. To ensure fair administration, the Attorney General should investigate how the bigotry of Orange County’s top law enforcement official impacted other cases involving people of color. . Most importantly, Todd Spitzer must resign immediately. His failure to step aside would undermine public trust in law enforcement, threaten our safety and make police work more dangerous.

Communities that don’t trust law enforcement are less likely to report crimes. Effective control of communities that don’t trust you is not only impossible, but more dangerous for the police.

Sadly, Spitzer’s comments are merely the beginning of a career that has eroded trust and sowed chaos at the District Attorney’s Office. Making such public comments reflects a fundamental lack of maturity, awareness, and misunderstanding of Orange County values, but it also speaks to the culture he has created around him. Spitzer’s culture was one in which he not only felt free to make racist comments, but in which he fired subordinates to defend himself, protect and promote his friend Perverts have sexually harassed many women.

It’s no surprise that office morale is at an all-time low and scores of talented employees and attorneys are leaving the office. DA Spitzer lacks the ethical values ​​and principles to run this office, and his comments make him unfit to lead at any level. His serving as director of law enforcement and janitor for Orange County’s justice system would be an outrage to all.

Whether you are for or against the death penalty, this story provides a window into the perils of state-sanctioned executions. At the time DA Spitzer made his racist remarks, he was pondering whether to seek death in the case of Jamon Buggs, a Black man accused of killing two whites. . Many studies show that the death penalty is racist in its application. In fact, defendants convicted of killing white victims are sentenced to death 17 times more often than defendants who kill black victims.

The race for a role in the death penalty is horrifying, but so is the amount of money it costs victims and the resources it draws from proven strategies to reduce crime.

Few things are as magnets for media attention as the hard-talking prosecutor seeking the death penalty in a grisly murder case. The taping you’ll hear from politicians like Todd Spitzer, who promises ultimate justice to traumatized victims is a Master Class in cliché. However, the actual experience for death penalty victims is perhaps the greatest injustice of all.

Today, prosecutors seeking the death penalty do so knowing that it is a sentence that will never be carried out. Due to a combination of factors, Governor Gavin Newsom introduced a moratorium on executions in 2019. However, prior to the moratorium, no one had been executed in California since 2006. Death penalty cases are dragged through countless appeals, forcing them to relive their heartaches repeatedly over the decades. Not only will those who kill their loved ones never be executed, those sentenced to death traditionally have their own cell for death row inmates instead of sharing a double bed with another inmate in the cell 9 inches x 6.