On Wednesday, October 2, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey and LAPD Chief Michel Moore announced a joint effort to eliminate old warrants and fines for minor infractions that ensnare low-income and homeless people in the criminal justice system.
Feuer and Lacey have asked the Los Angeles Superior Court to get rid of 398,000 warrants, 1,700,000 pending citations for infractions more than five years old (and dating back to 1981), and any fines and fees associated with those infractions. More than half of the citations are over 10 years old.
These cases “clog the system with little or no countervailing benefit,” Feuer wrote in his motion to “recall and quash” the infractions, warrants, and related debts.
The initiative is intended to take some pressure off of homeless individuals ticketed for offenses related to their houseless status.
Additionally, according to Feuer, dumping the old cases would open up a path for crime victims and witnesses who might otherwise “be reluctant to reach out to law enforcement for fear of further penalties for these unresolved cases.”
The initiative would also allow people whose licenses had been suspended after failing to appear in court on even minor traffic ticket cases to regain their licenses and car insurance, thus improving road safety, and eliminating a barrier to employment that often traps people in poverty.
In her motion to the court, DA Lacey notes that the California Court of Appeal, in People v. Duenas, highlighted the fact that minor offenses can still “lead to a loss of employment or shelter, compounding interest, yet more legal action, and an ever-expanding financial burden.”
By “unclogging” the court system, the mass record-clearing will allow the City Attorney and the LAPD to focus on their new “Fugitive Misdemeanant Recovery Program.”
Instead of going after “individuals who have not had contact with law enforcement for more than half a decade and whose only offense was a low-level, non-violent crime and failure to appear in court,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore, the LAPD will “focus precious resources pursuing those committing violence in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles.”
The program, which has been in effect for a little over a month, has resulted in the capture of seven people who “willfully failed” to meet their court dates for more serious misdemeanor crimes that include domestic violence, child abuse, weapons-related offenses, as well as gang-related vandalism, according to the law enforcement leaders.
Perfect. So now I can drive however I want in la county. If I get a ticket, I just won’t pay it for 5 years and it will get erased.
What a joke
This reminds me of 20 years or so ago when we got a daily teletype about what warrants we could arrest and book for. Some days the jail population would be particularly high, so only felony warrants of a certain dollar value and higher, plus domestic violence and a few other specified crimes, would be bookable.
It ultimately affects regulars folks’ quality of life, as the fools out there committing property crimes, prostitution, and street drug use get away with their intrusive life choices. Make no mistake, while some are applauding the “brave and progressive” decision, others are directly, adversely impacted.
Clam Chowder, why don’t you do that. So that you can get a warrant, some racist porcine looking for something to take you in for, collection letters and calls, etc. Please do it and report on your experience.
Cf, our little simian howling and throwing her feces at the people walking by.
Anyone have a link to the motion? I would like to see the crimes listed in Exhibit 1.
Madame Kong, would make it a cyber gassing? Sounds like you may have been on the receiving end of that while doing your duty at the county. Take care my porcine friend.
It’s telling that cf, who is clearly in lock-step with the ideology of WLA, is allowed to repeatedly call peace officers pigs – of course by her cutesy little euphemism “porcine.” Other comments apparently get spiked out, but the insult, and make no mistake this is one of the most common insults against cops for many years, is allowed to stand.
Maybe us cops should stop posting here and let cf and her ilk post echo chamber responses.
Dose of Reality – You make a point and pig is one of the nicer adjectives.
Let’s see, there’s also racist, lazy, liar, child molester, drunk, etc. It would be nice to see “The ten rules of commenting” enforced across the board.
Only seen it in on the National Geographic, my little simian amigo
@Take a breath- Are those words used only for cops? I’m asking because I have heard those same things said toward teachers, priests, government officials, doctors, dentists, activists and so on. All I’m trying to say is every job title, every lifestyle and everybody and anybody can be called that. Yes we do have bad apples in law enforcement. Believe me, we know who they are and dislike them just as much as you. But now a days, that’s all you hear about when it comes to law enforcement. You never hear about the great law enforcement officers that do good day in and day out. The main reason for that is negativity sells. Whatever profession you’re in, I’m positive somebody in the same line of work has done something very bad before. That doesnt mean that I’m going to assume you and everyone else in that profession are the same as that individual.
Skippy – We are in total accord and you make some points that I have previously made on this site to people like CF that are blinded by their prejudice. I was referring to CF’s remarks not the occupation that we share. Apologies if that was not clear.
Dose of Reality – I like your idea. Let me know when you will stop posting. I suspect you will not. The site allows you to vent and whine about everything.
Take a Breath – so are you saying there are no “racist, lazy, liar, child molester, drunk” cops out there? If there are, I’ll call them out, or you if you are one of the them, I’ll call you out. What is the problem? Let us keep in mind, that just because you do not use the N-word does not mean you are not racist.
Take a breath- No worries. I was a little confused.
cf – No, that’s not what I am saying and I agree that prejudice in all forms can be far more subtle than using the N word. Again, we all hire from the human race and that means we get folks with a variety of personalities, issues, etc. just like any other employer.
What I am saying is that to stereotype an entire group of people behind the issues of a comparatively very few is wrong – no matter who does it.
The state government and local counties have sent a clear message, they want no laws enforced. Regretfully, most law enforcement officers took the job to help keep society, and the world they and their families live in safe by enforcing law and maintaining order. Most laws have been watered down to such a degree or made so complicated with respect to their application they are utterly unenforceable anyway. The decline of a civil society has begun and the slide will only continue.
cf – You like my idea that you, and everybody else, should stop the name calling? But then you want me (who you must believe has an opposing viewpoint) to stop posting. Rich.
You appear to be blinded by hate and liberalism, as though you haven’t been issued your participation trophy for something. Relax.
This is such BULLSHIT! Once again, the DemonRat(s) are slowly eroding the rule of law. This whole article, along with its contributors (i.e., Lacy, Feuer, Moore etc.) are all full of Sh*t!!
The plan is to divert “precious resources” ( as per Moore)to pursue those committing crimes in Los Angeles. Really? So what are warrants and citations based on? Being a philanthropist? The new program has garnered seven (7) arrests in a little over a month. That is approximately 0.225 arrests p/day. Furthermore, the arrests are for vandalism, domestic violence, child abuse, weapons charges. Last time I checked, warrants were issued for these same aforementioned crimes.
Moreover, the aforementioned POS contributors state, “The initiative is intended to take some pressure off of homeless individuals ticketed for offenses related to their houseless status as well as low income individuals.” I have a better idea, in the name of transparency, why don’t these POS provide a more detailed breakdown of the crimes committed, the ethnic groups involved, their income and how many times these individuals have been cited and or arrested, as well as how many times they have an FTA ( for those of you who no habla, FTA- failure to appear).
Maybe some of these poor, innocent, victims of society, should be allowed to roam the neighborhood streets of Feuer, Lacy & Moore. Let’s see how long they can tolerate one of these poor souls urinating in their gardens, sleeping on their driveways or driving without a license and crashing into one of their high end cars.