How a single case challenged the LA prosecutor’s reform agenda: ‘Nobody is happy’

The developments show how media coverage of horrific crimes can help derail criminal justice reform

The Los Angeles district attorney's handling of a sexual assault case and decision to backtrack on part of his reform agenda has caused political division and media outrage, in a case that signals the intensifying opposition to progressive prosecutors across the US.

George Gascon, who leads the largest local prosecutor's office in the nation, had banned the practice of charging youth as adults at the start of his term in 2020. But over the weekend, in response to outrage over a sexual assault case, he announced he would shift his policy so that juveniles could be tried as adults in the most extraordinary of cases".