[ad_1]<\/p>\n
T<\/span><\/span>he Los Angeles district attorney\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n George Gasc\u00f3n, who leads the largest local prosecutor\u2019s office in the nation, had banned<\/a> the practice of charging youth as adults at the start of his term<\/a> 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 \u201cin the most extraordinary of cases\u201d.<\/p>\n The controversy stems from the prosecution of 26-year-old Hannah Tubbs who was 17 in 2014 when she physically and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in a Los Angeles county restaurant bathroom. Tubbs was charged in 2021 after she was arrested in Idaho and her DNA linked her to the assault. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced<\/a> to two years in juvenile hall. Last week, however, Fox News<\/a> obtained jail recordings in which Tubbs said<\/a> she \u201clucked out\u201d with a juvenile sentence and made disparaging and disturbing <\/strong>comments about the victim.<\/p>\n The Tubbs case and its backlash come as progressive DAs across the US face mounting pressure from police, prosecutors, rightwing groups, media commentators, politicians and some communities to abandon reforms and restore harsher punishments amid rising gun violence<\/a> and homicide rates<\/a>. There\u2019s an ongoing recall effort<\/a> against the San Francisco DA, who has fought against mass incarceration and police misconduct. In New York, the DA reversed<\/a> some of his policies meant to reduce incarceration \u2013 just one month in office.<\/p>\n Experts and advocates say the LA case highlighted the precarious nature of even modest reforms and how media coverage of individual horrific crimes can derail criminal justice reform.<\/p>\n In a surprise statement on Sunday, Gasc\u00f3n said he would have handled the case differently had he known about the recordings and announced that he was now implementing a \u201cdifferent pathway for outlier cases\u201d. A panel of \u201ctrusted advisors\u201d would consider prosecuting youth as adults in extraordinary cases. Another committee could also consider whether to seek life without parole for some adult <\/strong>defendants, backtracking on his ban on sentencing people to die in prison.<\/p>\n Shifting policies was a \u201creally difficult decision\u201d, Gasc\u00f3n told The Guardian. He noted how other countries keep youth out of the adult criminal system and have better results: \u201cIt is very clear to me the harm that we\u2019ve done for years in prosecuting juveniles as adults,\u201d Gasc\u00f3n said. He acknowledged the audio obtained by Fox News prompted him to shift his thinking.<\/p>\n Gasc\u00f3n, who won office on promises of ending harsh punishments and prioritizing racial justice, also argued that the current juvenile system in California<\/a> could not adequately handle a case as complex as Tubbs, who has faced charges in other counties, but \u201cnever received any services\u201d.<\/p>\n