Straight Talk

California DA Instructs Officers to Determine If Looters “Need” Items Before Making Arrests

August 30, 2020

The District Attorney of Contra Costa, California has issued guidelines for looting charges which instruct officers, among other things, to determine if a perp had a genuine need for an item or not prior to making an arrest.

Yes, really.

Red State received a copy of the guidelines from a confidential source that was authenticated by a separate source familiar with the office’s policies.

The outlet also notes that Nichelle Holmes, the deputy to the DA in question, recently pushed to see a couple that had been arrested for painting over a Black Lives Matter sign to receive “more than a citation for vandalism.” The couple was charged with a hate crime.

Meanwhile her boss, Diana Becton, whose campaign was funded by none other than George Soros, also co-authored an op-ed along with other Soros DAs including St. Louis’ Kim Gardner and the notorious Kim Foxx (of Jussie Smollet fame) expressing their intention to radically overhaul the criminal justice system in favor of their progressive narratives.

It’s outrageous stuff. They launch the Politico piece by declaring erroneously that “Our criminal legal system was constructed to control Black people and people of color.” These people have lost their minds. This is some sick stuff.

Its injustices are not new but are deeply rooted in our country’s shameful history of slavery and legacy of racial violence. The system is acting exactly as it was intended to, and that is the problem.

“We should know: We’re Black, we’re female, and we’re prosecutors. We work as the gatekeepers in this flawed system. And we have some ideas for how to fix it.”

In clear defiance of even the most basic history of the criminal legal system, the women continue with their plan to, chillingly, “rectify past wrongs:”

The decisions that prosecutors make can either work to rectify the inherent harms in the legal system or perpetuate them. Part of our responsibility, as elected public servants, is to be self-aware and recognize that we are part of the problem. It is our moral and ethical duty to start advancing racial equity-minded policies—and community advocates and voters should hold us accountable for doing so.

Working from within, we have begun the steps to rectify past wrongs. We are implementing policies that include declining to prosecute minor offenses, overturning wrongful convictions, refusing to take cases from officers with a history of racial bias and expunging marijuana convictions. And we are currently working within our own offices to make the system fairer and more just.

Becton is not all talk, either.

As crime rages in her district, she’s clearly remained dedicated to doing as little as possible to enforce the law.

According to Shouse California Law Group: “Under Penal Code 463 PC, California law defines ‘looting’ as taking advantage of a state of emergency to commit burglary, grand theft or petty theft. Looting charges can be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony and is punishable by up to 3 years in jail.”

Under Becton’s guidance, however, the definition apparently becomes far looser.

Theft Offenses Committed During State of Emergency (PC 463)

In order to promote consistent and equitable filing practices the follow[ing] analysis is to be applied when giving consideration to filing of PC 463 (Looting):

  1. Was this theft offense substantially motivated by the state of emergency, or simply a theft offense which occurred contemporaneous to the declared state of emergency?
  2. Factors to consider in making this determination:
  3. Was the target business open or closed to the public during the state of emergency?
  4. What was the manner and means by which the suspect gained entry to the business?

iii. What was the nature/quantity/value of the goods targeted?

  1. Was the theft committed for financial gain or personal need?
  2. Is there an articulable reason why another statute wouldn’t adequately address the particular incident?

So this is what officers have to consider while they’re coping with all these messes, happening in Becton’s district and the surrounding areas:

https://twitter.com/SVNewsAlerts/status/1298854221362667521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1298854221362667521%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redstate.com%2Fjenvanlaar%2F2020%2F08%2F27%2Fsoros-da-diana-becton-requires-officers-consider-whether-a-looter-needed-stolen-goods-before-charging%2F

When the authority of the state to enforce the law vanishes, it is the kind of thing that forces law-abiding people to become frustrated and to become their own authority and take the law into their own hands in defending themselves and their property.

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