Californians are safer thanks to efforts of Kern's long-serving district attorney
Much has been written and said about Ed Jagels' career as Kern County district attorney as it winds to a close. News coverage and films focus on a high-profile series of cases more than 20 years ago.
But not enough has been said about two simple facts: California is a safer place because of the work Jagels did, and California crime victims have more rights because of the work Jagels did on their behalf.
The nature of being a prosecutor involves judgment calls. Few made as many tough calls with conviction as Ed Jagels.
Before "victims' rights" became a household word, Ed Jagels was fighting to make the justice system actually mete out justice to crime victims. He carried that fight for Proposition 8, the "Victims' Bill of Rights," to Sacramento in 1982 and now it's the law: Crime victims are treated with care and compassion by the justice system. Thanks in part to Jagels, victims -- and not just criminals -- have rights when they land in our criminal justice system.
When three liberal justices were running amok contrary to our Constitution and the will of the California electorate, Jagels led the battle in 1986 to have those justices removed from the court. The campaign was successful and sanity returned to our judicial system. As these judges were removed more than 20 years ago, some might not recall the damage they were inflicting to the safety of Californians by injecting their personal biases into court decisions. If Jagels and others had not intervened, I am convinced the safety of Californians would have been seriously compromised and great damage done to our business community. As it is, we continue to live with some of that court's misguided and destructive personal agenda.
With the scales heavily tilted in favor of defendants, Jagels led the campaign in 1990 for Proposition 115, which made sweeping changes to the state's criminal justice system. These changes began to curtail the mindless truth obscuring procedural rights of the accused and give more discretion to prosecutors and trial judges in an effort to harmonize the system with federal law. It sped up the preliminary hearing process and allowed police officers to testify about what people had told them instead of requiring assault and other crime victims to repeat their stories time after time; it restored criminal indictments and streamlined criminal procedures.
Jagels was a leader in developing California's three-strikes laws in 1994 to help reduce recidivism and stop the turnstile justice. Since the passage of the three-strikes legislation, violent crime has decreased 45 percent in California. About 8,000 felony offenders a year have seen their prison sentences doubled because they had committed a previous felony. And because of "three strikes," more prison parolees than ever are moving out of California.
He has put 90 percent of Kern County's gang leaders behind bars.
Jagels was not one of those elected officials who serves for a while and then coasts into retirement. Nor did he use his position as district attorney and a highly visible statewide leader to seek higher office. He served longer than any other major district attorney and did so because he is and from the beginning has been dedicated to making Californians safe.
As crime-fighting techniques grew into a new age of technology, Jagels co-chaired the state district attorneys' forensics committee. Although Ed would joke with you about his own challenges with modern technology, he understands and champions the use of the latest methods of prosecuting criminals.
We forget what California was like when Jagels first became a prosecutor. It was a system leaning heavily in favor of the criminal and against the victim. Crime was out of control. Because of the courage, vision and leadership of Jagels, crime victims are finally treated with the dignity and respect they have always deserved, and you and I are safer.
Michael Bradbury is the former district attorney in Ventura County and served twice as president of the California District Attorneys Association. He lives in Ojai.
