The D.A.’s Failure Is Fully Revealed

Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner has hidden for years behind the public’s difficulty in placing responsibility for prosecutorial fiascoes. But after he let lower-level, relatively junior assistant district attorneys take the heat for losing enormously publicized cases, from the “Twilight Zone” to the McMartin preschool to the Rodney King police brutality case, Reiner may finally have to answer for his repeated disastrous judgments. These judgments also include what counts to file, whether to join cases against multiple defendants, what evidence to keep from the jury and the determination of venue.

But Reiner’s ineffectiveness is more deep-rooted than his legal strategies. Several years ago, Reiner joined Daryl Gates to massively violate the civil rights of minority youths in so-called gang sweeps. After arresting large numbers of young men based only on their tough appearance and inner-city location, Operation Clean Sweep as quickly forced wholesale releases from overcrowded jails. Most significantly, Reiner, by cooperating with and approving this, compromised his ability to bring civil rights charges against brutal police.

We’ll soon have a police chief free of the taint of racism, overseen by a newly empowered Police Commission. And amid the ballot items on June 2 will be a vote on the district attorney. The sweep could be complete.