She’s running to be a top prosecutor in Los Angeles — but Marissa Roy is tied to a plan that would have frozen misdemeanor prosecutions for 100 days.
The DSA-aligned City Attorney candidate was once linked to a sweeping proposal to slam the brakes on filing new charges for trespassing, petty theft, public intoxication and other low-level crimes that shape daily life in city neighborhoods.
For 100 days, everyday offenses neighbors say chip away at safety would have simply stopped moving through the system.
And now, Roy wants the power to decide which cases get filed and which never see a courtroom.
Asked directly whether she supported a blanket misdemeanor moratorium, Roy told The California Post: “I have never personally supported a blanket moratorium on misdemeanor prosecution. That idea originated from a criminal attorney and was adopted by Faisal Gill.”
Internal draft documents from the 2022 Los Angeles City Attorney race tell a more complicated story.
Correspondence exclusively obtained and reviewed by The Post shows Marissa Roy was directly involved in discussions surrounding a proposed 100-day pause on filing new misdemeanor charges during that campaign.
The proposal, advanced within the campaign orbit of former City Attorney candidate Faisal Gill, called for temporarily halting new misdemeanor filings while the office conducted a top-to-bottom review of enforcement policies and expanded diversion programs.
“It means cases don’t get filed. It means line prosecutors are told to stand down,” former prosecutor Ben Austin told The Post. “In our communities, it means that for however long that moratorium lasts, we’re basically living in a lawless society where anything goes.”
The offenses affected would have included trespassing, loitering, public intoxication, minor drug possession, resisting arrest and failure to appear — Austin described as “quality of life” violations and supporters label “low-level.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
