Documents surfaced this week showing Orange County District Attorney, Todd Spitzer, inappropriately and illegally considered race during a meeting to decide whether California should execute a Black man.

Prosecutors in attendance at the meeting memorialized his remarks in writing after concluding they were detestable and discoverable–meaning the mere fact that the DA had made the remarks had to be disclosed to the court. According to numerous reports, Spitzer remarked that, “he knows many black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating ‘white women.’”

The revelations aren’t just appalling, they’re disqualifying, as our system of justice must be colorblind to ensure integrity in prosecutions and the trust of the communities we serve.

The implications of these remarks are far-reaching and extend well beyond the instant case. The questions facing OC’s criminal justice system are many, like what other cases crossed DA Spitzer’s desk involving a person of color?

Did his racism infect those cases too?

Ultimately, Todd Spitzer’s views of black people are now out in the open, and they have infected cases across the office by casting a shadow over every prosecution involving a person of color. To ensure the fair administration of justice the Attorney General should investigate how the bigotry of Orange County’s top law enforcement official has impacted other cases involving people of color. Most importantly, Todd Spitzer must resign immediately. His failure to step aside will degrade public trust in law enforcement, and that threatens our safety and makes the job of policing more dangerous.

Communities that are distrustful of law enforcement are less likely to report crimes. Effective policing of communities that don’t trust you is not only impossible, it’s more dangerous for police.

Sadly, Spitzer’s comments merely top off a career that had already undermined trust and sowed chaos at the District Attorney’s Office. Making these comments so openly reflects a lack of maturity, awareness, and a fundamental misunderstanding of Orange County values, but it also speaks to the culture he has created around him. Spitzer’s culture is one in which he not only feels free to make racist comments, but in which he has fired subordinates to protect himself, and protected and promoted his friend who is a known pervert that sexually harassed multiple women.

It’s no surprise that office morale is at an all-time low and that scores of talented staff and attorneys are fleeing the office. DA Spitzer lacks the moral values and principles to run this office, and his remarks indicate he is unfit for leadership at any level. The fact that he serves as the chief law enforcement officer and gatekeeper to Orange County’s system of justice should be an outrage to all.

Whether you support or oppose the death penalty, this saga also provides a window into the perils of state sanctioned executions. At the time DA Spitzer made his racist remarks he was considering whether to seek death in the case of Jamon Buggs, a Black man accused of killing two white people. Numerous studies show the death penalty is racist in its application. In fact, defendants convicted of killing white victims are executed at a rate 17 times greater than those convicted of killing Black victims.

The role race plays in the death penalty is horrifying, but so too is the toll it takes on victims and the resources it sucks away from strategies proven to reduce crime.

Few things are a magnet for media attention like the tough talk prosecutor seeking the death penalty in a grisly murder case. The soundbites you’ll hear from politicians like Todd Spitzer who promise the ultimate justice for traumatized victims are a Master Class in cliché. The actual experience for victims in death penalty cases, however, is perhaps the greatest injustice of all.

Today, prosecutors who seek the death penalty do so knowing it’s a sentence that will never be carried out. Due to a confluence of factors, Gov. Gavin Newsom placed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019. Prior to the moratorium, however, nobody had been executed in California since 2006.  Victims in death penalty cases are dragged through an endless number of appeals, forcing them to relive their trauma repeatedly for decades. Not only will the person who took their loved one never be executed, those sentenced to death have traditionally had their own private cell on death row instead of double bunking with another inmate in a 9’ x 6’ cell.

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While the death penalty re-victimizes survivors, it betrays taxpayers. Since reinstating the death penalty in 1978, California taxpayers have spent roughly $4 billion on the death penalty while carrying out just 13 executions. That’s $4 billion we could spend on housing the homeless, mental health and drug addiction counseling, after school programs and opportunities for at-risk youth–all of which are proven to prevent crime. The death penalty, by contrast, has never been shown to prevent crime.

Orange County deserves safety, honesty, and integrity from their district attorney. Since Todd Spitzer took office he has struck out on all three.  Homelessness is up over 40% and homicides have reached a 23-year high in our community. Victims of sexual assault and survivors of sexual harassment in his office have been betrayed. Meanwhile, Todd Spitzer is contemplating race in decisions about who should be put to death.

Orange County deserves a new paradigm, and a new district attorney.

Pete Hardin is a former Marine Judge Advocate, Special Assistant United States Attorney, deputy district attorney and candidate for Orange County District Attorney