Spitzer’s Remarks In Case At Center Of Racism Scandal Are Under Investigation
Today, The Voice of OC’s Nick Gerda broke the story that Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer’s remarks in a case at the center of a racism scandal that has consumed Spitzer is now under investigation by the county’s top law enforcement watchdog, the County’s Office of Independent Review.
“We are investigating these allegations,” OIR director Sergio Perez told Voice of OC, in a full story that is worth a read. “The allegations are quite serious because they get to the heart…of the criminal justice system’s commitment to treat everybody fairly, regardless of who they are. And whenever there’s a question about that kind of treatment, then we run the danger of a crisis in confidence in the criminal justice system. We want to be sure decisions are being made for the right reasons in the right ways.”
Spitzer has been mired in a hailstorm of controversy in recent weeks. National and local media have reported on allegations of Spitzer riffing on why Black men date white women to his top prosecutors, doing so while they discussed whether his office should execute a Black man. A newly surfaced video of Spitzer repeating the n-word three times went viral. The ACLU found that Spitzer’s office is perpetuating “vast racial disparities” in prosecutions. And there are multiple workplace lawsuits from prosecutors that claim Spitzer fostered a hostile workplace, including a prosecutor who alleges Spitzer sought a Black woman as lead prosecutor on a case because of her race and told his senior leadership team he needed a “brown or black face” to join a meeting with the NAACP.
These statements have been described as “racist” by the Los Angeles Times, “anti-Black” in the pages of the Voice of OC, and “racially charged” by the Orange County Register. The statements have also led to a major loss of support for Spitzer. Nearly 20 elected prosecutors have rescinded endorsements of Spitzer, including close allies like Republican District Attorney Mike Hestrin in Riverside County. In fact, so many DAs have bailed on Spitzer that he has removed the entire list from his campaign website. But it’s not just DAs. Groups like the conservative California Women’s Leadership Association have also retracted their support. Others, such as the NAACP California, and the National Urban League, have called for Spitzer’s resignation.
And today, the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association, an affiliate of the Orange County Bar Association committed to supporting the Black legal community in the county, also called for Spitzer’s resignation and for the Attorney General to investigate the office.