Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent pardon of former state Sen. Roderick Wright was supported by several of California’s top political figures but opposed by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, who warned it would undermine a fundamental state law, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
The county prosecutor told Brown that clemency for Wright, an Inglewood Democrat who was was found guilty in 2014 of lying about living in his legislative district, could lead other politicians to disregard requirements that they reside in the areas they represent.
“A grant of pardon for Mr. Wright would set him above the law, and encourage future candidates to break it,” Lacey wrote in the Sept. 6 letter to the governor, which was among 299 pages of documents released Thursday under an order by the California Supreme Court. Brown pardoned Wright, 66, in November.