Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Her Side
Her SideHeroes

Jackie Lacey to be First Black D.A. of Nation’s Largest County, Los Angeles

Posted byBy Stan | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Armed with scores of endorsements from powerful elected officials, key law enforcement organizations and deeply entrenched labor unions, veteran prosecutor Jackie Lacey is poised to become Los Angeles County’s first African-American district attorney.

With slightly less than 10 million residents spread over 4,057 square miles, Los Angeles County is the nation’s largest and claims more than a quarter of California’s total population of nearly 38 million people. Just 9.3% are African-American.

Only a small number of district attorneys, nationwide, moreover, have been African-American. Blacks elected to high powered prosecutors seats throughout the country include Seth Williams, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia County), Robert Johnson, in Bronx, New York, (Bronx County), Paul L. Howard, in Fulton County (Atlanta, Georgia) and Robert Schuler Smith, in Hinds County, (Jackson, Mississippi).

Lacey, who for 10 years has been the county’s second highest ranking prosecutor (she is Chief Deputy District Attorney) is locked in a battle with Alan Jackson in the non-partisan election which will be decided on November 6. If Lacey defeats Jackson, she will not only become the first black district attorney in the county’s 162-year history, she will also be the first woman to hold the office. Lacey is a Democrat, Jackson is a Republican…

Read more: Black Media Scoop

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top