Lefty DSA City Attorney candidate Marissa Roy helped craft a 100-day crime freeze

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.

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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.”

Roy pointed to her website, where she argues most misdemeanors are rooted in poverty, mental illness or addiction — and says cycling people through jail “sets people up for failure.” Instead, she calls for expanding diversion programs, connecting offenders to treatment, housing and services, and moving away from what she calls a “one-size-fits-all” prosecution model.

Her broader platform is openly combative toward federal immigration enforcement and the Trump administration, casting the City Attorney’s office as a frontline defender against ICE and federal policy.

Roy is formally endorsed by DSA-LA, which requires candidates to reject corporate, real estate, fossil fuel and police union donations and to commit to advancing socialist policies.

Critics say that context matters.

“Los Angeles has already lived through a version of permissive prosecution — and paid the price,” said Austin. 

“I say this both as a former criminal prosecutor and as someone who grew up in Venice Beach. I had a front-row seat to [former district attorney] George Gascón’s permissive prosecutorial policies literally destroying the community I grew up in and wreaking havoc on our entire city.”

Austin argues that inside a prosecutor’s office, a moratorium isn’t symbolic.

He describes open-air drug use, repeat offenders cycling through the system and residents feeling abandoned.

“It’s not just life-threatening situations,” he said. “It’s the daily breakdown. Public safety isn’t a talking point. It’s the fabric of a livable city.”

Roy insists her position has not shifted. “My commitment to justice, equity, and real public safety has remained unchanged,” she said, adding that she regularly consults deputy city attorneys and public defenders about evidence-based reforms.

But the paper trail, including social media posts from May 2022 referencing “taking time out from filing new charges” — has become fresh ammunition for opponents who argue the city cannot afford another experiment with enforcement.

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office prosecutes misdemeanor crimes citywide and represents the city in civil litigation. It has direct influence over how aggressively laws are enforced, or how quickly they are de-prioritized.