VICTOR JOECKS: Ford, Democrats are still soft on crime

Democrats believe there are too many criminals in jail. Republicans believe there are too many criminals on the street.

In January, Joshua Sanchez-Lopez, 36, faced charges in Las Vegas related to vehicle theft. It wasn’t his first brush with the law. At that point, he had been arrested 35 times.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman set Sanchez-Lopez’s bail at $25,000. If he posted bail, Goodman told the Metropolitan Police Department to place him on electronic monitoring. Sheriff Kevin McMahill refused, noting in a letter to the judge that Sanchez-Lopez “poses an unreasonable risk to public safety.”

That seems obvious. Not to Goodman. The judge moved Sanchez-Lopez to a pretrial compliance unit run by the Las Vegas Justice Court. Sanchez-Lopez was released on Feb. 10, while he awaited trial.

In some cases, it’s hard to tell who was right and who was wrong. Not in this instance. On March 18, Metro arrested Sanchez-Lopez for stealing mail. After further investigation, police charged him with child abuse or neglect, having a forgery lab, mail theft and crimes related to fraud. Sanchez-Lopez faces 27 new felony charges.

McMahill was right. Goodman wasn’t just wrong. He was so obviously wrong that he should apologize to the public. Instead, Goodman declined to hold McMahill in contempt for the sheriff’s efforts to keep Las Vegas residents safe. How generous.

Gov. Joe Lombardo, who previously served as Metro’s sheriff, backed McMahill.

“This is exactly what law enforcement warned would happen — and it did,” Lombardo wrote on X. “A repeat violent offender was released and has now been arrested again. That is unacceptable.” He continued, “Sheriff McMahill and Metro were right. I stand firmly with LVMPD as they fight to keep our communities safe.”

Attorney General Aaron Ford is running for governor. I asked his office if he supported McMahill or Goodman. Ford refused to comment. What bravery from Nevada’s top law enforcement officer.

Perhaps Ford would have responded if the question had been accompanied by a lobbyist-funded junket to South Africa, Poland, Israel or South Korea. Those were all stops on his 2023 travel itinerary, worth $45,000.

This isn’t just a Nevada problem. Around the country, leftists in the justice system are going soft on criminals. Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, recently charged Abdul Jalloh with the murder of Stephanie Minter. Jalloh is an illegal immigrant who had previously been arrested more than 30 times. His previous charges included rape, stabbings and assaults.

Last year, police believe Decarlos Brown Jr. fatally stabbed Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, on a North Carolina train. The video of that attack is haunting. Brown had previously been arrested more than a dozen times.

In New York City, one shoplifter has been arrested more than 250 times. Judges keep setting him free on supervised release. As an aside, pretrial release programs need more scrutiny.

In 2025, Lawrence Reed is accused of randomly setting Bethany MaGee on fire in a Chicago L train. He had been arrested more than 70 times beforehand.

“We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said last August.

Crime victims of repeat offenders would disagree — at least who weren’t murdered.

Democrats’ compassion for criminals is cruelty to law-abiding citizens.