The citizens of San Francisco have voted to officially recall progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
Boudin has been frequently blamed for massive spikes in crime and homelessness. He has championed policies such as refusing to charge juveniles as adults, refusing to seek the death penalty, and not prosecuting thefts under $1000.
During his tenure in office, the city saw burglaries rise by 47% and motor vehicle theft rise by 36%. Homicide also rose under his watch.
A string of major heists have gone viral over the last few years, including organized gangs stealing from high end stores as well as smaller thefts in places like Walgreens.
After finding out his fate, Boudin suggested to some of his remaining supporters that he would take his unpopular criminal justice reform national, telling them, “We know that people were writing the obituary of this election before our campaign even started. But we are just getting started, because we knew that fixing a system that has systematically failed us — not just for decades, but for generations, for centuries — was not the work of one year, or one term. It’s certainly not the work of one man or woman or one office.”
Mary Jung, who chaired the recall campaign, said that the vote was a message from the people of San Francisco that they want a District Attorney who will hold “serious, violent and repeat offenders accountable while never forgetting the rights of victims and their families.”
Jung, however, still managed to claim that the city would continue to pursue progressive prosecution policies despite the clear failures of Boudin’s own attempts at doing so.
“This election does not mean that San Francisco has drifted to the far right on our approach to criminal justice,” Jung said. “In fact, San Francisco has been a national beacon for progressive criminal justice reform for decades and will continue to do so with new leadership.”
Mayor London Breed will now get to appoint an interim District Attorney until the election is held in November.
Boudin ran on a platform promising to decrease mass incarceration and send low-level offenders into rehab facilities instead of prisons.
The results of the vote could have implications for other progressive DA’s facing recalls including Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, who is up against his own impending recall for similar reasons. Do you think the recall of Chesa Boudin was a one-off or is it a sign of America rejecting the policies pushed by these new progressive DA’s?
