San Francisco’s deposed district attorney has a new job
It’s been nearly a year since San Francisco voters impeached their liberal district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in a recall campaign, as public frustration grew over property crime and the visible despair and misery on the city’s streets.
There was no convincing evidence that Boudin’s policies had exacerbated crime; Overall, crime in San Francisco changed little during his time in office. Yet voters rejected his progressive message of a lenient approach.
Boudin, who has remained largely silent since the recall, steps into a new role this week, as founder and executive director of the new Criminal Law and Justice Center at UC Berkeley School of Law. The job is comprehensive and includes teaching, researching the effects of changes in California criminal justice laws, and advocating for new laws, in the state capitol and in court.
“It is a job that allows me to draw on the lived experience I had visiting my parents in prison for a combined 63 years, and the hands-on professional experience I had as a public defender and elected district attorney in San Francisco ,” Boudin said. When he was a toddler, his parents, members of a radical leftist group, went to prison for their role in a botched robbery that left three men dead.
As he begins his new job, the 42-year-old Boudin reflected on the past year, his tenure, and San Francisco’s ongoing battle for public safety.
Debates about crime, the fentanyl epidemic and homelessness have become more contentious since his resignation. City leaders have promised more aggressive enforcement; an offer would exclude undocumented immigrants with convictions for distributing fentanyl against protection under the city’s shelter policy, making it easier to deport them.
“I strongly disagree with scapegoating or attacking immigrants for clearly entrenched structural inequalities and a public health crisis,” Boudin said. “It never worked, and it has often been a red flag for fascism. Scapegoating immigrants is not who we are in San Francisco, and it will not make us any safer.”
Regarding the fatal shooting of Banko Brown last month by a security guard at a downtown drugstore, Boudin had harsh words for his successor, Brooke Jenkins, who declined to press charges in the case. Her handling of the case sparked protests, especially about her public statements early in the investigation that the case appeared to be one of self-defense.
“Any experienced prosecutor knows, and Jenkins well should have known, that you don’t come out while a case is still under investigation, at least allegedly, and the defense is advocating for them,” he said.
Boudin defended his decision to charge two police officers for on-duty shootings – cases Jenkins later droppedand politically motivated.
“I campaigned on that issue,” Boudin said of police shootings. “It was not political. That was what voters wanted.”
In his new job, Boudin could potentially return to the courtroom as an attorney on a number of issues, including the review of bail laws.
“That’s an issue I’ve been working on for many, many years,” he said. “I strongly believe that being poor is not a crime in this country. And that we have a presumption of innocence. And that people who are presumed innocent should not be detained just because they are poor.”
When asked if he would ever seek an election post again, he simply said, “Never say never.”
Tim Arango is a National Desk correspondent based in Los Angeles.
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Today’s tip comes from John Merkler, who recommends coastal parks in San Diego:
“Combined, Torrey Pines state beach And Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve are one of the most sublime locations in Southern California and one of the top 10 in the state.
The beach and adjacent cliff are not just a geological fantasy of a multi-layered history; they are a scenic wonder and a never-ending source of relaxation, fun and often entertainment. It is an inspiration that never ceases to amaze and delight.”
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will share more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.
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Call it postmodern love.
Joseph Bartlett Fay and Daniel Wayne Garness first met face to face in an architectural landmark — now known as the Burn’s house – designed by Charles Moore, the postmodernist architect, on a hill in Santa Monica Canyon.
“Dan is a residential and landscape designer,” said Fay. “I’m an architecture enthusiast.”
Fast forward 11 years. Fay, 68, and Garness, 70, married this month in a small ceremony with some loved ones in attendance.
“A good home is a snapshot of the world,” Garness told The New York Times. “Equal parts shelter and dreams. Marriage may be a bit like that too.’