The exodus of prosecutors from San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s office has continued as Boudin’s soft-on-crime policies continue to let repeat offenders out on the streets.
Two prosecutors, Brooke Jenkins and Don Du Bain, have recently quit working under Boudin and joined the recall effort against him. At least 51 lawyers have been fired or left since Boudin took over in January 2020, roughly one-third of the department’s previous strength.
Fatal and nonfatal gun violence has risen drastically this year in San Francisco, and burglaries are at the highest levels in recent history. Organized retail crime has led to Walgreens closing several locations. While Boudin claims the recall effort is little more than a political attack, more people in the city signed the recall petition (more than 83,000) than there are registered Republicans (33,788) or people who voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election (56,417).
Whether enough San Franciscans will actually be willing to vote to remove Boudin from his post is another question. But the effects of his policies have been clear for assault victims and the restaurants and stores regularly hit by repeat criminals. They are even clear to Boudin’s subordinates. Jenkins is “an African American and Latino woman” who “would wholeheartedly agree that the criminal justice system needs a lot of work.” Du Bain, a former district attorney himself, said he considers Boudin a friend.
Boudin is doing his best to figure out just how flippant a district attorney can afford to be about crime in a deep-blue city. In most places, his recall would be inevitable. But San Francisco Democrats hold all the cards now. It is up to them to determine just how many more prosecutors they want to walk off the job and how many more crimes they want Boudin to ignore.
