San Francisco District Attorney Gets Tough—Expect Aggressive Prosecution

There’s a new district attorney in The City, and she means business.

A former, tough-on-crime assistant district attorney (ADA) for San Francisco, Brooke Jenkins led the successful recall effort to replace District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

Voters elected Boudin in 2019 as a progressive reformer. But when pandemic-related crime and gun violence rose in San Francisco, voters recalled him on June 7. Mayor London Breed appointed Jenkins to replace him.

Within days, Jenkins fired more than a dozen staffers. She brought in three new ADAs with “more than 50 years of prosecutorial experience,” she said in a July 15 interview on KQED public television.

After a meeting with SOMA (South of Market Street) merchants on July 29, Jenkins tweeted:

“I met w/ SOMA merchants to hear their most pressing concerns: property crime, drug dealing & repeat offenders. Their livelihoods are at stake. I want to be clear that SF will no longer be a safe haven for those committing these crimes. There will be accountability & consequences.”

Boudin Supporters Criticize Jenkins

San Francisco defense attorney and former police commissioner John Hamasaki told the L.A. Times on July 9 that Jenkins has no management experience. He also said she has “a pretty good history of what I think is objectively unethical conduct.”

The San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club expressed the concerns that Jenkins will bring a return to cash bail, enhanced sentencing penalties, and charging minors as adults.

In its written statement, the club told the Times that Jenkins represents a return “to a world with mass incarceration of our Black and Brown communities; where ‘guilty till proven innocent’ is the motto of the current occupant in the district attorney’s office.”

Jenkins Promises Progressive Justice

The Times article quoted Jenkins from her swearing-in ceremony, “I want to be very clear today that accountability and justice come in many forms. For some, accountability may have to be a prison, but for the majority of people, it is something else.”

Anybody arrested in San Francisco can expect aggressive prosecution and will need an equally aggressive defense. Call Amin Law for a free consultation at 415-851-4300.