New SF District Attorney Fires 15

Newly appointed San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has fired fifteen of recalled DA Chesa Boudin’s top staff members, angering progressives.  Eric Ting of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Jenkins told reporters the firings were necessary to help fulfill her promise to hold “serious and repeat offenders accountable.”   Among those getting the ax were Managing Attorney Arcelia Hurtado, a member of the city’s Innocence Commission established by Boudin in 2020.  Hurtado was also the head of the office’s Post Conviction Review Unit, which is currently considering a petition to reduce the sentence of Mayor London Breed’s brother, who is serving time in prison for manslaughter, armed robbery and carjacking.   Mayor Breed payed a $23,000 fine for unethical conduct after asking then-Governor Jerry Brown to commute her brother’s sentence in 2018.

Fired Deputy Rachel Marshall told reporters “San Francisco has taken 10 giant steps backwards.  Jenkins was dangled in front of us because she’s a Black woman, which was supposed to make us feel better, but the firings are terrifying.  I hope this raises the ire of the left, and makes us realize we must fight or we will lose.  We always say a shift to the right can’t happen in California, but it’s happening right here in San Francisco.”

Among the replacements Jenkins is bringing on board is Ana Gonzalez, to serve as Chief Deputy.  Gonzalez was among the deputies fired by Boudin, because she did not share his goal of turn the city’s criminal justice system into a revolving door for criminals.

Another deputy fired by Jenkins wrote “I want to commend @BrookeJenkinsSF for firing me today.  I had every intention to continue working to fight the obscene racial disparities that permeate the San Francisco criminal legal system.”

When she was appointed earlier this month, Jenkins told reporters that she intended to balance the need to clean up the city and hold repeat offenders accountable with the need for reform.  To me this was a red flag that she might be talking tough on crime, while not really intending to bring about real change.  The fact that she is bringing back the deputies that could not abide Boudin’s pro-criminal reforms is encouraging.

If the racially-obsessed progressives are angry, Jenkins must be doing the right thing.