SF DA Takes Bold Steps to End Racial Disparities

Progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who took office in January, announced policy changes Friday to reduce racial disparities in arrests and sentencing.  Mary Jane Johnson of the San Francisco Examiner reports that Boudin’s office will no longer prosecute for drugs, guns or anything else, including a nuclear device, found during  “pretextual” traffic stops, and will not seek sentencing increases for habitual felons or gang members.  The new policy adopts reforms recommended by the Obama Justice Department in 2016 to address racial bias in policing.

The District Attorney, a former public defender, stressed that the restrictions were only for minor traffic infractions (taillight out, no turn signal, no license plate, etc.) and would not apply if the subject was fleeing to evade arrest, or attacking the police.  The Justice Department recommendations were based on its finding that blacks were stopped by police in the City five times more often than other races, well out of proportion with their percentage of the population.  This disparity might be because annual Department of Justice statistics indicate that nationally blacks, which represent about 12% of the U.S. population, commit 31.7% of the seven major crimes and 53% of all homicides.   The San Francisco Police Officer’s Association was not pleased, stating “In his short tenure, Chesa Boudin has demonstrated that he is a clear and present danger to the law-abiding residents, businesses and visitors of San Francisco.”