'Progressive' Prosecutors Feel the Heat from Americans Fed Up with Crime Explosion: 'Real Victims of Real Crimes'
One of America's most liberal cities sent a huge message when it booted District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a recall campaign this week.
Boudin, the son of convicted Weather Underground terrorists Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, was elected in 2019 on a clear mandate to reform the criminal justice system – finding alternatives to incarceration, ending cash bail, and holding the police accountable. What San Francisco residents got in return was a city so overrun with crime. Tourists were even warned to avoid the city for their own safety.
Under Boudin, burglaries were up 40 percent, and homicides 37 percent. A poll showed that 40 percent of city residents plan to leave.
Even the city's Democratic Mayor London Breed got behind the recall effort, which featured ads like this one:
"My brother Ed French was killed on Twin Peaks one morning while taking pictures of the city he loved. The previous District Attorney was ready to prosecute his killers, but when Chesa Boudin took office, he fired the prosecutor assigned to the case," the ad said.
Polls show concern about crime among Americans is at its highest level since 2016, and they're taking that concern into the voting booth.
Five other progressive candidates for district attorney have lost in the past month to opponents pledging to be tough on crime.
The next progressive DA who could soon be out is L.A. county's George Gascón, if opponents collect enough recall signatures.
Former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman, Executive Director of Right On Crime is fighting to reform the criminal justice system but says what was happening in San Francisco was not "reform."
"It's outrageous to see some of these prosecutors who are telling people that this is criminal justice reform. When what it actually is, is a refusal to follow the law, to enforce the law," Tolman said. "You never compromise public safety. You also never forget there are real victims of real crimes."
And the backlash against progressive prosecutors is likely not over. Democratic strategist Jim Kessler tweeted this warning: "If national Democrats don't wake up to what happened to progressives in NY, MN and SF this cycle, prepare yourselves for permanent minority status."
If national Democrats don’t wake up to what happened to progressives in NY, MN and SF this cycle prepare yourselves for permanent minority status.
— Jim Kessler (@ThirdWayKessler) June 8, 2022
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