San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin faces recall vote

On Tuesday, San Fransisco residents will be voting, amongst other issues, on  whether they want to keep or oust progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

The recall measure, Proposition H, is one of eight measures which will appear in residents’ ballots, which can either be submitted in person, or by mail, according to Fox News.

"We really aren't looking to celebrate this with champagne bottles … because this is a recall that we wish we never had to do," recall campaign spokesperson Richie Greenberg told Fox News.

"Having someone such as Boudin elected and having him in with his malicious, fraudulent… pro-criminal, pro-drug-dealer policies is something that we should have never had to suffer through," he added.

Boudin won his election in 2019, and since then, the city has experienced skyrocketing rates of homicides, hun crimes, homelessness and drug usage, while the rates of case prosecution has fallen.

Boudin has sought eliminating cash bail, policy changes to avoid criminalizing "poverty and homelessness," and ceasing the prosecution of quality-of-life crimes like public urination, offering or soliciting sex, and blocking a sidewalk.

Compared to 2019, homicides and gum comes rose both in 2020 and 2021, though those rates have fallen in 2020 year-over year, according to Fox News.

In regards to drugs, deaths associated with fentanyl surpassed COVID-19 deaths in the city in 2021.

The San Francisco Police Department announced in January that hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) individuals increased by 567 percent, going from nine in 2020 to 60 in 2021. One of those who was a victim of such an attack filed a lawsuit against Boudin, accusing him of failing "to uphold the fundamental rights of Asian American victims of racially-motivated violence."

"There are lifelong San Franciscans, lifelong Democrats, progressives, liberals, and even those who voted for [Boudin] in 2019 when he ran [who] are not only disappointed in him but who are disgusted by what he turned out to be," Greenberg said. "When he ran for office, he said nothing about if he was going to protect or prosecute the drug dealers we have."

"Boudin seems to want to do everything he can to prevent a criminal from going to jail," he continued.

Data made available earlier this year showed that Boudin has increased diversions of cases involving assault, robbery, and drug, and convictions have fallen.

According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, a diversion "is an alternative procedure in a criminal case where the prosecution is interrupted through a deal between the defendant and the prosecutor where the prosecutor either dismisses the charges completely or does not bring any charges to begin with. This deal allows the defendant to avoid a criminal conviction on his or her record if they successfully complete a rehabilitation program and a period of probation."

While rates of diversion have been increasing since 2018 in the city, conviction rates have been falling since Boudin was elected in 2019.

The recall efforts needs to receive at least 50 percent support to move forward. At that point, if the vote passes, Mayor London Breed will appoint an interim replacement to fill Boudin’s position until November 2022, when San Franciscans will hold a special election to vote for a new district attorney to fill the remainder of Boudin’s term, which ends in 2023.

"No San Francisco voter should assume that we got this and they can just sit back and let someone else to the civic duty and cast their vote and they don't have to worry about it," Greenberg said. "Every vote counts. We must ensure that we have that 50 percent-plus to have Boudin recalled."