The Left/Progressives are terrified…
> "San Francisco has taken 10 giant steps backwards," she said. "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 is happening right here in San Francisco."
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Brooke-Jenkins-makes-wave-of-firings-17308456.php
Brooke Jenkins makes wave of firings. Progressives call it 'terrifying.'
New San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins fired 15 people in her office on Friday, with one in particular prompting an outcry. It comes in the first week after Jenkins was appointed to her role by Mayor London Breed following the recall of Chesa Boudin.
"Today, I made difficult, but important changes to my management team and staff that will help advance my vision to restore a sense of safety in San Francisco by holding serious and repeat offenders accountable and implementing smart criminal justice reforms," Jenkins said in a statement.
Managing Attorney Arcelia Hurtado was the first member of the office to lose her job. She had served as the DA Office's representative on the city's Innocence Commission, which investigates potential wrongful convictions in the city. The commission was established by Boudin in 2020, and Jenkins signaled support for allowing it to continue in a KQED interview on Thursday.
“The decision by Brooke Jenkins to fire Arcelia Hurtado is deeply concerning, especially given the promise she made just yesterday to allow the Innocence Commission to continue to function," said University of San Francisco law professor Lara Bazelon, the chair of the commission. "Arcelia was critical to the commission’s function. It is also concerning because Arcelia was the head of the DA’s post-conviction review unit, which, among other things, is currently considering the petition by Mayor London Breed’s brother Napoleon Brown to be granted leniency and released from prison following his conviction for carjacking and manslaughter. I can see no legitimate reason for firing an attorney as rigorous, competent and ethical as Arcelia.”
Brown was sentenced to 44 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, armed robbery and carjacking after an arrest in 2000. He is seeking re-sentencing, and Breed herself asked then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 to commute his sentence. San Francisco's Ethics Commission subsequently fined her $23,000 for that infraction, among others.
The DA's office previously oversaw Brown's re-sentencing hearings; the next one is scheduled for August. Boudin and his predecessors have opposed Brown's bid for a lesser sentence. A spokesperson for Jenkins said she plans to ask the California Attorney General's Office to handle the Brown case, taking her office out of the picture.
"I'll be interested to see what she does there," Cat Brooks, co-founder of the progressive Anti Police-Terror Project said of Jenkins. "Conflict of interest and the mayor do not shock me."
Other notable staffers fired included Kate Chatfield, Boudin's chief of staff; Tal Klement, assistant chief of general crimes; Rachel Marshall, Boudin's communications director and policy advisor; Mikaela Rabinowitz, director of data, analytics and research; and Lateef Gray, managing attorney of the independent investigations bureau, the department that oversees investigations into police officers.
"I came to DA Boudin's office to fight for criminal justice reform; that battle has never felt more urgent," Marshall said in a statement. "There is no question that DA Jenkins' approach differs dramatically from my values. My passion for the mission to reform our legal system is stronger than ever and I am eager for the next opportunity to effect change."
Jenkins has repeatedly stated that she seeks to balance reform and public safety, but Brooks said she believes the firings — especially Hurtado's — are not consistent with reform.
"San Francisco has taken 10 giant steps backwards," she said. "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 is happening right here in San Francisco."
Editor's note: This article was updated at 7:40 p.m. after the DA's office clarified that 15, and not 16 firings were made, as was originally shared.
Photo: Jenkins (left) with corrupt San Francisco, California mayor London Breed - yes, that’s her real name