Following the departure of her predecessor Chesa Boudin, the new district attorney in San Francisco has decided to clean house, firing at least 15 people from the prosecutor’s office. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was just sworn in by Mayor London Breed only about a week ago.
Boudin, originally elected in 2019, was pushed from her seat in a June 7 recall election, due to growing frustration over public safety in the Democrat-led city.
Jenkins released a statement sharing how she had to make the “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.”
SF Gate reported the new district attorney’s statement, which reads “I promised the public that I would restore accountability and consequences to the criminal justice system while advancing smart reforms responsibly. My new management team, which will include the addition of three women of color, with decades of prosecutorial experience at the highest levels, will help our office deliver on that promise. I have full faith and confidence that these women will promote and protect public safety while delivering justice in all of its various forms.”
Of those that recently lost their jobs was Managing Attorney Arcelia Hurtado, who took to Twitter expressing her frustration.
After over 2 years of tireless and devoted service to the City and Cty of SF, I was unceremoniously fired without cause via phone by the Mayor's appointed DA. I am the highest ranking Latina/LGBTQ member of the management team at that office. I will continue the fight 4justice
— Arcelia Hurtado (@ArceliaHurtado) July 15, 2022
Law professor at the University of San Francisco and chair of the commission Lara Bazelon labelled Hurtado’s firing as “concerning” given that Hurtado “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.”
Bazelon added, while reporting to SF Gate: “I can see no legitimate reason for firing an attorney as rigorous, competent and ethical as Arcelia.”
KHRON reported that some of the other individuals who were let go include Rachel Marshall and Simin Shamji.
Now, other new hires have begun to fill vacancies, as Jenkins just hired Ana Gonzalez as chief assistant, Nancy Tung as chief of special prosecutions & community partnerships, Tiffany Sutton as chief of alternative programs & initiatives & juvenile and Kulvidar “Rani” Singh Mann as senior transition advisor.
Originally quitting Boudin’s office back in 2021, Jenkins volunteered for the recall election and has now become San Francisco’s first Latina district attorney.
According to The Associated Press, Jenkins stated that she felt Boudin had been much too rigid, and to enforce change, decided she would rather allow tools to be available for prosecutors to use at their own discretion.
