Brooke Jenkins
is terrible for
San Francisco.
San Francisco’s District Attorney is shady, corrupt, and her regressive policies are making San Francisco more dangerous — join the team to stop her.
Since Brooke Jenkins became the District Attorney of San Francisco, she’s made dozens of reckless, harmful decisions that are hurting everyday people.
Brooke joined with Republicans to take down one of the most visionary, progressive prosecutors in the country. She’s claimed to be a progressive when it’s convenient, but her regressive policies haven’t done anything to achieve real justice or make San Franciscans safer.
Why is Brooke terrible for San francisco?
August 17th 2023
San Francisco kicked out its progressive DA… and violent crime went up
It’s been over a year since San Francisco ousted progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin over crime concerns. So what has happened since? Spoiler Alert: Violent crime is rising.
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1. Paid over $150,000 by a Republican billionaire-linked nonprofit
Brooke said she “volunteered” for the recall against progressive DA Chesa Boudin but campaign finance documents revealed that she was actually paid over $150,000 dollars by Neighbors for a Better San Francisco — a group funded by Republican billionaire William Oberndorf that shares the same name and address as the group that led the recall.
Tangled Web: How All 3 Nonprofits That Paid DA Brooke Jenkins Have Links to the Chesa Boudin Recall
The San Francisco Standard
Brooke Jenkins’ $100K came to light with this document. Here’s what else it shows
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins’ secret pay scheme underscores lack of honesty
San Francisco Examiner
2. Gutting the DAs office with firings and demotions
After Brooke took office, said she wanted to “calm the waters” and bring people together — then she promptly fired 15 highly-experienced staffers, leaving several crucial programs and cases without the staff needed to function.
Some of the people Brooke fired or demoted:
- Kate Chatfield, chief of staff
- Rachel Marshall, communications director and policy advisor
- Arcelia Hurtado, head of the post-conviction review unit who also worked on the Innocence Commission. She was also the highest ranking Latina and LGBTQ member of the office.
- Lateef Gray and Rebecca Young from the Independent Investigations Bureau who held police and other public officials accountable
- James Conger was demoted — the last remaining lawyer Chesa had investigating officer misconduct, who was prosecuting the first ever homicide case against a San Francisco officer.
- Evanthia Pappas was demoted — the head of the domestic violence unit, who was a renowned state-wide expert on domestic violence.
- Kasie Lee, the first Cantonese-speaking assistant DA and head of Victim Services was demoted
- Dana Drusinsky and Stephanie Lacambra, who were in the post-conviction unit and helped release 70 people who were in prison for decades and showed growth and rehabilitation.
- Seth Meisels, who oversaw the investigation into fencing operations responsible for many car break-ins and fought to protect the rights of women seeking abortions and their doctors
- Tal Klement, the chief of criminal division who fought for the rights of victims and the disabled. He and Seth sounded the alarm when they found out that SFPD illegally used the DNA of rape victims
- Simin Shamji, Chief of Programs and Initiatives, who oversaw diversion programs to address the root cause of crime and restorative justice work to support victims
- Renowned data scientists including Mikaela Rabinowitz, who was the director of data, analytics and research and Dylan Yep, who was working to fight racial disparities in the system.
- Ryan Khojasteh, a line prosecutor who fought to preserve juvenile justice reforms so that kids aren’t charged as adults
- Alexandra Grayner, a line prosecutor who handled ghost gun litigation and was the sole environmental prosecutor was demoted and later resigned.
3. Irresponsible Hires
After firing dozens of talented and uniquely-experienced staffers, Brooke made questionable hires — including several people with who should be disqualified from working in the DAs office.
- Nancy Tung, who is close with the San Francisco Police Officers Association to oversee the DA’s role in police misconduct cases. Tung was previously rejected by the SF Board of Supervisors for a role on the Police Commission because she was too close with the police to be impartial.
- Ana Gonzales, who was previously head of the DA’s gang prosecution unit
- Don DuBain, who was embroiled in a prosecutorial misconduct scandal
Brooke Jenkins Fired the Lead Prosecutor Who Investigates Police. Now She’s Named His Replacement
The San Francisco Standard
Fight back against regressive DAs
4. Failing to prosecute police & wasting Resources
Brooke is failing to hold police accountable AND wasting precious resources to prosecute low-level drug offenses — taking resources away from more serious crimes AND failing to do anything to address the real causes of drug abuse and crime.
- Brooke is wasting time reviewing drug cases to reverse plea deal offers made under Chesa’s office with the goal of prosecuting people for drug use and paraphernalia even though this has been proven to not reduce drug use
Claim Accuses San Francisco District Attorney of Lying To Protect Cop
The San Francisco Standard
Interim-DA Brooke Jenkins poised to abandon police accountability
San Francisco Bay View
New San Francisco DA Softens Tone, but prepares for War on Drugs
San Francisco Examiner
San Francisco’s latest Tenderloin drug crime crackdown is doomed to fail. Here’s why
San Francisco Examiner
5. Expanding Government Surveillance
Brooke is pushing for the police to be able to access the private video cameras of San Francisco residents
- Brooke supports legislation to expand the SFPD’s ability to tap into the live feeds of privately owned security cameras, including doorbells, to investigate misdemeanors.
Anger over S.F. property crimes isn’t worth throwing away our privacy rights
San Francisco Chronicle
6. Increasing Mass Incarceration
Brooke thinks putting more people in jail is the answer — instead of addressing the root causes of poverty, mental health crises, and substance use disorder. America already puts more of its own citizens behind bars than almost every other country and it hasn’t made us safer.
Staff shortages nix programming in SF jails; guards warn they can’t take influx
7. Shady relationships & Misconduct
Brooke has a very close relationship with the Mayor, a HUGE conflict of the interest if the DA needs to investigate the Mayor. She also has close ties with corporate trade groups.
S.F. D.A.’s office is disqualified from prosecuting murder case following Jenkins’ comments
San Francisco Chronicle
8. Brooke’s track record
Brooke has called herself a “progressive” — but her track record as a prosecutor shows something else.
Brooke Jenkins calls herself a progressive prosecutor. Should we believe her?
San Francisco Chronicle
The San Francisco Standard
Brooke Jenkins can’t have it both ways.
The Appeal
Videos
San Francisco’s Innocence Commission helped exonerate a man who spent 32 years behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit. Watch @larabazelon explain to @byjacobward about why the life-changing program could now be vulnerable. pic.twitter.com/in17SAKCgG
— NOW Tonight with Joshua Johnson (@NBCNOWTonight) July 14, 2022