49 Facts About Chesa Boudin

Chesa Boudin is an American lawyer who served as the 29th District Attorney of San Francisco from January 8,2020, to July 8,2022.

Chesa Boudin went on to work at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office as a post-doctoral fellow in 2012.

Chesa Boudin clerked for Charles Breyer on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 2013 and 2014 before returning to San Francisco as a deputy public defender.

Chesa Boudin would go on to win a special election to complete Boudin's unexpired term.

Chesa Boudin is the first district attorney in San Francisco to be recalled, and the first district attorney in the state of California to be successfully removed from office.

Chesa Boudin's mother was sentenced to 20 years to life, and his father to 75 years to life, both for the felony murders of two police officers and a security guard.

Kathy Chesa Boudin was released under parole supervision in 2003, when Chesa Boudin was 23 years old.

Chesa Boudin's great-grand-uncle, Louis B Boudin, was a Marxist theoretician and author of a two-volume history of the Supreme Court's influence on American government, and his grandfather Leonard Boudin was an attorney who represented controversial clients, such as Fidel Castro and Paul Robeson.

Chesa Boudin's uncle Michael Boudin was a conservative judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Chesa Boudin attended University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Yale College.

Chesa Boudin earned his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2011 and began work for the San Francisco Public Defender's Office as a Liman fellow in 2012.

In 2015, Chesa Boudin began working full time at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office as a deputy public defender.

Chesa Boudin serves on the board of the Civil Rights Corps, a national non-profit organization, and is on the board of Restore Justice, a non-profit based in California.

Chesa Boudin's book, Gringo: A Coming of Age in Latin America, was released in April 2009 by Charles Scribner's Sons.

Chesa Boudin was elected San Francisco district attorney in the 2019 election, defeating interim district attorney Suzy Loftus.

Chesa Boudin campaigned for the office on a decarceration platform of eliminating cash bail, establishing a unit to re-evaluate wrongful convictions, and refusing to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement with raids and arrests.

Chesa Boudin was sworn in as San Francisco district attorney by San Francisco mayor London Breed on January 8,2020 at the Herbst Theatre.

Shortly afterward, Chesa Boudin restructured the management team by firing seven prosecutors.

Chesa Boudin dropped charges against Dwayne Grayson after a spokesperson in Chesa Boudin's office said the victim expressed his intent to pursue restorative justice.

Chesa Boudin announced partnerships with Lyft and AirBnB to provide transportation and temporary housing services to survivors during the pandemic.

Chesa Boudin's office launched the Economic Crimes Against Workers Unit, which is led by Assistant District Attorney Scott Stillman, in April 2020.

Also in June 2020, Chesa Boudin announced a new policy requiring prosecutors to review all available evidence before charging any cases involving allegations of resisting or obstructing police officers or committing an assault on officers.

Chesa Boudin introduced a new policy wherein cases would not be charged or prosecuted based on the sole evidence of officers with a history of misconduct, such as excessive force or discrimination, without prior approval of the district attorney.

Chesa Boudin announced that victims of police violence would be able to file for medical compensation regardless if the officer was prosecuted for assault or found to have used excessive force.

Chesa Boudin stated that the policy is meant to supplement a gap in the state's compensation laws, which excluded victims of police assaults and shootings if police reports suggest that the victim contributed to their own injury or death.

Chesa Boudin filed charges against Officer Terrance Stangel for striking Dacari Spiers with a baton in what he called the "first-ever use-of-force case against an on-duty officer for excessive force".

Stangel alleged that Chesa Boudin's office withheld a witness interview which said that Spiers was assaulting his girlfriend, therefore justifying the use of force.

Chesa Boudin has received criticism for the increase in specific crimes, particularly burglaries, car theft, and murders, during his tenure.

Chesa Boudin theorized that the rise of burglaries in neighborhoods such as Bernal Heights was due to "economic desperation" from the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift of targeting from tourists to residents and small businesses.

In October 2020, Chesa Boudin's office sent out a survey to 10,500 crime victims, asking them to rank their experience with his office.

Chesa Boudin was criticized for his handling of the case of Deshaune Lumpkin, a 17-year old who shot and killed a 6 year old.

Chesa Boudin decided to try Lumpkin as a minor and consequently received only 7 years in prison, a decision that was criticized by the media and the family of the victim.

Chesa Boudin later clarified his comments, stating that he was referring to the perpetrator's conduct before the crime.

Chesa Boudin has charged Ratanapakdee's assailant with murder and elder abuse.

Chesa Boudin was criticized for his handling of the case of the attack perpetrated by 24-year-old Eric Ramos-Hernandez on 84-year old Rong Xin Liao.

Chesa Boudin's office claimed that outcome was desired by Liao, who speaks only Cantonese.

Chesa Boudin has been criticized for his alleged lack of prosecution of drug-related crimes, with only three drug convictions in 2021, none of which were for fentanyl dealing.

Chesa Boudin has defended his actions saying that many of the drug dealers in the Bay Area are from Honduras, and would face deportation if convicted of drug dealing.

Chesa Boudin cites one study that looked at violent crime rates in Brooklyn, Chicago, St Louis, and Philadelphia from 2014 to 2018 and another that looked at recidivism rates of defendants who had their misdemeanors dismissed.

Chesa Boudin's office acknowledged having failed to disclose evidence on time, but disputed having hid it intentionally.

Prosecutors Brooke Jenkins and Don du Bain, who previously worked for Chesa Boudin, left the DA's office and publicly joined the recall campaign, blaming Chesa Boudin's lack of commitment to prosecuting crimes.

At least 51, or about one third, of lawyers at the District Attorney's Office left or were fired since Chesa Boudin took over in January 2020.

Chesa Boudin has been criticized in a number of instances for releasing suspects with a history of previous convictions who then went on to commit further crimes.

Chesa Boudin's office declined to file new charges against McAlister, stating that the state's parole officials had more leverage to keep individuals in custody for nonviolent crimes.

The SFPOA has criticized Chesa Boudin for releasing Lyons and for being too lenient on repeat offenders.

Chesa Boudin is described by his critics as "soft on crime".

The campaign was led by former San Francisco Democratic Party County Central Committee chair Mary Jung, but Chesa Boudin's supporters have asserted, based on the campaign's sources of funding, that the campaign was largely a Republican effort to remove him from power.

In November 2020, Chesa Boudin lobbied New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to commute the 75-year-to-life prison sentence of his father David Gilbert, the last member of Weather Underground still incarcerated for their involvement in the 1981 Brink's robbery and three related murders.

Chesa Boudin was granted parole on October 26,2021 and released on November 4,2021.