It was almost a year ago that San Francisco voters ousted their liberal district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in a recall election, as public frustration was growing over property crime and the visible despair and squalor on city streets. There was no compelling evidence that Boudin’s policies had made crime worse; overall, crime in San Francisco changed little in the time he was in office. The job is wide-ranging and will involve teaching, researching the effects of changes in criminal justice laws in California and advocating new laws, in the State Capitol and in court. “It’s a job that’s going to allow me to draw on the lived experience I had visiting my parents in prison for a combined 63 years, and the practical professional experience I had both as a public defender and elected district attorney in San Francisco,” Boudin said. When he was a toddler, his parents, members of a radical left-wing group, went to prison for their roles in a botched robbery that left three men dead.

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Persons: Chesa Boudin, Boudin, “, ” Boudin Organizations: San Francisco, Law, Justice Center, Berkeley School of Law, State Capitol Locations: San Francisco, California