Will New District Attorney Chesa Boudin “Transform” San Francisco?

Chesa Boudin has gained election as district attorney of San Francisco, beating out Suzy Loftus, favorite of the city’s establishment Democrats and backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The victory is not surprising, given the victor’s profile.

Chesa Boudin is the son of Weather Underground radicals Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert. Kathy was busted for a robbery that claimed three lives and named her child Chesa after Joanne Chesimard of the Black Liberation Army, responsible for at least six assassinations of police officers. When Kathy was serving time, Chesa was raised by Weather Underground bomb-throwers Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. Chesa showed no youthful rebellion and follows his mother’s concepts of “restorative justice” and “decarceration,” which she intones from the Columbia University School of Social Work. 

Chesa also put in time as a translator for the Venezuelan regime of Hugo Chavez, and like his family background, that was probably an asset in the DA race. Chesa claims it’s time for “radical change” and “transformation,” but voters might wonder where he’s going with that. 

Proposition 47 already empowers criminals to steal nearly $1,000 worth of property with impunity. Senate Bill 1391 empowers those under 16 to murder as many people as they like, avoid prosecution as adults, and gain release at age 25. After a Mexican criminal gunned down Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier, the San Francisco DA and public defender teamed up to get him off, even on the gun possession charge. 

How this can be transformed through more radical change remains uncertain, but it can’t be good for life or property. Things can always get worse, and as Bob Dylan said, you don’t need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows.