San Francisco, California, US – This month, voters in San Francisco removed their progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a recall election that brought his four-year term to a premature end.
Boudin was elected in 2019 on a platform that promised to look with new eyes at tough-on-crime criminal justice policies that have contributed to the skyrocketing prison population in the United States and disproportionately targeted communities of colour.
In the US, which leads the world in per capita incarceration, criminal justice reform and police accountability have been key demands from a growing movement for racial justice. The success of Boudin, alongside other “progressive prosecutors” who were elected in large cities such as Los Angeles and Philadelphia, was seen as a sign of the growing appeal of that movement.
Progressives now face substantial pushback from forces on the right and even within the Democratic Party itself, who seek to portray them as “soft on crime” amidst nationwide increases in violence.
Increasingly frustrated with an emerging narrative that they criticise as detached from the data – increases in violent crime are not linked to progressive reforms, and have often been most acute in municipalities governed by conservatives – progressives have pushed back against suggestions that a tough-on-crime approach is the best way to promote public safety or tackle problems such as homelessness and an opioid drug crisis.
“The past two years were difficult, and we acknowledge people are frustrated and angry,” said Abdi Soltani, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union Northern California, which opposed the recall effort. “But we know criminalising poverty and addiction and filling the jails won’t make San Francisco any safer.”
Recall campaigns
Progressive prosecutors have faced fierce opposition from conservative actors such as law enforcement unions, which have attacked reformers across the country and sought to portray their policies as “pro-criminal”.
In liberal cities where such groups might normally struggle to gain traction, recall elections, which allow voters to remove an official from office before their term has finished, have become a favoured tool for opponents of officials like Boudin.
A recall election has been mounted against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, and George Gascon, who holds the same position in Los…