SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 3.24.2025

Talk about being nervy and shameless. The current San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins is the same person who called herself a “volunteer” when in reality she was being paid over 150K as she joined the Recall against her one time boss Chesa Boudin.

This is the current DA who has been referred to the body which investigates prosecutorial misconduct for actions she took as an an assistant DA in San Francisco.

This is the current DA unhappy that a 15 year public defender and now Judge, was assigned to hear cases in criminal court. The Mission Local reported that the current DA has taken the virtually unheard of step challenging every criminal case to which this Judge is assigned.

This is the current DA who labeled legitimate protesters Hamas sympathizers when thousands marched on Market Street in October 2023.

“As San Francisco District Attorney it is my responsibility, and right, to share with the public the facts around what happens in criminal cases.  Although some judges on the bench may not like transparency around their decisions, San Franciscans have asked for, expect and deserve to know what is happening at the courthouse.” SF DA Brooke Jenkins

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 3.24.2025

Former Judge LaDoris Cordell, a prominent voice on criminal justice issues in the Bay Area, resigned from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Innocence Commission on Monday, blasting DA Brooke Jenkins’ criticism of local judges.

“The place for a prosecutor to disagree with a judge’s ruling is in the courtroom, not on social media and not in the streets, pandering to voters. …I cannot continue to associate myself with the office of a District Attorney who so flagrantly disrespects our judiciary.”

“I cannot continue to associate myself with the office of a District Attorney who so flagrantly disrespects our judiciary,” Cordell said in a letter to the commission’s chairwoman, Lara Bazelon.

She referred to Jenkins’ recent assertion that a majority of San Francisco judges “do not treat drug dealing as a serious crime.” When a judge sentenced a convicted auto burglar to four months in jail, Jenkins said local judges were allowing criminals “to use this courthouse as a revolving door.”

DA Brooke Jenkins. Catapulted into office by former Mayor London Breed.

In another case, Jenkins’ office recommended a felony prison sentence for a minor theft by a man who had a previous felony conviction, but Judge Gerardo Sandoval imposed a misdemeanor sentence punishable by no more than a year in jail. Jenkins accused the judge of ignoring not only her office but also “the clear will of the voters” who had passed Proposition 36 last November, allowing — though not requiring — prison terms in such cases.

Last year, Jenkins joined a protest by Asian Americans outside the courthouse of Superior Court Judge Kay Tsenin, who had suspended a sentence for a man who had stabbed a 94-year-old Asian woman on the street. Tsenin found that the defendant was mentally disturbed and ordered him to undergo five years of treatment after releasing him from jail, where he had spent 2 ½ years.

After the protest, Cordell said, Tsenin received death threats and was forced to hear cases remotely rather than in her courtroom.

“Judicial independence is the hallmark of a democracy. Anyone who has graduated from law school knows this, which is why District Attorney Jenkins’ recent and scathing public attacks on judges are shameful and unethical,” she said in her resignation letter.