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| Dad’s in Prison, Mom Was on Parole. Their Son Is Now Running for D.A. | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| SAN FRANCISCO — Standing in front of a group of potential donors in a well-appointed home, Chesa Boudin began a stump speech that would perhaps only fly in what was once the epicenter of the counterculture. | SAN FRANCISCO — Standing in front of a group of potential donors in a well-appointed home, Chesa Boudin began a stump speech that would perhaps only fly in what was once the epicenter of the counterculture. |
| “I was in diapers when my parents left me with the babysitter to participate in an armored car robbery,” he said. “They never came home.” | “I was in diapers when my parents left me with the babysitter to participate in an armored car robbery,” he said. “They never came home.” |
| Mr. Boudin, 38, is campaigning for an unlikely role for someone whose parents, operatives in the 1960s radical left-wing group the Weather Underground, went to prison for their roles as getaway drivers in a botched stickup that left three men — including two police officers — dead. | Mr. Boudin, 38, is campaigning for an unlikely role for someone whose parents, operatives in the 1960s radical left-wing group the Weather Underground, went to prison for their roles as getaway drivers in a botched stickup that left three men — including two police officers — dead. |
| He wants to be the district attorney. | He wants to be the district attorney. |
| Mr. Boudin now works as a public defender, representing poor clients in criminal cases. His platform includes reducing mass incarceration, diverting mentally ill and drug addicted offenders away from prison, being tougher on police misconduct and closing jails. | Mr. Boudin now works as a public defender, representing poor clients in criminal cases. His platform includes reducing mass incarceration, diverting mentally ill and drug addicted offenders away from prison, being tougher on police misconduct and closing jails. |
| “We really need to set a reset button as a country,” he said. “The fact that more than 50 percent of Americans have an immediate family member either currently or formerly incarcerated tells you a lot about just how defining a feature of American culture incarceration has become.” | “We really need to set a reset button as a country,” he said. “The fact that more than 50 percent of Americans have an immediate family member either currently or formerly incarcerated tells you a lot about just how defining a feature of American culture incarceration has become.” |
| Mr. Boudin has perhaps the most storied background among the growing number of political figures whose direct experience with the American criminal justice system has fueled their desire to change it. | Mr. Boudin has perhaps the most storied background among the growing number of political figures whose direct experience with the American criminal justice system has fueled their desire to change it. |
| In President Trump’s administration, Jared Kushner, whose father served time in federal prison, was a key proponent of the First Step Act, an overhaul bill that passed last year. Among prosecutors elected in recent years, Kim Foxx in Chicago, Rachael Rollins in Boston and Aramis Ayala in Orlando have all said that having family members who were incarcerated shaped their view that the system needed reform (Ms. Ayala met and married her husband, David, after he served time for drug conspiracy and counterfeiting.) | In President Trump’s administration, Jared Kushner, whose father served time in federal prison, was a key proponent of the First Step Act, an overhaul bill that passed last year. Among prosecutors elected in recent years, Kim Foxx in Chicago, Rachael Rollins in Boston and Aramis Ayala in Orlando have all said that having family members who were incarcerated shaped their view that the system needed reform (Ms. Ayala met and married her husband, David, after he served time for drug conspiracy and counterfeiting.) |
| And Mr. Boudin joins candidates across the country who have promised to completely reimagine how the country deals with matters of crime and punishment. But the dynamics are different in San Francisco, with its progressive politics and its history as a safe place for radical thinking. Many view the race as an opportunity to see how far efforts to overhaul the system can go. | And Mr. Boudin joins candidates across the country who have promised to completely reimagine how the country deals with matters of crime and punishment. But the dynamics are different in San Francisco, with its progressive politics and its history as a safe place for radical thinking. Many view the race as an opportunity to see how far efforts to overhaul the system can go. |
| “There is a perfect constellation of political forces in San Francisco that will support a bold, progressive district attorney,” said Anne Irwin, a former public defender in the city who is now the director of Smart Justice California, an advocacy group that has endorsed Mr. Boudin and his main opponent, Suzy Loftus. | “There is a perfect constellation of political forces in San Francisco that will support a bold, progressive district attorney,” said Anne Irwin, a former public defender in the city who is now the director of Smart Justice California, an advocacy group that has endorsed Mr. Boudin and his main opponent, Suzy Loftus. |
| It is not as though the city has been a bastion of tough-on-crime policies. The current top prosecutor, George Gascón, has taken steps to divert young adults from prison, and San Francisco was the first city to clear old marijuana convictions. One study concluded that if the United States “could match San Francisco’s rates” then “mass incarceration would be eliminated.” | It is not as though the city has been a bastion of tough-on-crime policies. The current top prosecutor, George Gascón, has taken steps to divert young adults from prison, and San Francisco was the first city to clear old marijuana convictions. One study concluded that if the United States “could match San Francisco’s rates” then “mass incarceration would be eliminated.” |
| In a measure of the city’s liberal politics, all of the four candidates in the district attorney race are, in one way or another, arguing for reducing incarceration even more. | In a measure of the city’s liberal politics, all of the four candidates in the district attorney race are, in one way or another, arguing for reducing incarceration even more. |
| Ms. Loftus, a former prosecutor and the former president of the Police Commission, an oversight board, is also running on a platform of overhauling the justice system. | Ms. Loftus, a former prosecutor and the former president of the Police Commission, an oversight board, is also running on a platform of overhauling the justice system. |
| Rhetorically, there is little daylight between Mr. Boudin and Ms. Loftus. But the city’s establishment has lined up behind Ms. Loftus, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor London Breed, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat who is running for president and whose own record as San Francisco’s district attorney is being attacked from the left. | Rhetorically, there is little daylight between Mr. Boudin and Ms. Loftus. But the city’s establishment has lined up behind Ms. Loftus, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor London Breed, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat who is running for president and whose own record as San Francisco’s district attorney is being attacked from the left. |
| Mr. Boudin, on the other hand, is racking up endorsements from grass-roots liberal groups in the city, and has emerged as a darling among national activists, who see him as the candidate most willing to tear down the system. He has attracted support from prominent criminal justice system critics like Shaun King, who founded the influential Real Justice PAC and has over a million followers on Twitter, and Larry Krasner, the lawyer who made a career with civil rights suits against the police and then became the top prosecutor in Philadelphia. | Mr. Boudin, on the other hand, is racking up endorsements from grass-roots liberal groups in the city, and has emerged as a darling among national activists, who see him as the candidate most willing to tear down the system. He has attracted support from prominent criminal justice system critics like Shaun King, who founded the influential Real Justice PAC and has over a million followers on Twitter, and Larry Krasner, the lawyer who made a career with civil rights suits against the police and then became the top prosecutor in Philadelphia. |
| Mr. Boudin was just 14 months old when his parents committed the robbery in New York that sent them to prison. He was raised in Chicago by Bill Ayers, the founder of the Weather Underground, and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, a lawyer, who was also an operative in the group. | Mr. Boudin was just 14 months old when his parents committed the robbery in New York that sent them to prison. He was raised in Chicago by Bill Ayers, the founder of the Weather Underground, and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, a lawyer, who was also an operative in the group. |
| Growing up in that household, he was immersed in the world of leftist politics and groomed to be an overachiever: Yale. Rhodes Scholar. Yale Law School. “I lived in parallel worlds,” he once wrote. “My family taught me radical politics from the beginning, but I also learned to prove myself in elite institutions.” | Growing up in that household, he was immersed in the world of leftist politics and groomed to be an overachiever: Yale. Rhodes Scholar. Yale Law School. “I lived in parallel worlds,” he once wrote. “My family taught me radical politics from the beginning, but I also learned to prove myself in elite institutions.” |
| When he published a memoir of his time crisscrossing Latin America, where he worked as a translator in Venezuela and visited prisons in Chile and Bolivia, the New York Times critic called him “radical royalty.” He thought his legal career might focus on immigration, but a fellowship in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office led to a full-time job. | When he published a memoir of his time crisscrossing Latin America, where he worked as a translator in Venezuela and visited prisons in Chile and Bolivia, the New York Times critic called him “radical royalty.” He thought his legal career might focus on immigration, but a fellowship in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office led to a full-time job. |
| He has disavowed, but sought to understand, his parents’ embrace of violence in pursuit of social change. “There was a tremendous amount of political energy and activity during that time,” he said, “and they were caught up in it. And I think they were led astray and they ended up participating in some things which I know they regret.” | He has disavowed, but sought to understand, his parents’ embrace of violence in pursuit of social change. “There was a tremendous amount of political energy and activity during that time,” he said, “and they were caught up in it. And I think they were led astray and they ended up participating in some things which I know they regret.” |
| But he has another inheritance: His grandfather, Leonard Boudin, was a famous civil rights lawyer, who taught him how to “fight for good causes using the system.” | But he has another inheritance: His grandfather, Leonard Boudin, was a famous civil rights lawyer, who taught him how to “fight for good causes using the system.” |
| More than anything, he said, it was his experiences visiting his parents in prisons that formed his political views. By his own guess, Mr. Boudin has spent more than 140 days and nights inside maximum security prisons. | More than anything, he said, it was his experiences visiting his parents in prisons that formed his political views. By his own guess, Mr. Boudin has spent more than 140 days and nights inside maximum security prisons. |
| “It shaped my life in ways that made me think about these issues since before I can remember,” Mr. Boudin said. “My earliest memories are going into prisons. Going through metal detectors, getting searched by guards.” | “It shaped my life in ways that made me think about these issues since before I can remember,” Mr. Boudin said. “My earliest memories are going into prisons. Going through metal detectors, getting searched by guards.” |
| His mother, Kathy, was released on parole in 2003 and now teaches at Columbia University, specializing in criminal justice issues. A typical visit to see his father, David Gilbert, at a prison in upstate New York, goes like this: | His mother, Kathy, was released on parole in 2003 and now teaches at Columbia University, specializing in criminal justice issues. A typical visit to see his father, David Gilbert, at a prison in upstate New York, goes like this: |
| “Go into prison Friday morning, leave Sunday morning,” Mr. Boudin said. “It’s the only time he gets to take a shower for as long as he wants. It’s the only time that he gets to open doors and walk in and out of rooms without having to get permission. It’s the only time he gets to eat the food he likes. And of course it’s the only time that we get to really spend quality one-on-one time. Sleep, watch the Warriors game. Go for a walk.” | “Go into prison Friday morning, leave Sunday morning,” Mr. Boudin said. “It’s the only time he gets to take a shower for as long as he wants. It’s the only time that he gets to open doors and walk in and out of rooms without having to get permission. It’s the only time he gets to eat the food he likes. And of course it’s the only time that we get to really spend quality one-on-one time. Sleep, watch the Warriors game. Go for a walk.” |
| He knows how incarceration affects families. “My whole life I’ve thought of myself as a victim of my parent’s crimes,” he said. “The true victims are the people who were killed. And there’s the rest of us who were third-party victims.” | He knows how incarceration affects families. “My whole life I’ve thought of myself as a victim of my parent’s crimes,” he said. “The true victims are the people who were killed. And there’s the rest of us who were third-party victims.” |
| On a recent morning, Mr. Boudin hung out at a bus stop, handing out fliers to commuters. He met a man who overlapped with him at Oxford, who wanted to talk about criminal justice reform. The next day, walking the streets of Chinatown, he heard from store owners who complained about a surge in shoplifting. | On a recent morning, Mr. Boudin hung out at a bus stop, handing out fliers to commuters. He met a man who overlapped with him at Oxford, who wanted to talk about criminal justice reform. The next day, walking the streets of Chinatown, he heard from store owners who complained about a surge in shoplifting. |
| The city should ensure that more police and prosecutors speak their language, he says in response to those concerns, and crime victims should receive restitution and be able to participate in the process through restorative justice programs. | The city should ensure that more police and prosecutors speak their language, he says in response to those concerns, and crime victims should receive restitution and be able to participate in the process through restorative justice programs. |
| A historic low in violent crime has made such conversations possible. But residents have other concerns: In the center of the city, where the Tenderloin district bleeds into the tourist-filled Union Square section, it’s hard to walk the streets without being offered drugs or, if you are a man, approached by a prostitute. Auto burglaries are rampant, and it is common to walk the streets and see car windows smashed in. | A historic low in violent crime has made such conversations possible. But residents have other concerns: In the center of the city, where the Tenderloin district bleeds into the tourist-filled Union Square section, it’s hard to walk the streets without being offered drugs or, if you are a man, approached by a prostitute. Auto burglaries are rampant, and it is common to walk the streets and see car windows smashed in. |
| “We’re lucky in San Francisco that we’re in a position where the thing people are talking about is auto burglaries,” Mr. Boudin said. | “We’re lucky in San Francisco that we’re in a position where the thing people are talking about is auto burglaries,” Mr. Boudin said. |
| In such a climate, the talk is more about reducing incarceration than reducing crime, making it a challenge for Mr. Boudin to distinguish himself from his opponents. “Incarceration is our most expensive outcome with one of the highest failure rates,” Ms. Loftus wrote in a candidate questionnaire. “California invested in incarceration as the predominant public safety strategy and it was a failure.” | In such a climate, the talk is more about reducing incarceration than reducing crime, making it a challenge for Mr. Boudin to distinguish himself from his opponents. “Incarceration is our most expensive outcome with one of the highest failure rates,” Ms. Loftus wrote in a candidate questionnaire. “California invested in incarceration as the predominant public safety strategy and it was a failure.” |
| That is why Mr. Boudin is stressing his personal story. | That is why Mr. Boudin is stressing his personal story. |
| “I’m the only candidate who has visited a loved one behind bars, that still does that,” he said in an interview. “I’m the only candidate who has ever defended somebody accused of a crime.” | “I’m the only candidate who has visited a loved one behind bars, that still does that,” he said in an interview. “I’m the only candidate who has ever defended somebody accused of a crime.” |