Friday’s firing of Brooke Jenkins comes nearly two weeks after she was appointed prosecutor by London Mayor Breed following the recall of her controversial predecessor, Chesa Boudin, according to SFGATE.com. “Today, I made difficult but important changes to my leadership team and staff that will help advance my vision of restoring a sense of safety to San Francisco by holding serious and repeat offenders accountable and implementing smart criminal justice reforms,” Jenkins said. statement. Jenkins axed more than 25 executives who worked for Boudin, days after a 20-minute introductory meeting with them that some attendees described as “awkward” and “icy,” SFGATE.com also reported. Among the employees fired is Arcelia Hurtado, who had worked as a managing attorney and served as the DA’s office representative on the city’s Innocence Commission, which investigates possible wrongful convictions. Boudin founded the committee in 2020. Jenkins told KQED Thursday that she plans to continue it. DA Jenkins said the staffing changes will help her improve safety in San Francisco by “holding serious and repeat offenders accountable.” Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP “Brooke Jenkins’ decision to fire Arcelia Hurtado is deeply troubling, especially given the promise she made … to allow the Innocence Commission to continue operating,” San Francisco State University law professor Lara Bazelon, chair of the commission, told SFGATE . com. The professor also noted that Arcelia was the head of the DA’s post-conviction review unit, which is currently considering an application by the mayor’s brother Napoleon Brown to be granted clemency and released from prison after being convicted of robbery and manslaughter. Jenkins will serve in her role until November – when she will run in a special election to determine who will complete Boudin’s term through 2023. Boudin, meanwhile, has not ruled out running for office again, telling the San Francisco Chronicle late last month that he has become a scapegoat for the city’s rising crime rate. “Many of my supporters and supporters, donors and Democratic clubs who have been behind me are urging me to run now, or in 2023,” Boudin said. “I’m committed, as I always have been throughout my life, to doing the work to support our communities, to fight for a fairer justice system.”
