WTF are we doing? Every single election seems like a series of "major setbacks." They filed a recall petition against Gascon the day after he won. They filed a recall because of his beliefs. Genuine progressives and lefties don't stand a chance in elected office.
The machine never stops. Six decades of defunding social programs, supplementing police forces and fortifying prisons has brought us here. These weak-tea ballot measures are hopeless bc, even if the citizens of CA are liberal, the moneyed elite in CA are consistently conservative, and it is the moneyed elite who have the platform and the megaphone; they control the narrative, always. Hell, even our "progressive Democrat" governor is a Republican in practice. Our "two party system" is more like the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly than an actual choice between two ideologies.
I'm tired of hearing about "the work continuing" when it all feels like an enormous waste of time. Where are the progressive billionaires who could flood the zone with pro-reform propaganda? How is that no matter if the crime numbers are actually up or if the polls simply show that people "feel like" crime is up when it's actually down, the result is the same—the media insists crime is a huge issue. It's neverending. We live in a cycle of criminalizing large swaths of the populations most powerless citizens, with the occasional phyrric victory that will almost certainly be nullified by the opposition somehow.
The problem is we expected Gascon to implement changes when we should have expected that he'd be recalled immediately. Was the Democratic party not prepared for that? Ridiculous. Once that happened, the public soured on him, even though he hadn't done anything to deserve it. He didn't stand a chance.
The fact is, if a politician stands by their progressive bona fides, their time in office will be short, bc voters are fickle and wealthy people don't sleep when it comes to retaining their iron grip on society. MAGA Republicans are allowed to take office without fear of a recall because the Democratic party is a weak and pathetic professional patsy for Republicans.
Hi Sem, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. I agree that "the work continuing" can feel extremely daunting. However, pull back the lens - the progress since the peak of incarceration is remarkable. There are 24% fewer people in prison in America than at the peak. Black men are now more likely to go to college than to prison. In CA, there are 70% fewer women incarcerated than in 2010. This is a ton of progress and has impacted so many live sin positive ways. The recall stuff is extremely frustrating, but I think over time we can work through this also.
Sam: People will be willing to support pro-reform efforts, including spending lots of money, when they believe those efforts are actually being successful. And in the area of criminal justice that means feeling safer. Support for criminal justice reform is foundering because reformers are not putting enough focus on making people feel safer.
Also, it's not true that in California (or at least in San Francisco) that there have been "six decade of defunding social programs (and) supplementing police forces;" in fact, at least in SF, there is a police staffing crisis:
We are not conservatives or right wing MAGAs. I’m voting for 36 & Hochman because I’m tired of being ripped off, neighbors assaulted, stores broken into, homeless people burning down buildings. Prop 41 is a failed social experiment. We want justice for hard working, law abiding, tax paying people.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ripped off". As far as assaults, store breakins, and arson go, Prop 47 and Gascón are not the drivers behind those harms. Prop 36 will cut hundreds of millions of dollars from state funds to address those types of harms directly, which will make the problem worse. An enormous amount of evidence shows that the way to reduce crime is to expand healthcare, increase access to housing, improve the built environment, and give cash. (See https://www.partnersforjustice.org/evidence/what-really-lowers-crime and https://www.futures-institute.org/getting-smart-on-safety-evidence-on-non-carceral-investments-that-work-to-prevent-violence-harm/). Ignoring that evidence and insisting on failed solutions like more jailing and imprisonment at the cost of effective spending is an ideological commitment. I don't expect you to change your ideology based on reading facts in these posts, but I will provide the evidence that you can process or not as you like.
This is why I don’t trust the DSA to run government. You know what “ripped off” means. We want criminals in jail or treatment. Prop 47 gives them the freedom to walk free I’m living with the consequences of Gascon and 47 and the experiment has failed. Crime is not lower. The way the government recognizes crime changed. People are so furious with the lack of accountability, resources and response that they don’t report crime. We want our quality of life to improve now!
"Moving our attention up to the Bay, it’s been interesting to me to see almost no discussion about how when San Francisco voters recalled Chesa Boudin and an anti-reform DA took his place, crime actually went up. It turns out that he wasn’t causing that problem, and throwing him out didn’t solve that problem...Maybe the people who funded and fueled his ouster didn’t actually give a damn about crime, or weren’t serious enough to look at what would actually solve the problem? "
(note: corrected a typo in his first name)
Actually, property crime in San Francisco is way down since Boudin's recall:
So maybe the quote above about Boudin's critics isn't accurate. And I'm wondering Chloe, whether the current numbers change your mind at all? Or are you a supporter of Boudin's policies regardless of their impact on the crime rate?
Unfortunately, as someone who's been reading this newsletters for a while now, I'm afraid the answer to the two questions above are "no" and "yes" respectively. Now I still value the newsletter because I appreciate its coverage of different types of reform efforts, which I do want to learn about. I'm fully supportive of efforts to have "crisis response teams" rather than police respond to reports of people undergoing mental distress in many situations, and I'm also supportive of restorative justice initiatives and other programs that offer alternatives to incarceration when it can be done in ways that victims support and/or reduce the risk of recidivism.
However, I think it's vital that any criminal justice reform efforts value increasing public safety at least as much as reducing incarceration rates. Unfortunately, I don't think that philosophy characterizes this newsletter. And so while I don't know enough about Los Angeles to evaluate Gaston's tenure there and I'm undecided about Prop 36, I do know enough about both San Francisco and Oakland to say that opposing the recalls of Boudin and Price makes me less inclined to trust this newsletters' endorsements rather than more likely.
Hi Gordon, thanks for taking the time to read and share your thoughts! First, I'm not providing any endorsements here. Second, thank you for pointing out that crime is down in San Francisco, after going Up in 2022-23 (after the recall) - specifically violent crime is where SF saw a worrying increase (https://missionlocal.org/2023/06/one-year-after-recall-violent-crime-is-up-under-da-brooke-jenkins/). In my post, I didn't suggest that crime is still going up, but I may have given that misimpression. Anyways, San Francisco's crime drop since mid-2023 has matched nationwide crime trends, which are Not connected to DA policies. The point remains that if we are blaming a DA for crime trends, which I don't think makes sense to do at all, then we should blame Jenkins for that rise after the recall.
WTF are we doing? Every single election seems like a series of "major setbacks." They filed a recall petition against Gascon the day after he won. They filed a recall because of his beliefs. Genuine progressives and lefties don't stand a chance in elected office.
The machine never stops. Six decades of defunding social programs, supplementing police forces and fortifying prisons has brought us here. These weak-tea ballot measures are hopeless bc, even if the citizens of CA are liberal, the moneyed elite in CA are consistently conservative, and it is the moneyed elite who have the platform and the megaphone; they control the narrative, always. Hell, even our "progressive Democrat" governor is a Republican in practice. Our "two party system" is more like the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly than an actual choice between two ideologies.
I'm tired of hearing about "the work continuing" when it all feels like an enormous waste of time. Where are the progressive billionaires who could flood the zone with pro-reform propaganda? How is that no matter if the crime numbers are actually up or if the polls simply show that people "feel like" crime is up when it's actually down, the result is the same—the media insists crime is a huge issue. It's neverending. We live in a cycle of criminalizing large swaths of the populations most powerless citizens, with the occasional phyrric victory that will almost certainly be nullified by the opposition somehow.
The problem is we expected Gascon to implement changes when we should have expected that he'd be recalled immediately. Was the Democratic party not prepared for that? Ridiculous. Once that happened, the public soured on him, even though he hadn't done anything to deserve it. He didn't stand a chance.
The fact is, if a politician stands by their progressive bona fides, their time in office will be short, bc voters are fickle and wealthy people don't sleep when it comes to retaining their iron grip on society. MAGA Republicans are allowed to take office without fear of a recall because the Democratic party is a weak and pathetic professional patsy for Republicans.
Hi Sem, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. I agree that "the work continuing" can feel extremely daunting. However, pull back the lens - the progress since the peak of incarceration is remarkable. There are 24% fewer people in prison in America than at the peak. Black men are now more likely to go to college than to prison. In CA, there are 70% fewer women incarcerated than in 2010. This is a ton of progress and has impacted so many live sin positive ways. The recall stuff is extremely frustrating, but I think over time we can work through this also.
Sam: People will be willing to support pro-reform efforts, including spending lots of money, when they believe those efforts are actually being successful. And in the area of criminal justice that means feeling safer. Support for criminal justice reform is foundering because reformers are not putting enough focus on making people feel safer.
Also, it's not true that in California (or at least in San Francisco) that there have been "six decade of defunding social programs (and) supplementing police forces;" in fact, at least in SF, there is a police staffing crisis:
https://missionlocal.org/2023/03/police-staffing-crisis-san-francisco/
Hi Gordon, thanks for taking the time to read and comment! It's not correct to say that support for criminal justice reform is foundering. In fact, support for criminal justice reform is extremely strong. Here's an article that might interest you: https://www.fwd.us/news/new-polling-confirms-ongoing-support-for-criminal-justice-reform-ahead-of-november-2024-election/
We are not conservatives or right wing MAGAs. I’m voting for 36 & Hochman because I’m tired of being ripped off, neighbors assaulted, stores broken into, homeless people burning down buildings. Prop 41 is a failed social experiment. We want justice for hard working, law abiding, tax paying people.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ripped off". As far as assaults, store breakins, and arson go, Prop 47 and Gascón are not the drivers behind those harms. Prop 36 will cut hundreds of millions of dollars from state funds to address those types of harms directly, which will make the problem worse. An enormous amount of evidence shows that the way to reduce crime is to expand healthcare, increase access to housing, improve the built environment, and give cash. (See https://www.partnersforjustice.org/evidence/what-really-lowers-crime and https://www.futures-institute.org/getting-smart-on-safety-evidence-on-non-carceral-investments-that-work-to-prevent-violence-harm/). Ignoring that evidence and insisting on failed solutions like more jailing and imprisonment at the cost of effective spending is an ideological commitment. I don't expect you to change your ideology based on reading facts in these posts, but I will provide the evidence that you can process or not as you like.
This is why I don’t trust the DSA to run government. You know what “ripped off” means. We want criminals in jail or treatment. Prop 47 gives them the freedom to walk free I’m living with the consequences of Gascon and 47 and the experiment has failed. Crime is not lower. The way the government recognizes crime changed. People are so furious with the lack of accountability, resources and response that they don’t report crime. We want our quality of life to improve now!
Correction Prop 47 failed
"Moving our attention up to the Bay, it’s been interesting to me to see almost no discussion about how when San Francisco voters recalled Chesa Boudin and an anti-reform DA took his place, crime actually went up. It turns out that he wasn’t causing that problem, and throwing him out didn’t solve that problem...Maybe the people who funded and fueled his ouster didn’t actually give a damn about crime, or weren’t serious enough to look at what would actually solve the problem? "
(note: corrected a typo in his first name)
Actually, property crime in San Francisco is way down since Boudin's recall:
https://realtimecrimeindex.com/ (query property crime in California/San Francisco)
So maybe the quote above about Boudin's critics isn't accurate. And I'm wondering Chloe, whether the current numbers change your mind at all? Or are you a supporter of Boudin's policies regardless of their impact on the crime rate?
Unfortunately, as someone who's been reading this newsletters for a while now, I'm afraid the answer to the two questions above are "no" and "yes" respectively. Now I still value the newsletter because I appreciate its coverage of different types of reform efforts, which I do want to learn about. I'm fully supportive of efforts to have "crisis response teams" rather than police respond to reports of people undergoing mental distress in many situations, and I'm also supportive of restorative justice initiatives and other programs that offer alternatives to incarceration when it can be done in ways that victims support and/or reduce the risk of recidivism.
However, I think it's vital that any criminal justice reform efforts value increasing public safety at least as much as reducing incarceration rates. Unfortunately, I don't think that philosophy characterizes this newsletter. And so while I don't know enough about Los Angeles to evaluate Gaston's tenure there and I'm undecided about Prop 36, I do know enough about both San Francisco and Oakland to say that opposing the recalls of Boudin and Price makes me less inclined to trust this newsletters' endorsements rather than more likely.
Hi Gordon, thanks for taking the time to read and share your thoughts! First, I'm not providing any endorsements here. Second, thank you for pointing out that crime is down in San Francisco, after going Up in 2022-23 (after the recall) - specifically violent crime is where SF saw a worrying increase (https://missionlocal.org/2023/06/one-year-after-recall-violent-crime-is-up-under-da-brooke-jenkins/). In my post, I didn't suggest that crime is still going up, but I may have given that misimpression. Anyways, San Francisco's crime drop since mid-2023 has matched nationwide crime trends, which are Not connected to DA policies. The point remains that if we are blaming a DA for crime trends, which I don't think makes sense to do at all, then we should blame Jenkins for that rise after the recall.
I was literally just listening to Imperfect Paradise's 3-part series on Gascón. What a mess :-(