Chesa Boudin Got Interviewed on ‘60 Minutes’
Progressive, socialist San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin has barely been in office a year, and already a coalition of tech donors and Republicans are trying to recall him from office. Boudin’s focus on reform instead on incarceration has made him a frequent national target on Fox News, but a new 60 Minutes segment that just aired told both sides of the story, and debunks the claim that crime is significantly worse in San Francisco compared to other US cities.
Few prosecutors have been as directly touched by incarceration as San Francisco’s new DA, Chesa Boudin. When he was a toddler, his far-left activist parents were imprisoned for their part in a fatal heist. His mother served 22 years. His father's still in. https://t.co/OzEMZRYTMV pic.twitter.com/7ZsVDGDuve
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 29, 2021
The interview and segment is an online-only bit on 60 Minutes+, which is only available on their new and probably not-necessary streaming platform Paramount Plus. We signed up for the free trial and watch the 20-minute segment so you don’t have to.
The segment does have some neat vintage photos and footage of Boudin’s parents, from their 1981 Weather Underground arrests. Boudin’s father is still in prison, and the interview actually gets interrupted as Boudin gets a call from prison from his father, parts of which we do get to hear.
“We need to do more than simply arrest street level dealers,” says DA Boudin. “If all you're doing is taking a couple grams off the street, great. But it has never made a difference.”
San Francisco’s police chief: “I think it does make a difference.”https://t.co/OzEMZRYTMV pic.twitter.com/fQT9XcQKV4
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 29, 2021
“My parents left me at the babysitter. They were unarmed getaway drivers. They weren’t even at the scene of the robbery,” DA Boudin says of that arrest that inspired his work in law enforcement. “I learned from Day One that our criminal justice system is not working. It is not keeping us safe.
“It is not rehabilitating people. It is warehousing them. And in the process, it is bankrupting state and local governments, it is destroying communities and families. It is contributing to an intergenerational cycle of incarceration.”
Image: 60 Minutes+
We do hear from SF Police Officers Association president Association Tony Montoya, who describes Boudin’s tenure as “pure destruction,” But as seen above, 60 Minutes+ broke down pandemic-era crime in other major US cities (which has increased natiowide) and found San Francisco has seen about the same pandemic crime increase as other US cities.
To stem the spread of COVID-19, and as part of a mission to end mass incarceration, San Francisco DA Boudin released 40% of the city jails’ inmates. Among imprisoned inmates serving life without parole, he’s looking for candidates now safe to release. https://t.co/OzEMZRYTMV pic.twitter.com/vSVJxDMqx6
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 29, 2021
The segment also interviewed Joe Bell, Jr., a formerly incarcerated man whom Boudin released and is now having a productive life and career.
“I’m a better taxpayer than I am a bill,” Bell said. “I can contribute $80,000. Why do you want me to cost $80,000 a year?”
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
You Might Also Like
