Oakland's gun violence — driven by fewer than 2,000 residents — is dropping when the city targets the right people, not just guns, while San Francisco's courts are moving in the opposite direction: clearing only 32% of cases, hiding five years of missing data from the state, and releasing the killer of 84-year-old Grandpa Vicha on probation the same afternoon he was sentenced. Judge Linda Colfax's decision to free Antoine Watson — made inevitable by California's pretrial credit math and years of continuances — has put a face on how SF's criminal justice system fails victims. These stories are connected: concentrated violence requires targeted accountability, and SF is delivering neither.
The SF Latinx Democratic Club reinstated its leader after sexual assault allegations—then fled the SF Dem party when Nancy Tung called for accountability
Violent offenders are flooding a program designed for petty crimes. Public defenders call it "treatment." The numbers call it fraud.
Feb. 4 deadline looms. If qualified attorneys don't file to run, voters won't even get a choice.
Californians voted for public safety. The state legislature decided their votes don't count.
The Feb. 4 deadline to challenge soft-on-crime judges is days away—and almost no one has stepped up.
State lawmakers gutted accountability for youth crime. Now kids are shooting classmates and beating tourists.
After five years, Vicha Ratanapakdee's family learns their father's life was "negotiable." Six hours of deliberation was all it took.
Video shows Watson running full-speed into 84-year-old Vicha. He walks after 5 years. This is progressive justice.
Antoine Watson shoved an 84-year-old to his death, photographed the body, and got involuntary manslaughter. Welcome to San Francisco.
Judge Begert awarded diversion to a man with 18 burglaries. He didn't even show up to court. This is what "following the law" looks like.