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.
Judge Begert diverted armed robbers and attempted murderers into "treatment." Now a homicide prosecutor is taking over.
A woman connected to killing an Asian senior is about to dodge trial while BART attackers walk free. January 12 is the test.
The murderer walks free. The public defender wants charges dismissed. This is what "reform" looks like.