Controversial Money Bail to End in San Francisco, DA Chesa Boudin Says

San Francisco's new district attorney, Chesa Boudin — a former public defender who has pledged to overhaul the way the county approaches public safety — plans to institute a new policy banning the use of money bail by county prosecutors.

"We are working on the details of our money bail policy. We hope to be rolling it out next week," he told KQED on Thursday. "What you can expect in broad terms is a prohibition on seeking money bail at arraignment and a system that focuses on risk rather than wealth."

As a public defender, Boudin led a legal challenge to the bail system that helped spur a broader conversation about the fairness of making people pay money to secure release from jail before they stand trial.

That case is still pending in front of the state Supreme Court, but in the meantime, state lawmakers passed legislation in 2018 to end money bail in California. The law, however, has been on hold after the bail industry gathered enough signatures to put the question before voters this November.

Boudin said his office won't wait for that decision to move forward with a key campaign promise of his: to no longer use money to determine whether someone is safe enough to be released before trial.

"I've spent many years fighting to end wealth-based detention. I think it puts public safety at risk by allowing wealthy people who are dangerous to buy their freedom, and it also undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system by allowing us to detain people who present no public safety risk simply because of their poverty," he said.

"My office is well aware of my views on that. And my assistant district attorneys are waiting patiently for us to give them a clear written guideline," he added.

Boudin, who made waves last week when he fired seven top prosecutors in the District Attorney's Office, also defended that decision in his interview with KQED. He said it's common for a new executive to make major personnel changes.

"It's certainly true in the Police Department, the Mayor's Office, all the way up to the president of the United States. It would be shocking, frankly, for a newly elected or appointed official not to make changes in their command staff," he said.

Boudin said he's "excited to be able to continue building a team that shares the vision the voters elected me to implement," and he doesn't believe the staff changes will hurt morale in the office.

He noted that prosecutors have lived with uncertainty for months after former District Attorney George Gascón's decision not to seek reelection — and then Gascón's resignation just weeks before the election.

"I think morale's been low for the last year ... there was a significant number of people leaving the office, partly because of the uncertainty around the transition," he said. "But so far, people seem to be really excited. And I know there's a lot of work I have to do to support the staff and make sure that they have the resources they need to do the job."

Boudin also spoke about his decision to implement a new state law that will let parents and caregivers accused of nonviolent crimes enter a diversion program aimed at keeping families together.

The program allows people facing misdemeanor charges and nonviolent felonies to participate in a two-year, community-based program that will include parenting classes. If they are successful, the charges will be dropped. People accused of committing a crime against their children cannot apply, and a judge must be convinced that the person won't pose an unreasonable risk to public safety if they are allowed to enter diversion.

Boudin, whose parents went to prison when he was a toddler, said giving young kids the opportunity to stay with their family is a cause that's "near and dear" for him.

"I grew up visiting my own parents in prison, and so many of the childhood friends I made in the prison visiting room ended up incarcerated themselves," he said. "I saw the ways in which parental incarceration undermines public safety."

He noted that in addition to the trauma of separation, a criminal conviction can pose more practical problems to families — preventing a parent from getting a job and providing for their children.

"We are hopeful that we can get parents who are facing criminal convictions to engage with the kind of programming, supervision and support that will allow them to play the role we so desperately need them to play in their families, in our communities," he said.

Boudin said he's not sure how many cases would be eligible for diversion, and noted that some defendants might decide not to participate — even if they are eligible — because they'd rather take their case to trial.

KQED's Tara Siler contributed reporting to this post.