Brooke Jenkins Explained

Brooke Jenkins
Office:30th District Attorney of San Francisco
Term Start:July 8, 2022
Acting: July 8, 2022 – December 1, 2022
Predecessor:Chesa Boudin
Party:Democratic
Education:University of California, Berkeley (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)

Brooke Jenkins (born 1981/1982)[1] is an American lawyer serving as the 30th District Attorney of San Francisco. On July 8, 2022, Jenkins was appointed interim district attorney by Mayor London Breed following the successful recall of Chesa Boudin, for which she actively campaigned.[2] She was elected in her own right to fill the unexpired term the following November.[3]

Early life and education

Jenkins grew up in Union City, California.[4] She was raised by her mother because shortly after her birth, her father had to leave the country due to his student visa status.[5] Her father is from El Salvador.[6] She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School.[7]

Career

Jenkins was admitted to the California State Bar in 2011.[8] Prior to becoming a prosecutor, she worked for two years in corporate law, defending foreign and domestic automakers and manufacturers. Her firm's clients included Honda and Takata.

Jenkins worked in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office for seven years from 2014 to mid-2021, where she started as an attorney handling misdemeanor cases and later served as a hate crimes prosecutor. She resigned in October 2021 to support the recall campaign against San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

Mayor London Breed announced on July 7, 2022 the appointment of Jenkins to serve in the interim until an election is held on November 8, 2022 to elect a District Attorney to serve the rest of Boudin's term through 2023.[9] She was sworn into office on July 8.[10] Her first act within the office was to hold a meeting with senior staff, where she was accompanied by Andrea Bruss, the deputy chief of staff of the Mayor's Office.[11] A week later, she fired 15 attorneys, as well as top Boudin advisors like his chief of staff, director of communications and policy advisor, and director of data, research and analytics.[12]

Between her appointment and August 2022, Jenkins instituted policies such as allowing her attorneys to seek gang enhancements, allowing the conditional prosecution of minors as adults, and making drug dealers ineligible for community courts.[13] [14] Under her term, convictions rose 5% from 2022 to 2023.[15] She supported Proposition E in 2022, which aimed to expand the use of police surveillance through the use of live cameras.[16] It will first be implemented in the Mission.[17] Proposition E was criticized by organizations like the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, among others for privacy concerns and potential for the suppression of dissent.

Jenkins ran in the November 2022 special election to serve the remainder of Boudin's term through 2023.[18] She won with 53.7% of the vote.

On October 13, 2022, retired Superior Court Judge Martha Goldin filed a State Bar complaint against Jenkins, outlining multiple misconduct allegations.[19] [20] Jenkins was paid a six-figure consulting fee by the nonprofit Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, which shares a name and an office with the Chesa Boudin recall campaign. Jenkins had not previously disclosed these payments was registered as a volunteer.[21] In October 2022, an anonymous complaint was filed with San Francisco's Ethics Commission and the California Fair Political Practices Commission accusing Jenkins of failing to register as a campaign consultant. The complaint alleged that the $153,000 salary Jenkins received from the nonprofit was intended for partisan purposes.[22]

In October 2022, reporter Joe Eskenazi revealed that just before leaving the District Attorney's Office, Jenkins had sent sensitive files, including a rap sheet, from the District Attorney's office to Assistant District Attorney Don DuBain's personal email and used those materials in the campaign to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. In California, disseminating a rap sheet to a person who is unauthorized to receive it is a misdemeanor.[23] Jenkins claimed that she accidentally sent the email to DuBain's personal email.[24]

In August 2023, the California Court of Appeal, First District, found that Brooke Jenkins committed prosecutorial misconduct in a homicide case she prosecuted in 2021 by making improper arguments about the defense attorney in violation of ethical rules. This is the second time a court has found that Jenkins committed misconduct.[25] In 2016, the California Court of Appeal overturned a conviction after finding that Jenkins committed prosecutorial misconduct by improperly commenting on a defendant's exercise of his right to remain silent and thereby interfering with a defendant's constitutional rights.[26]

Personal life

Jenkins lives in Mission Bay with her husband, two children, and her stepdaughter.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Karlamangla . Soumya . July 8, 2022 . An Interview with San Francisco's New District Attorney . November 5, 2022 . The New York Times.
  2. Web site: Moench . Mallory . Cassidy . Megan . 2022-07-07 . S.F.'s new D.A. is Brooke Jenkins, the prosecutor who left Chesa Boudin's office and joined the recall . 2022-12-30 . San Francisco Chronicle . en-US.
  3. Web site: Brooke Jenkins . 2023-08-19 . Ballotpedia . en.
  4. Web site: Moench . Mallory . Cassidy . Megan . July 7, 2022 . S.F.'s new D.A. is Brooke Jenkins, the prosecutor who left Chesa Boudin's office and joined the recall . July 8, 2022 . . en-US.
  5. Web site: Rommelmann . Nancy . July 8, 2022 . Brooke Jenkins In As San Francisco DA . July 8, 2022 . Nancy Rommelmann.
  6. Web site: Lin . Da . July 10, 2022 . Web Extra: Interview with San Francisco's new district attorney . July 10, 2022 . KPIX-TV CBS Bay Area.
  7. Web site: August 26, 2022 . Critics call S.F.'s new D.A. corrupt. Supporters say she's a savior. Who is the real Brooke Jenkins? . September 1, 2022 . San Francisco Chronicle.
  8. Web site: Brooke Ashley Jenkins # 276290 - Attorney Licensee Search . 2023-08-31 . apps.calbar.ca.gov.
  9. Web site: Romine . Taylor . July 7, 2022 . Boudin opponent named to replace him as San Francisco district attorney . July 8, 2022 . CNN.
  10. News: Karlamangla . Soumya . July 8, 2022 . An Interview With San Francisco's New District Attorney . en-US . The New York Times . July 8, 2022 . 0362-4331.
  11. News: Ting. Eric. July 8, 2022 . Inside 'horrible,' 'icy' first meeting held by new San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins . en-US . SF Gate . January 18, 2023.
  12. News: Ting. Eric. July 15, 2022 . New San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins makes wave of firings. Progressives call it 'terrifying.' . en-US . SF Gate . January 18, 2023.
  13. Web site: August 3, 2022 . DA Brooke Jenkins Threatens Drug Dealers with More Jail Time as Fentanyl Crackdown Expands .
  14. Web site: Michaels . Samantha . San Francisco's new DA plans to reverse key criminal justice reforms. . 2022-09-01 . Mother Jones . en-US.
  15. Web site: Balakrishnan . Eleni . 2023-09-20 . DA Brooke Jenkins reverses 8-year decline in convictions . 2024-06-07 . Mission Local . en-US.
  16. Web site: 2022-07-11 . Brooke Jenkins backs police plan to expand live surveillance in San Francisco: ‘Our tone and approach matter’ . 2024-06-03 . The San Francisco Standard . en.
  17. Web site: Balakrishnan . Eleni . 2024-05-30 . SFPD's first surveillance cameras are coming to the Mission . 2024-06-03 . Mission Local . en-US.
  18. Web site: August 8, 2022 . Brooke Jenkins files to run for remainder of term as San Francisco DA .
  19. Web site: 2022-10-13 . State Bar complaint filed against SF interim D.A. Jenkins by retired judge . 2022-11-14 . KTVU FOX 2 . en-US.
  20. Web site: Wiley . Hannah . Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins gets a crash course in San Francisco politics . . November 2, 2022 . March 6, 2023.
  21. Web site: Barba . Michael . 2022-08-09 . DA Jenkins Pocketed Six Figures as Consultant for Nonprofit Linked to Boudin Recall Backers . 2022-12-21 . The San Francisco Standard . en-US.
  22. Web site: 2022-10-07 . DA Brooke Jenkins Got Paid Big Bucks by Group Linked to Chesa Boudin Recall. Ethics Complaint Accuses Her of Breaking Law . 2022-11-14 . The San Francisco Standard . en-US.
  23. Web site: Eskenazi . Joe . 2022-11-02 . Brooke Jenkins sent police reports, rap sheet to colleague's personal email . 2022-11-14 . Mission Local . en-US.
  24. Web site: Eskenazi . Joe . 2022-11-03 . Brooke Jenkins: Legal experts dismiss DA's excuses for sharing restricted files . 2022-11-14 . Mission Local . en-US.
  25. Web site: 2023-08-30 . San Francisco DA Committed Misconduct in Murder Trial, Appeals Court Says . 2023-08-31 . The San Francisco Standard . en.
  26. Web site: Tleimat . Lana . 2023-08-29 . DA Jenkins committed prosecutorial misconduct, Court of Appeal finds . 2023-08-31 . Mission Local . en-US.