San Francisco supervisor Matt Dorsey wrote an op-ed for SFGate this week explaining the reasons why he supports the recall of DA Chesa Boudin.

In the final analysis, here’s where District Attorney Boudin himself made it impossible, in my view, for any conscientious supervisor representing District 6 neighborhoods like SOMA, Mid-Market and Civic Center to support his retention.

“Most of the residents that I speak with aren’t particularly upset that there are drug sales happening there,” DA Boudin explained to the Washington Post last February…

Among the many neighbors from whom I regularly hear on this topic, it has decidedly not been my experience that they “aren’t particularly upset” with brazen trafficking of deadly drugs in our neighborhoods. To the contrary, most find it as profoundly upsetting as I do, and for a multitude of reasons. They include blocked and trashed sidewalks, and drug dealers’ threatening behavior toward neighborhood residents and visitors — especially women, seniors, families, and unhoused residents. They include law-abiding small businesses, some of them now shuttered, that have lost customers and employees who feel intimidated and unsafe. They include drug overdoses that are disproportionately killing people of color. And they include drug-related violence, including homicides, which of late have even claimed the lives of juveniles…

It’s bad enough for San Franciscans to feel our own concerns ignored or minimized. It’s worse to consider how the words of San Francisco’s chief elected law enforcement official might be emboldening those who traffic deadly drugs and engage in dangerous criminal conduct on our neighborhoods’ streets.

That was published Tuesday. Today, SFGate published another op-ed in favor of the recall, this time by a Democratic Party official named Nima Rahimi. Rahimi is himself in favor of criminal justice reform but he says recalling Boudin will save lives.

Personally, I believe Boudin harms our party’s goals on criminal justice reform, in part, because people have died and will continue to die as a result of his choices and his policies. We have to hold our own accountable…

On Feb. 4, 2021, Jerry Lyons allegedly killed 26-year-old Sheria Musyoka while driving a stolen car under the influence. Previously, on Dec. 3, 2020, CHP had arrested him for also allegedly driving a stolen car while under the influence. Lyons was sentenced to 60 days for violating probation. Boudin was waiting on toxicology results to pursue the DUI but released Lyons only 27 days into the 60-day sentence and before getting the results. If Boudin had not released Lyons early, Sheria Musyoka would still be alive, and his 4-year-old son would still have his father.

Police arrested Joseph Williams in January and March 2021 on suspicion of felony domestic violence. Boudin released him both times because he said the victim wouldn’t cooperate. That April, Joseph Williams allegedly killed 7-month-old Synciere Williams. Boudin could have prosecuted Joseph Williams in the first two cases without victim cooperation. Evidence-based prosecution is a tactic used to hold abusers accountable when victims are afraid to participate. DAs can prosecute using evidence like 911 call recordings and transcripts, child witness statements, neighbor witness statements, medical records, paramedic log sheets, prior police reports, restraining orders and booking records. Yet, Boudin did nothing, and Synciere Williams died before seeing his first birthday.

Boudin dismisses these examples as mere anecdotes. But Synciere, Sheria, Hanako, Elizabeth and countless other victims are not collateral damage in the name of reform. Their lives matter. They died because Boudin made bad decisions.

Boudin is also facing criticism from the adoptive parents of a woman named Emma Hunt who was shot and killed in the Tenderloin back in Jan. 2020. The whole incident was caught on video but charges have never been brought. Needless to say, her parents support the recall.

How many parents will have to grieve the murder of their child in San Francisco and also live with the fact that DA Chesa Boudin won’t pursue justice against their killers?

Yet another victim of color whose killers won’t be held accountable. pic.twitter.com/M3MguiDpDU

— Brooke Jenkins (@BrookeJenkinsSF) May 25, 2022

And this story gets even worse. Because after not prosecuting their daughter’s killers, Boudin began soliciting anti-recall donations from the parents.

4/ Not only is this incredibly inappropriate and callous – it's also may violate SF Ethics regulations. It seems that Chesa had been taking emails collected by his government legal correspondence and transferring them to his political campaign.

— Recall Chesa Boudin, Vote Yes on H Now (@safersfnoboudin) June 2, 2022

6/ The story is so shocking, it is almost unbelievable. But it is true. The receipts are here. Chesa Boudin used his position as District Attorney to email a murder victim's mother for his campaign…even after he refused to prosecute her case. #RecallChesa #YesonH pic.twitter.com/beLIAPmy0s

— Recall Chesa Boudin, Vote Yes on H Now (@safersfnoboudin) June 2, 2022

Finally, there have been several polls of the recall, all of which show he’s in trouble. Today the San Francisco Examiner has published a new one which shows majority support for the recall.

It’s hardly news at this point, but San Francisco voters will almost certainly oust District Attorney Chesa Boudin next week. A new Examiner poll of 541 likely voters conducted by Change Research from May 26-29 shows 56% in favor of recalling the DA, who has a disapproval rate of 62%…

The recall will devastate Boudin’s elected career and set back the movement to elect ultra-progressive DAs, but it would be a mistake to conflate Boudin’s fate with that of criminal justice reform in general.

Voters want reform, but they also want effectiveness. They want more mental health services and rehabilitation for those in need, and they also want to feel safe on the streets. They know police and prisons don’t solve the root causes of crime and poverty, but they are fed up with the increasingly dystopian street scenes.

San Francisco hasn’t suddenly become a conservative hotbed. Voters there still support a lot of the reforms Boudin is pushing. They just don’t support him as the best proponent for those reforms anymore. And with the recall vote just 4 days away, there’s probably not enough time for Boudin to change that.