Chesa Boudin, a public defender and child of “radical royalty,” was elected as district attorney of San Francisco in late 2019 and recalled by voters in mid-2022. Derided by critics as soft on crime and heralded by supporters as a principled and effective proponent of reforms that voters actually favored, we talked about his accomplishments and challenges, including his interactions with San Francisco’s mayor and police officials. I asked Chesa for his reflections on what he might have done differently as well as what any district attorney can really do about issues like homelessness and overdose fatalities. We also discussed why national media was so eager to draw national implications from his defeat.

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