This is part 4 of a multipart series on the failure of diversion programs in San Francisco’s criminal justice system. Part 1Part 2Part 3
On March 4, 2022, under pressure from pro-recall advocates and the press, then San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin released data on his “charging rates and case outcomes” directly to Susie Neilson, then a data reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Neilson said the numbers showed Boudin “sent a greater percentage of defendants in robbery, assault, and drug cases to diversion programs than his predecessor [George Gascon], while obtaining convictions in a smaller share of those cases.” What Neilson neglected to mention is the reason for the lack of convictions: Boudin granted dismissals even to those who reoffended, meaning cases languished for months, even years, while defendants were given multiple diversion program referrals.
The victim advocacy and public safety group Stop Crime SF, one of many organizations that had been requesting detailed data regarding Boudin’s diversion tactics to no avail, finally hired renowned First Amendment attorney Karl Olsen to make a Public Records Request on their behalf. On April 6, 2022, Olsen wrote to Boudin’s office asking for “case numbers, original filed charges, original filing date; records of subsequent arrests or convictions involving the defendants in these cases after diversion … Records showing failures to attend or enroll; Records of multiple diversion referrals involving the same defendant; and record of defendants being terminated either by the Court or a defendant voluntarily removing himself from the program.”
Attorney Nikki Moore, Boudin’s public records and transparency expert, responded to Olsen’s request on April 15, 2022. Shockingly, despite his claim of reducing recidivism through diversion, Boudin didn’t have any records to back it up. “Our office has been working hard to compile diversion data for disclosure to the public,” Moore wrote. “We have dedicated substantial staff resources, including one person working full time since October to obtain, clean, and standardize diversion data from the agencies that collect it, and match it to the SFDA data on arrests filings, and case resolutions.” Moore told Olsen the office anticipated the data would be ready for release by May 11, 2022, but reserved the right “to extend the time of our estimated date of disclosure.”…