Ryan Khojasteh (November 2024)

Over the past few years, we’ve seen the immense power that a District Attorney has when it comes to enacting criminal justice reforms that can either hurt or help BIPOC and low-income communities. When current District Attorney Brooke Jenkins took office, she reverted back to many harsh crime policies that disproportionately cause harm to our communities. She rolled back the policy of not charging minors as adults, she put more people in the revolving door of our incarceration system for low-level crimes, and she even dropped 3 police misconduct cases against SFPD officers, 2 of which were homicide cases against unarmed Black men, and refused to charge the armed Walgreens security guard who killed an unarmed Black transgender youth, Banko Brown. Her actions make it clear that she is willing to allow police to get a free pass when it comes to egregious crimes but isn’t willing to offer rehabilitation or diversion programs for even low-level crimes for those struggling with addiction, poverty, or mental illness. 

We are endorsing Ryan Khojasteh for District Attorney because Ryan has the platforms to make San Francisco safer for all of us while still reforming our criminal legal system.

Ryan has experience working in the office of former District Attorney Chesa Boudin and is a proponent of education, job training, and treatment to get people what they need so they don’t commit crimes in the first place. He also has two years of experience working at Juvenile Hall, supporting and rehabilitating young people to get them back on a good path to stop them from entering the revolving door of incarceration. With the experience of his uncle being killed by two young people, Ryan wanted to make sure that youth in the juvenile legal system don’t follow that same cycle of violence. Ryan’s thorough understanding of the problems with our current legal system – including the school-to-prison pipeline, recidivism, and racial inequities – along with his experience as a San Francisco Assistant District Attorney makes him the right candidate for the job. 

District Attorneys hold a lot of power when it comes to addressing public safety. This November, we’re faced with a choice: do we want a District Attorney who will take us back to the days of the failed War on Drugs? Or do we want a District Attorney who will move us forward and use evidenced-based, compassionate solutions so we all are and feel safer? If you’re ready for progress, vote for Ryan this November.