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Home » Bay Area District Attorneys Call On State Bar To Ban Police Union Campaign Donations To Prosecutors

Bay Area District Attorneys Call On State Bar To Ban Police Union Campaign Donations To Prosecutors

by CLAYCORD.com
51 comments

A group of current and former Bay Area district attorneys on Monday called on the California State Bar to ban prosecutors seeking election from receiving political and financial support from law enforcement unions.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar and former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon held
a virtual news conference to call for the state bar to end police union influence on local elections.

The group argued that prosecutors cannot ethically investigate and prosecute police misconduct when police unions, sheriff’s offices and correctional divisions offer their endorsements and financial support. That conflict of interest also erodes public trust in law enforcement, they said.

“I think it’s apparent to all of us today that America has a crisis of trust in law enforcement,” Boudin said. “It’s a crisis that you can see unfolding on the streets all across this great country.”

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The group chose to call for the change as protests engulf the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department.

Ideally, the group said, the American Bar Association would make similar changes to prohibit endorsements and campaign contributions from law enforcement unions and groups.

“We have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us to restore trust in our profession, but trust must be earned, it cannot be demanded,” Verber Salazar said. “The first step to earning that trust back is ensuring the independence of county prosecutors is beyond reproach.”

51 comments


PO'd June 2, 2020 - 4:18 PM - 4:18 PM

I have a feeling that the Police Officers union is the snag to getting rid of rogue cops, I’m questioning the entire concept of police unions.

Wage Slave June 2, 2020 - 5:08 PM - 5:08 PM

Of course it is. And unions are Democrats biggest voting block and funder, so the chances of that changing are precisely zero.

Think about this. Police are granted the state monopoly on violence. They then organize and unionize against their taxpayer employers, making very difficult to remove them when they abuse that power.

It should be zero tolerance, union or no union. A job with the power to shoot civilians should be at-will, no questions asked. As soon as a cop is not living up to the standard, they should be gone, no grievance process, no lengthy inquiry. Gone.

Led June 2, 2020 - 6:35 PM - 6:35 PM

Yup. It’s an excellent thing to question. The guy who killed George Floyd probably should have been fired long ago.

L0L June 2, 2020 - 4:29 PM - 4:29 PM

They openly admit receiving donations makes it hard to investigate said people whom they received donations from.

While we’re at it why don’t we so what other funds these district attornys have received? Just make it all transparent, you know, to restore trust.

Reason June 2, 2020 - 4:44 PM - 4:44 PM

Campaign contributions and donations are reported to the FPPC. It is already transparent.

L0L June 3, 2020 - 11:02 AM - 11:02 AM

@Reason yes, but I want them to publicly say it. Which they won’t, but too many times politicians and elected officials use the excuse “I was not aware I received that much from so and so group” or “I receive lots of donations it’s hard for me to remember who all donated” by stating publicly they confirm they’re aware who is donating to them for our future reference.

It’s all wishful thinking of course it’ll never happen.

Bad Nombre June 2, 2020 - 4:30 PM - 4:30 PM

That doesn’t sound Constitutional. Maybe ban all unions from any and all campaign fund raising, contribution or political activity. Even then it sounds problematic.

Reason June 2, 2020 - 4:46 PM - 4:46 PM

What about Citizens United? How is Constitutional to ban unions but allow them from other constituents like corporations and super PACs?

Bad Nombre June 2, 2020 - 6:04 PM - 6:04 PM

Reason, that is my point. There is a conflict of interest when ANY legislator or politician takes money from or allows advertising on their behalf from any organization that advocates for specific legislation or policy. You couldn’t just ban one type of union or all unions and SCOTUS says it is a 1st Amendment right.

Rolaids June 2, 2020 - 7:09 PM - 7:09 PM

@ Bad Nombre. There is an enormous difference. If a steel workers union (I know, bad example. They don’t have steel workers unions in China), but if a hypothetical American steel workers union gave money to a candidate with the expectation that they would enact policies favorable to the union, that is garden variety real world corruption. But when public employees, say police, firefighters, or teachers, do the same thing, they are literally giving money to the person that may set their salaries. That’s a pretty sweet deal. I wish I got to elect MY boss and give money to the one I thought would kick back the most money to me. It is absolutely commonplace and done in broad daylight. And it is absolutely corrupt. In fact, often our first introduction to an aspiring politician is campaign signs bragging that they have established an understanding with the police union that they will wash each other’s hands.

It is legal, but that doesn’t make it right. It should be ILLEGAL, and those that do it should go to jail. Yes, public employee unions should not be allowed to donate to money to their potential bosses. Private unions SHOULD be able to. I’m not anti-union. I belong to a public employees union. But I recognize obvious corruption when I see it.

Cher June 2, 2020 - 9:01 PM - 9:01 PM

The supreme court already determined corporations are “people” and unions cant collect dues from their members. What else do you need to do to slant everything for elections in your favor and strip the voices of working people?? I agree with Dianna Becton that they dont need to take money from police unions while we are attempting to level the playing field for people who are literally wasting away in our jails because they got the free attorney that our government provided, because they didnt have the money for a REAL attorney, because their family never HAD a house they could put up for collateral, because they never HAD a school that had computers like the schools down the road, so they never QUALIFIED for the same kinds of jobs, so they are out driving busses while everyone else stays safe at home during a pandemic so they can either die of covid or get 3 hots and a cot in jail. Does this ever get tiring for you? To be winning like this?

Claycordian June 2, 2020 - 4:40 PM - 4:40 PM

Says our DA, elected with Soros money. Why is activist money ok, then?

Anonymous June 2, 2020 - 4:43 PM - 4:43 PM

But it was okay for Diana Becton, for instance, to accept almost $50,000 from George Soros’ California Justice & Public Safety PAC? Like there was no quid pro quo attached to that?

How many of these DAs got elected with the help of Soros?

Does that mean that are biased and cannot be trusted to prosecute criminals?

This will never fly, but the fact they attempted it sends a clear message who they are. They must be removed from office ASAP.

badge1104 June 2, 2020 - 5:01 PM - 5:01 PM

EXACTLY! You are 100% Correct Anonymous!
(What is so scary is the liberal left and most the Democrats now cannot even see their own hypocrisy)

Wage Slave June 2, 2020 - 5:03 PM - 5:03 PM

Soros is behind a lot of the ubber progressive DAs. As I recall, he helped the one in Chicago that whitewashed the Jussie Smollett case get elected too.

How it is legal for any political entity to operate in the US that is funded by foreign cash is beyond me. But, our system is corrupt.

Ven Xeter June 2, 2020 - 8:08 PM - 8:08 PM

Yup, George Soros’ game plan coming to fruition in front of our very eyes. Destruction and submission of the middle class.
I have a better idea: As George Soros is considered by many to be the world’s most evil man, how about banning any campaign contributions from him or any entity he controls?

JRocks June 2, 2020 - 4:45 PM - 4:45 PM

I agree. Nothing corrupts a government more than Unions. By far the biggest contributions to political campaigns come from organized labor. When it comes to corruption and screwing the tax payer the unions representing government employees are the worst offenders.

All government employee unions should be banned from contributing to political campaigns.

caskydiver June 2, 2020 - 5:06 PM - 5:06 PM

“All government employee unions should be banned from contributing to political campaigns.”

AMEN, brother!

Lazy One June 2, 2020 - 5:41 PM - 5:41 PM

Government employee unions should not be allowed to contribute to anything political. If a union member wants to donate his/her own money fine. But many of the union members do not have a say. They are forced to join the union. If they don’t want the money to go to a political cause they must still pay union dues but get no representation. If political payments weren’t allowed these employees could keep more of their hard earned money. Teacher’s union is the worst.

PH Susan June 3, 2020 - 9:40 AM - 9:40 AM

You can thank Jerry Brown for that….

Mitch June 2, 2020 - 5:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Do as we say, not as we do.

The right needs to start fighting back with the same tactics the left uses, it is time to organize.

chuckie the troll June 2, 2020 - 5:04 PM - 5:04 PM

Frankly, I don’t think that people who are guilty of plagiarism should be allow to become a District Attorney. Just saying…

caskydiver June 2, 2020 - 5:05 PM - 5:05 PM

Doesn’t pass the sniff test to me. If you are going to ban political contributions by one union, then you must ban them from all unions. But since most unions typically are left-leaning, I doubt they will do that. Here’s an idea…why not ban political contributions from all unions?

badge1104 June 2, 2020 - 5:07 PM - 5:07 PM

EXACTLY! You are 100% Correct Anonymous!
(What is so scary is the liberal left and most the Democrats now cannot even see their own hypocrisy) (Or maybe they know exactly what they’re doing and their intentions and goals are devious)

Worried June 2, 2020 - 5:15 PM - 5:15 PM

If that poor excuse for a human the district attorney of San Francisco is against it then I am definitely all for it donate away$

Avneet June 2, 2020 - 5:24 PM - 5:24 PM

THANK YOU Chesa Boudin and the DA group! Separating of Police Union and elected officials is much needed to increase faith in justice system. Police will be happier with less lying and protecting the bad apples amongst them.

Avneet June 2, 2020 - 5:25 PM - 5:25 PM

THANK YOU Chelsa Boudin and the DA group! Separating of Police Union and elected officials is much needed to increase faith in justice system. Police will be happier with less lying and protecting the bad apples amongst them.

caskydiver June 3, 2020 - 10:38 AM - 10:38 AM

…the Police will also be happier with a higher conviction rate rather than a “catch and release” revolving door policy with no bail.

Retired Attorney June 2, 2020 - 5:52 PM - 5:52 PM

This is funny. DA Becton’s opponent in the last election was endorsed by practically every law enforcement agency in the county. Her support came from George Soros and other left-wing organizations. Her office suffers from a complete lack of leadership. Experienced prosecutors are given ridiculously vague policies to follow. Ask her how many days a month she actually bothers to step foot in the office (even before COVID).

safe June 2, 2020 - 9:42 PM - 9:42 PM

Paul should have totally won that election.

little rant June 2, 2020 - 11:46 PM - 11:46 PM

i find it interesting that the list of DA’s wanting this action are all the progressive ones that are basically anti law enforcement, promoting bail reform, letting people out etc etc, No wonder they want to ban police contributions….cuz the police would never donate to those that wont let them do their job….

Anonymous June 2, 2020 - 5:55 PM - 5:55 PM

Oh yeah, thank you Chesa Boudin. The adopted son of Bill Ayers, the grandfather of Antifa,

Thank you Chesa Boudin for accepting all that money from George Soros so you could do his bidding!

You’re a great American!

NOT!

Led June 2, 2020 - 6:38 PM - 6:38 PM

Glad to see some political momentum against police unions coming out of this. Now let’s make sure that their collective bargaining can’t touch disciplinary and oversight matters.

Janus June 2, 2020 - 6:38 PM - 6:38 PM

Well you can make that argument, “The first step to earning that trust back is ensuring the independence of county prosecutors is beyond reproach”, about any donations be it a union, business or individual.

According to California: Donors OpenSecrets here are the top 20 contributors:

Fahr LLC $73,076,531
Marcus & Millichap $9,549,844
Microsoft Corp $9,092,614
Charles Schwab Corp $8,424,488
University of California $7,384,807
Karla Jurvetson MD $7,268,461
Walt Disney Co $5,053,343
Chevron Corp $4,840,806
GH Palmer Assoc $4,385,072
Qualcomm Inc $4,101,515
Service Employees International Union $3,791,638
Alphabet Inc $3,435,658
DreamWorks SKG $3,030,283
Allied Wallet $3,025,300
Stanford University $2,891,849
Sandler Foundation $2,804,334
Fuzzy Door Productions $2,753,500
Heising-Simons Foundation $2,706,064
Asana $2,668,027
Oberndorf Enterprises $2,594,500

Ricardoh June 3, 2020 - 10:40 AM - 10:40 AM

Really unclear as to who all this money is being donated to.

JRocks June 3, 2020 - 2:06 PM - 2:06 PM

The list you posted doesn’t have all of the union contributions. This is a fake list.

Gittyup June 2, 2020 - 6:52 PM - 6:52 PM

All the law-abiding citizens are under house arrest while the scofflaws run in the streets like animals.

me June 2, 2020 - 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM

the so-called peaceful protesters bear equal responsibility for the damage done by looters. if they care and were peaceful they would have reported those who were causing problems. did any of them do anything for the looting, burning, property damage?

Cher June 2, 2020 - 9:16 PM - 9:16 PM

FOCUS PEOPLE. This is about Police Unions donating to prosecutors because its a CONFLICT OF INTEREST or could be SEEN as that. We could go back to the transparency of donations issues since unions are complying and corporations are not: ie president trump and donations from Russia and multiple corporations that have employees who (surprise surprise) all gave the exact same amount of money to the trump campaign. As a matter of fact, when it comes to campaign slush funds and people that are in JAIL I think this conversation could go really further!

Anonymous June 3, 2020 - 12:26 AM - 12:26 AM

Sorry your girl lost.

Annaresti June 2, 2020 - 9:44 PM - 9:44 PM

Yes. It’s a good idea.

Rob June 3, 2020 - 5:41 AM - 5:41 AM

Funny how much Conservatives hate unions – except for the Police unions they love them.

Of course, Police are Government Agents given extra authority should not have their Union also contributing to political campaigns.

caskydiver June 3, 2020 - 10:41 AM - 10:41 AM

whoever said conservatives love police unions?? They don’t…but they do like law enforcement personnel.

Two Wheeler June 3, 2020 - 7:51 AM - 7:51 AM

Focus on the hypocrisy. Becton wants to take Soros money, but its the police unions who are the problem.

Becton, go take another nap in your office. You are a fraud. You have never done the job you of a prosecutor.

And Chesea? An idiot, raised by terrorists. How is he working out for SF? And another guy who took Soros money.

me June 3, 2020 - 9:23 AM - 9:23 AM

@TW

thumbs up!

Lamont June 3, 2020 - 10:22 AM - 10:22 AM

Public sector unions should be banned. No problem with private sector unions but public sector unions cause nothing but corruption and chaos. No reason for taxpayers to be held hostage

Ricardoh June 3, 2020 - 10:41 AM - 10:41 AM

I agree 100%.

Ricardoh June 3, 2020 - 10:45 AM - 10:45 AM

Forgot to write why I agree. Private sector unions negotiate with people that know what they can afford. Public sector unions deal with people who are negotiating with money that isn’t theirs.

To Do List June 3, 2020 - 11:23 AM - 11:23 AM

Good points. Many blame various city bankruptcies on too powerful police and fire unions demanding yet higher compensation. They were the main factor in the bankruptcies of San Bernardino, Stockton and Vallejo. In Vallejo, the police and fire had coerced wage, benefit and overtime packages that made up an unsustainable 74% of the city budget. And we will never forget how a handful of already overpaid BART employees went on strike a few years ago, with their successful extortion leaving hundreds of thousands stranded from their work and homes.

DoggyDaddy June 3, 2020 - 10:37 AM - 10:37 AM

Seems odd timing doesn’t it? You would think these DAs would be too busy right now prosecuting looters.

If it is a good idea to get police unions out of politics I wonder if they would support getting all Public Employee Unions out of politics? I would not bet on it. Funny, The first amendment only matters when they are speaking.

THANK YOU Concord PD, Clayton PD and Contra Costa Sheriff’s Deputies!

me June 3, 2020 - 11:06 AM - 11:06 AM

@DD

they ain’t gonna prosecuting looters, that would be racist to enforce the laws

however i second your other comment!

THANK YOU Concord PD, Clayton PD and Contra Costa Sheriff’s Deputies!


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