SF DA Brooke Jenkins warns of ‘devastating’ court ruling

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has warned that a recent court ruling will allow dozens of career criminals to walk free — with “devastating” consequences for public safety across California.

This is evident from a ruling by the California Supreme Court on April 30 bail for accused criminals must be “feasible” and only those accused of violent crimes should be held in jail pending trial — a ruling with far-reaching implications for prosecutors, Jenkins told The California Post in an interview.

Jenkins, who was first appointed to the position in 2022 and has taken a tough line against drug dealers and petty thieves who have plagued San Francisco in recent years, said the ruling will make it extremely difficult to keep accused criminals locked up — even if they have been repeatedly arrested or ignored court orders.

Only people accused of violent crimes — such as murder and assault causing bodily harm — can be held on “inaccessible” bail or without bail, Jenkins explained.

That means accused repeat drug dealers, car burglars, shoplifters and even gun-wielding criminals will be released freely under the new legal precedent, Jenkins said.

“This is not only a devastating ruling for the district attorney’s office, but also a devastating ruling for our state and for San Francisco,” Jenkins said.

The California Supreme Court case involved Gerald John Kowalczyk, a homeless Bay Area man who bought a $7 cheeseburger with someone else’s credit card.

A Supreme Court judge set his bail at $75,000 and it was later revoked entirely after he was determined to be at high risk of reoffending.

Kowalczyk, who had 60 previous convictions and failed to comply with numerous court orders, spent six months in prison.

His lawyers argued that the arrest was unconstitutional because Kowalczyk had not been convicted of a crime. He was also unemployed and homeless, so he had no chance of bail.

Courts cannot disproportionately punish suspects because they are too poor to post bail, civil rights advocates argued in the successful petition to the court.

But Jenkins argued that the “ivory tower” logic clashes with reality.

In recent years, San Francisco has suffered from rampant car thefts, open-air fentanyl sales and organized retail crime that is among the worst in the country.

Images of broken windows, closed Walgreens stores and massive drug markets made headlines across the city.

Many of these crimes were caused by serial criminals like Robert Sonza, a chronic offender who was arrested more than a dozen times between 2019 and 2025 for car burglaries, shoplifting, gun possession, and other crimes.

Another prolific thief, Aziza Graves, was accused of stealing from a San Francisco Target store on 120 separate occasions, taking more than $60,000 worth of merchandise before being convicted and released on supervised release in 2024. according to ABC7.

On Thursday, San Francisco police arrested and charged five people with stealing more than $43,000 worth of merchandise from Walgreens and Safeway. One suspect, Tyrese Boswell, took cosmetics and batteries from Walgreens 27 times in less than six months.

Drug trafficking remains a serious problem: police seized 338.5 grams of narcotics and arrested 62 people, including 52 with outstanding warrants. drug bust this week.

These types of offenders will walk free because they are not considered a violent threat, Jenkins said.

“We have been able to arrest prolific organized shoplifters, and now they will all be released,” she added.

Immediately after the Supreme Court’s April 30 ruling, San Francisco attorneys cited the decision in seeking the release of more than 90 offenders held for drug trafficking, theft and other crimes, the district attorney’s office said.

One of those perpetrators was a woman who was repeatedly arrested following a ‘crime wave’ in 2023. The charges included theft with scissors, multiple thefts and even a hammer attack.

She was released with an electronic monitor after the April 30 sentencing, Jenkins said.

San Francisco police data shows burglaries fell 26% between 2024 and 2025; the number of robberies fell by 23%; theft theft 22%; and motor vehicle theft decreased by 44%.

While the use of technology such as cameras and drones has contributed to falling crime rates, Jenkins argues that the threat of swift detention – even more than a conviction – is a crucial deterrent to crime.

That will no longer apply after the Supreme Court’s ruling, she said.

“We showed that swift detention and consequences worked and now we are going to undo it all,” she said.

“Devastating is the word I have to use.”

Jenkins said the judges seemed to be “living in ivory towers and judging ordinary people” rather than understanding what was going on in the wider community.

“Until we get a handle on what’s going on with our justice system with these judges,” she continued.

“We will continue to be victims of every joke and attack on Fox News, and rightly so.”

Download the California Post app, follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletters