Given the focus of Bench Memos, I will leave it to others to explore the lessons to be drawn from San Francisco voters’ thrashing recall of progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin. I instead will recall Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s strange decision to send Boudin a video of ardent congratulations for his swearing-in in January 2020, a “surprise video” that “prompt[ed] gasps” from the large audience celebrating the event.
Sotomayor’s video was strange in at least two respects. First, she had no evident ties to Boudin that might justify a simple congratulations. Second, her video comments went far beyond simple congratulations:
I sent you this message to tell you how much I admire you.
[Y]ou too [i.e., like Sotomayor herself, as the context makes clear] are an example that gives hope to so many.
Your personal strength and commitment to reforming and improving the criminal justice system is a testament to the person you are and the role model you will continue to be for so many.
I hope you reflect as a great beacon to many.
[T]he city of San Francisco will be so very well served by a man whose life creed is believing, as you told me “We are all safer when we uplift victims, hold everyone accountable for their actions, and do so with empathy and compassion.”
As I wondered in my original post, how was it proper for a Supreme Court justice to take part in public cheerleading for an elected official?
Will Sotomayor now bless us with her reaction to Boudin’s recall?