Real justice reform requires new leadership at DA's office
Sajid Khan is a candidate for Santa Clara County District Attorney. He has never managed an office of 600 employees. He is not a career prosecutor. The Mercury News Editorial Board refer to these facts as reasons to endorse the three-term incumbent, Jeff Rosen, implying that already running the existing bureaucracy singularly demonstrates leadership qualities of a “strong manager.”
But what the editorial board misses is that our diverse Santa Clara County communities calling for justice reform aren't asking for a continuation of the status quo — we are calling for change. During Rosen's tenure, we have seen prosecutors disproportionately charge and incarcerate people of color, send children to adult court and allow police officers to be above the law when they kill community members.
For these reasons, Khan's not being a prosecutor is in fact one of the compelling features of his candidacy, rather than a deficiency. He has witnessed the harm of the current criminal justice system from the vantage point of a public defender.
We reject the circular argument that only people who are already in charge are qualified managers. This rationale forecloses the very innovation and diversity that defines Silicon Valley at its best. Indeed, the incumbent himself lacked management experience when first elected over a decade ago. Leaders of color, including Sajid, demonstrate their qualifications in ways that are often less publicly visible than establishment leaders. And before being elected, promoted or visibly elevated, we have quietly led the institutions that are accessible to us: community groups, education groups and religious groups. These experiences teach us to listen to diverse viewpoints, recognize untapped talent and promote new ideas.
Leaders of color redirecting institutions that have historically excluded and oppressed into ones that can redress and reduce harm is what tangible and ambitious justice reform looks like. This is not a distant ambition; it is a transformation that is happening now across the country.
Our nation is still buzzing with pride at the appointment of a Black woman to the Supreme Court in Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. We celebrated her appointment to the highest court in the land as an acknowledgment that there is profound value, brilliance and hope to be found in the lived experience of diverse communities. She, too, was a public defender.
We urge voters to expand the definition of “qualified leader” to include those who step forward with ideas that align with our progressive community values, who may not previously have had the opportunity to implement them. As a public defender who has litigated complex cases, Sajid knows each component of the criminal justice system — he has just seen it from a different perspective, which is what is needed if we want real reform.
Sajid's priorities are preventing violent and property crimes by investing in alternatives to incarceration, dismantling the school to prison pipeline, and standing up to police misconduct. These positions are informed because he has understood the impacts of decisions made by the DA's office from the outside of it.
Elections are the life blood of democracy, and voters should fuel the most compelling ideas, even when those ideas come from outside the existing power structure. Sajid is a qualified leader who would become the first person of color elected as DA since the office was established to serve our community in 1850.
LaDoris H. Cordell is a retired Santa Clara County Superior Court judge and former Independent Police Auditor for San Jose. She was the first African American female judge to serve on both the Municipal and Superior Court circuits in Northern California. Raj Jayadev is a San Jose based justice advocate. Jahmal Williams serves as one of the cochairs of the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet of Silicon Valley.