Editor’s note: This is the last in a three-part series on the death of a Japanese woman, Hanako Abe, in San Francisco, a case that sparked a movement to recall a district attorney and rekindled debate about criminal justice policy in the United States.

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SAN FRANCISCO—The recall election that would determine the fate of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was held on June 7.

Boudin’s supporters had gathered at a restaurant overlooking San Francisco Bay that evening.

Around 9 p.m., when the local media reported that voting had ended, Boudin appeared at the venue and gave a speech, saying, “Our movement has only just begun.”

The results were 122,588 votes in favor of the recall and 100,177 votes against. The battle that had split the city of San Francisco ended with Boudin’s defeat.

The trigger for the recall movement was the death of Hanako Abe, 27, who was struck by a speeding and stolen vehicle on Dec. 31, 2020.

The driver, Troy McAlister, now 47, had been released on parole just eight months before the incident in a plea bargain deal brokered by Boudin.

While on parole, McAlister, who already had a lengthy rap sheet, was arrested five times before Hanako was killed. But he was released each time.

In late May, before the recall election, Boudin was calling for support in a park. I asked him what he thought of McAlister.

“What happened to Hanako Abe is a devastating tragedy,” Boudin said. “It keeps me up at night, still thinking about what I and my office or others responsible for public safety could have done differently.”

Boudin was born in New York in 1980 to parents who were members of extremist groups.

When Boudin was 1 year old, his parents were involved in a robbery that killed three, including police officers.

During his childhood, he could only meet his parents inside the prison after undergoing a thorough physical examination.

“I felt ashamed of what my parents had done,” Boudin told me.

Based on his experiences, he came to feel that long-term imprisonment not only negatively affects the families of the convicts, but it also fails to rehabilitate offenders.

Many convicts are released from prison with no home to go to or job skills, and they return to a life of crime.

“The defining feature of America’s approach to criminal justice is what we call ‘recidivism.’ We have systematically failed to rehabilitate past offenders because we focused so narrowly on punishment,” Boudin said.

‘PRISON POWERHOUSE’

In the United States, which is considered the world’s largest "prison powerhouse,” about 1.7 million people, including unsentenced detainees, were imprisoned in federal and state prisons in 2020.

In Japan, the number was around 50,000.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. prison population has fallen because of the decrease in arrests resulting from restrictions on going out and the early releases of inmates to prevent the spread of infections.

Still, the number of prisoners per 100,000 people in the United States is 600, the world’s highest rate, according to data from the University of London. More than half of Americans are said to have at least one family member who has been incarcerated.

In the 1970s, the Nixon administration adopted a “severe punishment” policy in the “war on drugs.” In the 1980s, the Reagan administration strengthened crackdowns against drug offenders, leading to a sharp increase in the number of inmates.

Black Americans were targeted in those campaigns, and they now have the most inmates per capita, more than five times as many as white Americans.

“Progressive prosecutors” like Boudin have emphasized rehabilitation programs over harsher punishments, believing that the experiences of arrest and imprisonment are particularly traumatic for young Black people.

In the U.S. judicial system, state and county district attorneys are often elected.

With strong support from the Democratic Party, progressive DAs had increased in number in major cities, such as Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.

But the trend started to change during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The perceived deterioration of public safety during the pandemic drew calls from the public for politicians and law enforcement to get tougher on crime.

Boudin’s recall became a symbol of the headwind against progressive prosecutors.

But many people still support Boudin’s policy.

Fordham University professor John Pfaff said there is much evidence that supports progressive prosecutors’ claims that lengthy incarcerations actually heighten recidivism rates.

“Communities that are most impacted by crimes are voting for progressive DAs. You should listen to what they are saying,” he said.

Some Republicans also support criminal justice reform.

MOTHER SEEKING JUSTICE

San Francisco Mayor London Breed chose Brooke Jenkins, 41, as the new DA.

She had criticized Boudin, quit the prosecutor's office and stood at the front of the recall movement.

“Violent and repeat offenders can no longer be allowed to victimize this city without any consequence,” Jenkins said at her swearing-in ceremony at City Hall on July 8.

Although Jenkins has indicated a policy of strengthening law enforcement, she has also shown a willingness to push for criminal justice reform.

The judicial process for McAlister’s case is still in the early phases.

In August, Hanako’s mother, Hiroko Abe, celebrated Obon for the second time since her daughter passed away.

Hiroko is still searching for a lawyer to sue the county and others over Hanako’s death.

“I don’t want McAlister to get capital punishment,” she said. “I just want him to go to prison and do something that really changes his life.”

Her friends have set up a fundraising site that also serves as a memorial for Hanako.

Hiroko wrote on that site: “Hanako loved San Francisco. I hope her death wasn’t in vain. I hope one day I can tell Hanako that San Francisco has been reborn as a safe and beautiful city.”

(Marie Louise Leone contributed to this article.)