Effort to Recall Alameda County Da Pamela Price Takes Major Step Forward

The effort to oust Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price moved forward Tuesday afternoon as an organization filed the intent to recall paperwork and the needed signatures to officially begin the process.

The group calling for Price’s recall is known as Save Alameda For Everyone or SAFE. It includes critics, activists and members of families who have been affected by her policies.

Seven months into her tenure, Price has already become a lightning rod in the heated conversation about criminal justice reform and public safety. She ran on a platform emphasizing restorative justice policies including reducing sentences for younger offenders, eliminating most sentencing enhancements and holding law enforcement accountable.

But critics say she’s too lenient on violent criminals. {snip}

Price has faced criticism for how she chose to charge two high-profile murder cases. One was the shooting death of two-year old Jasper Wu, who was riding in a car with his parents when he was fatally shot in the head. The other case involved Blake Mohs, a loss prevention officer at a Pleasanton Home Depot who was shot and killed four months ago during an attempted shoplifting.

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“Pamela Price is directly choosing to charge properly in my son’s case,” said Lorie Mohs who was at the Alameda County registrar’s office when the recall paperwork was filed.

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“I think that she is really advocating more for the accused than she is the victims,” said Mohs.

Families of victims believe Price has been pushing for the shortest possible sentences. In an interview with KPIX reporter Betty Yu last month, Price said she does not believe in adding sentence enhancements.

“Anytime that we can divert someone from the criminal justice system, that is a goal, because the criminal justice system has been shown to be racially biased,” said Price in that previous interview.

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