Lawsuit Claims Alameda County DA Is Biased Against Asians. How Will It Impact the Recall?

Patricia Lee, a former public information officer for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, is suing the county and Price, alleging Price made anti-Asian remarks and fired her in retaliation for speaking up about violations of public transparency laws. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court.

The Berkeley Scanner first reported Lee’s allegations in March. The lawsuit builds on previous claims of anti-Asian bias in Price’s administration. Her office denies any anti-Asian bias, but the lawsuit means the narrative likely isn’t going away anytime soon. That’s bad news for Price as she faces a recall election this fall.

The context: Price has been criticized by some for her handling of two homicide cases with Asian victims in November 2021. Kevin Nishita, a security guard for a TV news crew, was killed during a robbery, and toddler Jasper Wu was killed by a stray bullet during an alleged gang-related shootout on Interstate 880 in Oakland. When Price took office in January 2023, her deputies removed special circumstances enhancements from both cases, eliminating the possibility of sentences of death or life without parole. The move was consistent with Price’s campaign stance. To some, the change made it seem like Asian victims were less important.

Claims of bias from within the office have added fuel to these fears. In a May 2023 letter of resignation, former Deputy DA Rebecca Warren claimed Price’s chief assistant made racist statements about Somoans. Warren also characterized an email from Price regarding Wu’s death as condescending to Chinese Americans.

The opposing view: Price resubmitted charges for the three defendants in Nishita’s case in February. In a press release, her office highlighted the long sentences — 189, 151 and 78 years, respectively — the defendants would face if convicted of all counts. It was a pivot from her insistence on the campaign trail that long sentences don’t make communities safer — a stance backed by U.S. Department of Justice research.

Later that month, Price attended a town hall in Oakland’s Chinatown to meet with residents and listen to their concerns.

“Even in the midst of shouting and controversy and people having signs, we’re still having a conversation,” Price said, sitting alongside Trevelyon Jones, Oakland Police Department’s interim assistant chief. “Tell us what the issues are. We’re in the midst of a crisis, and yet we are all working to find solutions.”

The big picture: The racial dynamics at play here are hard to ignore. There is a long history of tension between Black and Asian communities in America (and a long history of solidarity). Price is the county’s first Black district attorney, and she took office amidst a surge in anti-Asian hate crimes. Concerns the justice system wasn’t taking the anti-Asian violence seriously enough contributed to District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s recall in San Francisco in 2022. Regardless of the outcome of Lee’s lawsuit, the larger narrative it fits into is something Price will continue to contend with.

What’s next: The county and the DA will likely ask the court to dismiss Lee’s case, but if that doesn’t work, they’ll have to decide whether to fight or settle. Settlement would wrap the issue quickly but could imply some admission of guilt, something recall supporters would not let go quietly. Taking the case to trial would drag out the controversy for months, ensuring this narrative would haunt Price throughout her campaign against the recall.