Journalist Albert Samaha, the Inequality Editor at BuzzFeed News, interviewed our client Jordan Smith, who has long worked in the restaurant industry around the Bay Area and found himself living on the economic margins. In the article – The Only Way For Some People To Stay In San Francisco Is To Steal: As San Francisco’s...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 15, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org **PRESS STATEMENT** SF Public Defender Says Police Escalated a Biased Stop to Shootout on City Street SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the San Francisco Police Department held a virtual town hall about an incident in which four police officers fired shots at Jose...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 3, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Public Defender Announces Leadership Advancement of M.A.G.I.C. Directors M.A.G.I.C. Programs Continue to Serve Local Youth & Families with Year-Round Resources & Annual Backpack Giveaways in August  SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju is announcing...Read More

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju gave this exclusive interview to Haaziq Madyun of KRON4 News to discuss how a carceral response to drugs has not and will not solve the tragic opioid and overdose epidemic that has impacted every community in the country. In terms of San Francisco, he cautioned against interim District Attorney...Read More

**PRESS STATEMENT** SF Public Defender Mano Raju’s Statement Denouncing DA Jenkins’ Attempts to Bring Back Regressive War on Drugs SAN FRANCISCO – District Attorney Brooke Jenkins recently filed charges in over a dozen cases where the sole charge is possession of drug paraphernalia, such as having a pipe. Mano Raju, the elected Public Defender of...Read More

San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Files Complaint with the Commission on Judicial Performance Regarding Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman On July 14, 2022, the Public Defender’s Office filed a complaint with the Commission on Judicial Performance against San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman for repeatedly and gratuitously using the N-word in full in open court....Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Supervisors Urge Governor Newsom to Pardon LGBTQ Man in ICE Custody SAN FRANCISCO – Yesterday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution urging Governor Newsom to pardon Salesh (“Sal”) Prasad who is being...Read More

Sam Levin of The Guardian interviewed Salesh “Sal” Prasad, a client of our Immigration Defense Unit, who is an LGBTQ artist and activist who was granted parole after transforming his life in prison, but never got a taste of his hard-earned freedom because prison officials transferred him directly into ICE custody. He’s spent the last...Read More

On June 27, 2022, the SF Examiner published this Op Ed – What happens when San Francisco and other cities drastically underfund public defender offices – by San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. Click through to read the full Opinion. Excerpt: As trusted advocates for our clients, public defenders are the best positioned out of...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Man Acquitted in Death of Elderly Dogwalker SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco jury found Peter Rocha not guilty of murder and all felony charges in the accidental death of an elderly Glen Park resident, Leo...Read More