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
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 27, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | pubdef-mediarelations@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Condemns SFPD Killing of Two Men, Including Former Client Rafael Mendoza SAN FRANCISCO – Last Thursday, members of the San Francisco Police Department shot and killed two men after being called to...Read More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Jury Acquits on Assault Charge in a Trial That Came 7 Months Late for a Man Jailed for Nearly a Year SFPD took 9 months to turn over video that the jury used to reach its...Read More
For Immediate Release: May 11, 2022 Media Contacts: Emma Tozer, GLIDE Foundation, etozer@glide.org, (301) 383-3128 Valerie Ibarra, SF Public Defender’s Office, Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org, (628) 249-7946 ***PRESS RELEASE*** Coalition of 60 Civil Rights, Traffic Safety, and Community Groups Urging San Francisco Police Commission to End Racially-Biased Pretext Stops SAN FRANCISCO — Today at 11:00 AM, the Coalition...Read More
