Lisa Fernandez of KTVU FOX 2 reported: California ICE detention center officials ignored COVID-19 protocols: attorneys after attorneys in the ongoing Zepeda-Rivas class action lawsuit against ICE discovered new documents showing how staff at the Mesa Verde detention center in Bakersfield, CA – operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group – failed to follow...Read More
Nico Savidge reported for the San Jose Mercury News: Prop 25 failed, but California’s fight over cash bail is far from over – Case before state Supreme Court could overhaul bail system critics say is unjust. He interviewed San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju about the future of bail reform. The Humphrey case, which will...Read More
November 11, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: Valerie Ibarra – SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 New Documents Reveal ICE and Private Prison Contractor Exacerbates a COVID Outbreak at Immigration Detention Center Hid Risks to Immigrants In Grave Danger Due to COVID Pandemic, Misled Court SAN FRANCISCO – Last night, detained immigrants held at the Mesa Verde ICE...Read More
Danielle Harris, Managing Attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit, appeared in this in-depth interview with Al Jazeera – US: Why are people trapped in prison with COVID-19? She appeared alongside James King of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Adnan Khan on RE-Store Justice, both of whom were formerly...Read More
October 28, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: San Francisco Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org SF Public Defender’s Office Wins Acquittal for Client Accused of Carjacking and Robbery SAN FRANCISCO – Yesterday, a jury acquitted a client of the Public Defender of all carjacking and robbery charges stemming from an incident in May. The jury found that Valentine...Read More
Michael Barba of the San Francisco Examiner reported: SF jail closure prompts doctor to call for release of more inmates. “We have to defer to Dr. Pratt’s medical and public health expertise and experience as to the number of people the jail can safely house,” said Danielle Harris, a managing attorney at the Public Defender’s...Read More
Michael Barba of the San Francisco Examiner reported: Audit over lab worker meth arrest finds medical examiner is missing drugs. “Clearly, their security protocols around handling evidence have been lax, which means that an untold number of criminal cases have likely been compromised by their carelessness,” Raju said. “People are likely in jail or prison...Read More
Lisa Fernandez of KTVU FOX 2 News reported: Appeals court orders San Quentin to reduce population citing ‘deliberate indifference’ over virus. She interviewed Danica Rodarmel, statewide policy director for the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, who is one of the attorneys working on a separate case of habeas corpus on behalf of over 300 petitioners...Read More
KQED’s Farida Jhabvala Romero reported: ICE Misusing Solitary Confinement for COVID-19 Quarantine, Detainees Say. The story features Alton Edmonson, a client of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Immigration Unit, who maintains his innocence despite a plea deal he took in relation to a November 2018 arrest in Nevada County, CA, which led to consequences...Read More
SF Chronicle reporters Megan Cassidy and Jason Fagone reported: S.F. lab scandal: Management lowered standards prior to analyst’s meth bust. “The fact that the head of the toxicology lab pushed to lower the standards for his own job description is emblematic of the lowering of standards of the Medical Examiner’s Office across the board,” Raju...Read More
