SAN FRANCISCO – With 2,582 incarcerated persons with active cases of COVID-19 in California prisons statewide, and over 1,100 people incarcerated in San Quentin testing positive, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is mobilizing to free people as quickly as possible to prevent the continuing spread. The outbreak at San Quentin came after CDCR transferred...Read More

SF Public Defender Mano Raju spoke on the Sana G Morning Show on KMEL in the wake of nationwide calls to defund the police as the Black Lives Matter movement and millions of Americans took to the streets in the wake of recent police killings, including the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, and the...Read More

Public Defenders Call for Major Statewide Police Reform June 25, 2020 – Public Defenders sent this letter to Governor Newsom and California Lawmakers today calling for major statewide police reforms, seeking “meaningful, radical change” in line with the movement of the moment.  Download the full letter here: Public-Defenders-Recommendations-for-CA-Policing-ReformDownloadRead More

ICE CONFIRMS MEDICAL PROVIDER AT MESA VERDE DETENTION CENTER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, EXPOSING ITS CONTINUED FAILURE TO PROTECT HEALTH DURING PANDEMIC SAN FRANCISCO – On June 19, 2020, government lawyers disclosed that a medical provider at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, CA, tested positive for COVID-19. The disclosure came at a hearing...Read More

Photo: Donis with his youngest of three children and his wife, following his release by court order. Judge Orders ICE to Maintain Pandemic Protections at Detention Centers SAN FRANCISCO — This afternoon a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in response to a class action legal challenge by immigrants detained at two California immigration detention...Read More

Employees with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds on Monday outside the Hall of Justice in honor of George Floyd — an unarmed black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police two weeks ago. The action, organized by the office’s Racial Justice Committee, was part of...Read More

On May 29, 2020, the San Francisco Chronicle published this article by Megan Cassidy about the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office client, Paul Redd, who was resentenced in San Francisco Superior Court and earned release after more than 44 years in prison. Mr. Redd was convicted at age 19 based on the testimony of a...Read More

Court Finds Likely Constitutional Violation in ICE’S Detention of Immigrants in Two Cramped Detention Centers during Pandemic; Order Establishes Process for Court to Consider Releases of Detained Immigrants SAN FRANCISCO — In an emergency order, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order in response to a challenge by immigrants detained at two California immigration...Read More

After Long Battle, Public Defender Successfully Secures Release of Transgender Client from ICE Detention SAN FRANCISCO – Yesterday, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office secured the release of Lexis Hernandez Avilez, a 41-year-old transgender woman who spent the last 17 months detained by ICE, most recently in Texas.  Her story made headlines in January of...Read More

April 21, 2020 DETAINED IMMIGRANTS FILE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST ICE, DEMAND IMMEDIATE RELEASES FROM EXTREMELY UNSAFE CONDITIONS DURING GLOBAL PANDEMIC  Lawsuit Also Defends First Amendment Right to Hunger Strike Over Dangerous Conditions SAN FRANCISCO – Immigrants detained at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility and the Yuba County Jail filed a class action lawsuit against...Read More