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

October 1, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org SF Public Defender Mano Raju’s Statement on Criminal Justice Reform Bills Signed by Governor Newsom “In the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a shortened legislative session, and a powerful national grassroots movement demanding systemic change in the criminal legal system, my...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

SF Chronicle reporters Megan Cassidy and Jason Fagone report: SF public defender calls for firing of chief medical examiner. “Hart is not a credible witness and the truth-seeking function of the court process is thwarted,” Raju wrote in the complaint, which he addressed to Mayor London Breed, as well as the California Medical Board president...Read More

Nancy Chan reported in the San Francisco Examiner: SF City Attorney seeks to bar 28 alleged drug dealers from the Tenderloin. “More enforcement of low-level, subsistence street level sellers is not the solution to this ongoing public health crisis,” Raju said. “Rather, we should use our resources to provide meaningful alternatives to street level dealers...Read More

September 24, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org  Public Defender Mano Raju Responds to City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s Decision to File Civil Injunctions Against 28 Individuals “I agree that drug use in the Tenderloin is a serious public health issue that negatively affects residents, many of whom are clients of my office,...Read More

September 24, 2020 PRESS CONTACTS: Valerie Ibarra – SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org; Treasurer’s Office/Financial Justice Project – (415) 596-6138 – Anne.Stuhldreher@sfgov.org California Becomes the First State in the Nation to End Collection of Fees in the Criminal Legal System  San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros and Public Defender Mano Raju applaud Governor...Read More

September 23, 2020 PRESS CONTACTS: SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org; Gala King – Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity – (510)759-4196 – GKing@im4humanintegrity.org SF Board of Supervisors Unanimously Passes Resolution Urging Governor Newsom to Pardon Immigrant Rights Leader Charles Joseph SAN FRANCISCO  – Last night, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed...Read More

San Francisco, CA – Public Defender Jeff Adachi will represent 22-year old Antonio Buitrago, a named defendant in a gang injunction lawsuit filed by the City Attorney in San Francisco Superior Court, this Tuesday, September 18, 2007, at 9:30 AM, at the Civic Center Courthouse, 400 McAllister Street in San Francisco. Deputy Public Defender Chris...Read More