News and Press Releases

A San Francisco judge has dismissed all charges against 33-year-old Kenneth McCurry after finding that two SFPD officers displayed implicit racial bias against McCurry in violation of the state Racial Justice Act. Judge Patrick Thompson found that the way the officers followed McCurry, who is Black, shoved him off his scooter and into a wall without warning, and later described...

Public defender’s office client was accused of assault and robbery, but was actually the victim of theft.

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju's statement regarding the California Supreme Court's Kowalczyk decision, which affirmed that it is unconstitutional to keep a person in jail simply because they cannot afford bail.

Joining with public defenders across the country, San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju is calling on everyone who supports the Constitutional right to counsel to wear black on Thursday, April 23 to show solidarity with public defenders.

On April 10, a San Francisco jury fully acquitted 38-year-old Pierre Constant of all charges after he spent more than 18 months in jail for an attack in the Tenderloin he did not commit. SFPD officers arrested the wrong person, violated police body-worn camera policies, and mishandled the photo lineup in this case. Prosecutors also failed to turn over key...