News and Press Releases

AP: Public defenders, who already are stretched to the breaking point by huge caseloads and dwindling staff, face layoffs across the country. Nowhere is the threat more apparent than in California.

On Thursday, June 18, 10am on the Goodlett Steps of San Francisco City Hall, the community will rally in support of public defense and budget justice.

One of the ongoing debates of late surrounding the Community Justice Court concerns the question of how to force a person to change their behavior. The CJC might be viewed as a social experiment to determine whether coercion is effective in changing behavior. Will an alcohol addicted person who is hailed into court for passing out on the sidewalk stop...

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said on Monday that the Mayor’s proposed $1.9 million cut to the Public Defender’s Office will cost the city millions more in the years ahead and take an unnecessary toll on poor people in the justice system.

The first study to assess the impact of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office reentry social work program found that alternatives to incarceration, reduced sentencing, and avoided jail days obtained as a result of reentry advocacy saved California state prisons over $5,000,000 and San Francisco County over $1,000,000.