News and Press Releases

San Francisco Bay Guardian, Politics blog: While Mayor Gavin Newsom gallivants around the country...other city leaders are doing the hard work of restoring San Francisco values. On Wednesday, there are two shining examples of this uphill battle that take place on opposite ends of Civic Center Plaza. First, SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi hosts “Justice Summit 2009: Defending the Public...

Public Defenders, Criminal Justice Leaders from around U.S. to Convene in San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO – Over 300 people in support of public defense will gather on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 to hear Judge Thelton Henderson, senior federal judge of the Northern District of California, speak to the importance of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, which is currently being...

San Francisco Examiner: A summit on the crucial role played by public defenders comes at a time of tension between the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and the mayor’s office.

by Jeff Adachi There hasn’t been a lot happening at the Community Justice Center, so I haven’t blogged for a couple of weeks.  There is no surge of cases to report.  The caseload flow is still very low, and although the court is now handling “in-custody” cases at the Hall of Justice in the mornings, there are usually no more...

San Francisco Chronicle op-ed: In the famous 1963 case of Gideon vs. Wainwright, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the state must provide lawyers for those charged with serious crimes who cannot afford them. The court recognized that "lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries" and that a fair trial was impossible without counsel for the defense.