News and Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: San Francisco Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** SF Jury Acquits Longtime Violence Prevention Activist of DUI Charges SAN FRANCISCO – Last week, a San Francisco jury took less than an hour to acquit Richard Isom of a misdemeanor charge of DUI. Deputy Public Defender Zachary Waterman defended Mr....

On Monday, February 14, 2022, the Public Defender’s Office held an online community presentation to share our Departmental Budget Priorities for FY 2022-2023. Learn about our values, mission, and priorities for the coming fiscal year 2022-2023. Transformative Justice, Racial Equity, Community Health Public Defender Mano Raju presented our department’s budget priorities at a community event facilitated by Lyslynn Lacoste, longtime...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 10, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Ibarra | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628) 249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** Legal Action Urging SF Superior Court to Address Mass Trial Delays Moving to the CA Court of Appeal San Francisco’s Criminal Trial Backlog & Jail Conditions Remain a Serious Cause for Concern SAN FRANCISCO — Petitioners San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, Donna Doyle,...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2022 MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Ibarra | PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS STATEMENT** San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju Urges Police Commission to Preserve Independent Oversight of SFPD “Rarely do officers across the nation face criminal charges for on-duty violence, and San Francisco is no exception.  I am disappointed that yesterday, SFPD Chief Bill Scott unilaterally withdrew...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 27, 2022 MEDIA CONTACTS:  San Francisco Public Defender’s Office: Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org, 628-249-7946  ACLU NorCal: press@aclunc.org, 415-621-2493  ACLU SoCal: communications@aclusocal.org, 626-755-4129  Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the SF Bay Area: slew@lccrsf.org, 415-272-8022 **PRESS RELEASE** Groundbreaking COVID-19 Settlement to Yield Protections for Immigrants Detained by ICE, Limit Re-Detention for People Released SAN FRANCISCO — Immigrants detained by ICE...