News and Press Releases

Lisa Fernandez of KTVU FOX 2 reported: California ICE detention center officials ignored COVID-19 protocols: attorneys after attorneys in the ongoing Zepeda-Rivas class action lawsuit against ICE discovered new documents showing how staff at the Mesa Verde detention center in Bakersfield, CA – operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group – failed to follow safety protocols to protect the...

Nico Savidge reported for the San Jose Mercury News: Prop 25 failed, but California’s fight over cash bail is far from over – Case before state Supreme Court could overhaul bail system critics say is unjust. He interviewed San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju about the future of bail reform. The Humphrey case, which will be heard by the California...

November 11, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: Valerie Ibarra – SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 New Documents Reveal ICE and Private Prison Contractor Exacerbates a COVID Outbreak at Immigration Detention Center Hid Risks to Immigrants In Grave Danger Due to COVID Pandemic, Misled Court SAN FRANCISCO – Last night, detained immigrants held at the Mesa Verde ICE detention center, in Bakersfield California,...

November 5, 2020 San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju’s Statement on Election’s Implications for Criminal Justice Reform in California “2020 has been a year of divisive politics and a national reckoning with racism, police brutality, and systemic injustice. However, this week there was consensus across California: voters made clear their desire to continue on a path of meaningful criminal justice...

Danielle Harris, Managing Attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit, appeared in this in-depth interview with Al Jazeera – US: Why are people trapped in prison with COVID-19? She appeared alongside James King of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Adnan Khan on RE-Store Justice, both of whom were formerly incarcerated in San Quentin and...