News and Press Releases

SF Chronicle reporters Megan Cassidy and Jason Fagone reported: S.F. lab scandal: Management lowered standards prior to analyst’s meth bust. “The fact that the head of the toxicology lab pushed to lower the standards for his own job description is emblematic of the lowering of standards of the Medical Examiner’s Office across the board,” Raju said in a statement. “Given...

SF Chronicle reporters Megan Cassidy and Jason Fagone report: SF public defender calls for firing of chief medical examiner. “Hart is not a credible witness and the truth-seeking function of the court process is thwarted,” Raju wrote in the complaint, which he addressed to Mayor London Breed, as well as the California Medical Board president and executives at the National...

Nancy Chan reported in the San Francisco Examiner: SF City Attorney seeks to bar 28 alleged drug dealers from the Tenderloin. “More enforcement of low-level, subsistence street level sellers is not the solution to this ongoing public health crisis,” Raju said. “Rather, we should use our resources to provide meaningful alternatives to street level dealers — including housing, job training,...

September 24, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org  Public Defender Mano Raju Responds to City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s Decision to File Civil Injunctions Against 28 Individuals “I agree that drug use in the Tenderloin is a serious public health issue that negatively affects residents, many of whom are clients of my office, as well as their families....

September 24, 2020 PRESS CONTACTS: Valerie Ibarra – SF Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org; Treasurer’s Office/Financial Justice Project – (415) 596-6138 – Anne.Stuhldreher@sfgov.org California Becomes the First State in the Nation to End Collection of Fees in the Criminal Legal System  San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros and Public Defender Mano Raju applaud Governor Newsom’s signing of The Families...