News and Press Releases

Megan Cassidy of the San Francisco Chronicle reported: San Francisco to close crumbling, unsafe county jail sooner than expected in face of coronavirus threat. “The closure of County Jail 4 has been a long time coming,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, who linked the jail’s closure to broader criminal justice reform efforts.“The COVID-19 crisis, coupled with the national...

Robert Salonga interviewed SF Public Defender Mano Raju for the San Jose Mercury article: Attorney General asks California Supreme Court to restore Humphrey bail-reform ruling. California Attorney General Javier Beccera sent a letter asking the Calfornia Supreme Court to restore a landmark 2018 appellate ruling in the Humphrey case – which requires judges to take ability-to-pay into consideration when setting...

Lawyers for nearly 50 men incarcerated at San Quentin sue over ‘botched transfer,’ demand release By Lisa Fernandez, KTVU FOX 2, August 17, 2020 As of Monday, San Quentin had about 3,100 people in custody and San Francisco Asst. Public Defender Danica Rodarmel said she wanted that number to drop to at least 1,550. To date, 26 people at San...

KQED’s Farida Jhabvala Romero interviewed Deputy Public Defender Emi MacLean for the report: Half of All Detainees at Bakersfield ICE Facility Have Tested Positive For COVID-19. This outbreak was discovered after a federal judge ordered weekly coronavirus testing at the Mesa Verde immigrant detention center. But immigration officials opted for slower testing that did not provide results for days, said...

August 17, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office – (628) 249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org Petitioners Allege CDCR Purposefully Ignored Marin County Health Official Warnings about Dangers at San Quentin; Over 400 pages of Evidence Presented  Habeas petitions allege CDCR actions causing explosive and deadly Covid-19 outbreak at San Quentin constitute “cruel and unusual punishment”  SAN FRANCISCO – Last week, in...