News and Press Releases

This Op Ed – Gov. Newsom must release more people from prisons to protect Californians and save lives – was co-authored by Danica Rodarmel, the statewide policy director of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, and James King, the State Campaigner at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights who was formerly incarcerated inside San Quentin. Here, the authors argue to...

Broad Coalition of Legal and Medical Experts Urge SF Courts to Restore ‘Zero Bail’ Amid Growing Number of COVID-19 Cases in SF Jails  SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco County jail has seen a 40% increase in positive COVID-19 cases since June 18, 2020.  This surge prompted a broad coalition – including the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Criminal Justice Taskforce (BASF-CJRTF),...

July 6, 2020 Dear Governor Newsom, This is an immeasurably difficult time. With 2,419 incarcerated persons with active cases ofCOVID-19 in California prisons statewide and over 1,500 people who are incarcerated or work inSan Quentin testing positive, I am strongly urging you to exercise your authority to release peoplefrom California’s overcrowded prisons and to take additional steps to improve the...

Nuala Bishari reported for the SF Public Press on how S.F. Immigration Lawyers Cut ICE Detention Centers Population by Two-Thirds. This article features the work of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Immigration Unit to protect people being held in immigration detention, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through several joint legal actions, the population of two California immigration detention centers...

SAN FRANCISCO – With 2,582 incarcerated persons with active cases of COVID-19 in California prisons statewide, and over 1,100 people incarcerated in San Quentin testing positive, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is mobilizing to free people as quickly as possible to prevent the continuing spread. The outbreak at San Quentin came after CDCR transferred 121 men from the CA...