News and Press Releases

The vote to close down juvenile hall was a historic moment in juvenile justice reform. I am excited and proud to be part of the movement to re-envision this system. These institutions are not rehabilitative. The racial disparities are stark, and the confines of juvenile halls have a harmful effect on youth’s mental and physical health as well as their...

San Francisco– Representatives from the Public Defender’s Office will be advocating for the release of previously sealed police personnel files during Wednesday evening’s Police Commission meeting, Deputy Public Defender Jacque Wilson has announced. “Law enforcement in San Francisco is deliberately sandbagging the release of these records,” said Wilson. “But we are pushing back just as hard. We’ve filed a Sunshine...

A man who was arrested for violating a stay-away order that he thought had expired was acquitted, Public Defender Manohar Raju has announced. Charles Thomas, 65, faced up to six months in jail for accidently knocking on the door of an ex-neighbor that he had been in conflict with and who had taken out a stay-away order on him, Deputy...

On April 18, 2019, the SF Board of Supervisors called for an investigation of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) for improperly leaking a confidential police report regarding Mr. Adachi’s death, which would later be disseminated throughout the country. We do not know the motive for leaking the report or how it occurred.  We do know, however, that this is...