News and Press Releases

Op-Ed: Proposed Kate’s Law Would Not Have Saved Kate Steinle

By Matt Gonzalez Special to the Chronicle The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last week called “Kate’s Law” (HR3004). The bill is named for Kate Steinle, the young woman whose unfortunate death in San Francisco in 2015 has been exploited as a recurrent shibboleth in efforts across the nation to instigate anti-immigrant fervor. Were it in effect in...

•July 5, 2017

Public Defender Launches Unit to Combat Booking Bias

San Francisco—Police booking charges play an outsized role in creating the San Francisco justice system’s dramatic racial disparities, a new study reveals, prompting San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi to announce today the formation of a team to scrutinize the early charges for bias. The Pretrial Release Unit, comprised of two deputy public defenders and one investigator, will launch Oct....

•June 27, 2017