FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 15, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: SF Public Defender’s Office | PubDef-MediaRelations@sfgov.org; Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946
**MEDIA ADVISORY**
TOMORROW: SF Public Defenders & Community to Hold a Mock Trial on steps of 850 Bryant to “Open the Courts and Free Our People”
Over 150 people languish indefinitely in SF jails without trial as the Superior Court continues to violate state and federal speedy trial rights
WHAT: A press rally in the form of a mock trial will call attention to the alarming and expansive criminal trial backlog in San Francisco Superior Court, which continues to violate speedy trial rights and jail people beyond their trial deadlines. Over 550 individuals have statutory trial deadlines that have passed, including over 150 people who remain locked in jail with no end in sight. Many people in jail face a 23-hour-a-day lockdown in their cells, damaging their mental/physical health. Hear testimony from public defenders, community leaders, and directly-impacted community members whose lives, well-being, and families have suffered immensely under the legal crisis in our courts and the humanitarian crisis in our jails.Habeas petitions, challenging the harsh conditions of confinement in County Jail, will be filed.
WHEN: Friday, September 16, 2022 starting at 10am
WHERE: Steps of 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco
WHO:
From the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office: Mano Raju, Elected Public Defender of San Francisco; Kathleen Natividad, Deputy Public Defender (MC); Jacque Wilson, Managing Attorney Misdemeanor Unit
Directly-impacted Public Defender clients and family members: Mayra Borg (mother); Stephanie Irving (partner); Stephen Kloster (client); Robert Brewer (client)
Supervisors: Hillary Ronen and Dean Preston
Community Leaders: Father Richard Smith, Clergy; Olga Miranda, SEIU 87 / SF Labor Council;
Lucero Hererra, Advocacy and Policy Director of Young Women’s Freedom Center; Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco Poet Laureate
**We encourage all press to join us in person and to set up any cameras and microphones by 9:45am. We also will be live-streaming at https://www.instagram.com/sfpublicdefender/.
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