FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 18, 2021 MEDIA CONTACT:  SF Public Defender’s Office | Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org | (628)249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** Judge Rules California Department of Corrections Inflicted Cruel and Unusual Punishment on Incarcerated People at San Quentin During COVID-19 Pandemic Historic ruling comes nearly 18 months after a COVID outbreak claimed 29 lives, but offers little relief...Read More

On May 19, 2021, testimony began in an evidentiary hearing against San Quentin State Prison and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for their mishandling of a disastrous transfer of COVID-19-infected persons from the California Institution for Men to San Quentin, resulting in a massive outbreak and 29 deaths in the summer of...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2021 CONTACT: San Francisco Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org – (628) 249-7946 **PRESS RELEASE** San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak on Trial: Hearing Starts May 17 Weeks of Evidence and Testimony Expected Hundreds of incarcerated petitioners allege CDCR caused an explosive, deadly COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin constituting “cruel and unusual punishment”  ...Read More

DATE: May 10, 2021 MEDIA CONTACT: San Francisco Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org – (628)249-7946 **MEDIA ADVISORY** San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak on Trial: Hearing to Start May 17 Weeks of Evidence and Testimony Expected WHAT: An evidentiary hearing in the case against San Quentin State Prison and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)...Read More

Danielle Harris, Managing Attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit, appeared in this in-depth interview with Al Jazeera – US: Why are people trapped in prison with COVID-19? She appeared alongside James King of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Adnan Khan on RE-Store Justice, both of whom were formerly...Read More

Lisa Fernandez of KTVU FOX 2 News reported: Appeals court orders San Quentin to reduce population citing ‘deliberate indifference’ over virus. She interviewed Danica Rodarmel, statewide policy director for the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, who is one of the attorneys working on a separate case of habeas corpus on behalf of over 300 petitioners...Read More

KRON interviewed Danielle Harris, the Managing Attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Integrity Unit, in the segment: San Quentin inmates petition to be released due to coronavirus concerns. “tHERE’S JUST NO SUCH THING AS SIX-FOOT DISTANCING IN AN OVERCROWDED PRISON.” – DANIELLE HARRISRead More

The Davis Vanguard reported: Efforts to Release Incarcerated from San Quentin Move Forward in Marin County Superior Court. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is part of a team of regional attorneys representing over 300 individual petitioners from San Quentin in a consolidated case of habeas corpus in Marin County Superior Court. “If the state...Read More

NBC News report from Jacob Ward – Coronavirus cases, deaths at San Quentin prison blamed on mismanagement – interviewed the sister of an incarcerated man at San Quentin seeking information from CDCR, and advocates describing the dangerous and challenging conditions for people in San Quentin during a massive outbreak of COVID-19. He also interviewed Jacque...Read More

Sarah Holder of the Bloomberg CityLab published The Imprisoners’ Dilemma – San Quentin’s deadly Covid-19 outbreak has intensified a national debate over releasing inmates and dramatically reducing the U.S. prison population — for good. In it, she notes the efforts of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to urge Governor Newsom to reduce the state’s prison population. “While we have...Read More