Today we joined public defenders nationwide in wearing black to protest rising caseloads & offices that are underfunded & overburdened. Across the U.S., poor people are unfairly prosecuted, take bad plea deals & are unjustly punished because defenders lack adequate resources. tinyurl.com/Defender423

Pierre Constant spent 18+ months in jail for an attack he did not commit. Jurors acquitted Constant, in a case rife with police and DA delays and violations. Prosecutors took more than a year to give the defense exonerating DNA evidence. sfpublicdefender.org/2026/04/21/j...

Jury Acquits Man After DNA Evidence Indicating Innocence Was Withheld for Over a Year

On April 10, a San Francisco jury fully acquitted 38-year-old Pierre Constant of all charges after he spent more than 18 months in jail for an attack in the Tenderloin he did not commit.

sfpublicdefender.org

📣 Wear black on 4/23 📣 Join with @sfpublicdefender.sf.gov & defenders across the U.S. in wearing black on Thursday. We are raising the alarm on rising defender workloads and chronically understaffed, underfunded, & overburdened defender offices. Learn more: sfpublicdefender.org/2026/04/22/p...

Public Defenders Across Country to Wear Black on Thursday to Protest Underfunding

Joining with public defenders across the country, San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju is calling on everyone who supports the Constitutional right to counsel to wear black on Thursday…

sfpublicdefender.org

Today we’re celebrating Administrative Professionals Day and the incredible people who keep our office running every day. Their skill, dedication, and care make it possible for us to support our clients and stand up for justice. We’re deeply grateful—thank you for all you do.

#AB1917, the Respect Judicial Decisions Act, passed the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee! Thx to bill author @asmnickschultz.bsky.social for working to strengthen fairness & due process in our courts, and to fellow co‑sponsors Californians for Safety & Justice, CA Attys for Criminal Justice.

An appeals court affirmed it's halting a $26K fine against SF Public Defender @manorajupd.bsky.social. Lower court Judge Harry Dorfman fined Raju for declining some felony cases due to overburdened attys & staff. The ofc still handles the vast majority of cases. sfpublicdefender.org/2026/04/10/c...

A San Francisco court has dismissed all charges against nudism activist Martin Moulton, 59, who was arrested after a park ranger choked him at a Jan. 17 vigil for Bob Weir. Read more here: sfpublicdefender.org/2026/04/08/c...

Court Dismisses Charges Against Activist Whom Park Ranger Choked During Bob Weir Vigil

On March 27, a San Francisco court dismissed all charges against nudism activist Martin Moulton, 59, who was arrested after being choked by a park ranger during a January public vigil for Grateful…

sfpublicdefender.org

Great hearing from Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr about leadership today w/ city leaders. Really appreciate his willingness to speak out on social justice issues & his PSA for SF's Be The Jury program, our initiative to increase economic & racial diversity on juries. More: tinyurl.com/KerrBeTheJury

We are heartened & so appreciative of the support we're receiving for our stance against crushing workloads and in support of our clients’ Constitutional right to effective counsel. Thanks, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, @nlada.bsky.social & the American Council of Chief Defenders!

Legal leaders nationwide support SF Public Defender Mano Raju, who is standing up for clients & against crushing staff workloads. The court may unjustly sanction him for it. 📣Stand w/ us tomorrow: 1:30pm, Dept 22, 850 Bryant St., SF.📣Our community deserves a fully-resourced public defense office.

Gideon Day marks the 1963 SCOTUS decision that established the right to an attorney for anyone charged w/a crime, regardless of ability to pay. Pub defs have a constitutional duty & great privilege to protect the rights of the ppl we rep while pushing for a more just/equitable legal system&society.

📢 Check out our office’s Community Budget Presentation to learn about our goals, the vital work we do, and our budget. Public defenders are essential to protecting constitutional rights, ensuring fairness, and giving a voice to people who can’t afford an attorney. tinyurl.com/PDR2026Budget

#AB1917, the Respect Judicial Decisions Act, passed the CA Assembly Public Safety Committee! Thx to bill author @asmnickschultz.bsky.social for recognizing the need to strengthen fairness & due process in our courts, and to our fellow co‑sponsors Californians for Safety and Justice and CACJ. 🧵

For years, cops used minor violations as excuses (pretexts) to stop & search Black and brown drivers. The Pretext Stop Policy addresses those harms while keeping communities safe. Read the study: bppj.berkeley.edu/news/data-re... 🚨 Voice your support of this policy at sfpd.commission@sfgov.org.

🚨New, independent UC Berkeley research shows that SF's Pretext Stops Policy is WORKING.🚨 Check out the researcher's SF Chronicle op-ed: tinyurl.com/Chron-pretext. The analysis found that the policy *reduced* disproportionate stops of Black & Latino drivers without sacrificing anyone’s safety.

Honored to speak at the Harvard Law APALSA Conference about my journey to becoming an elected Public Defender & our office’s work advocating for system-impacted people. Grateful to APALSA organizers for creating space to discuss public interest paths for aspiring API lawyers. The future is bright.

Honored to celebrate the opening of the Just Home project on 3rd St—housing & support for Transitional Age Youth. Housing is a critical need for our @sfpublicdefender.sf.gov clients & can be life-changing. Grateful to local policy dir. Carolyn Goossen and partners for their work making this happen.

In my OpEd, I explain why we shouldn’t accept a system where the quality or timeliness of justice depends on the limited resources of public defenders. A new national workload study affirms: if we’re serious abt justice, we must be serious abt funding public defense. sfbayview.com/2026/02/we-c...

We can’t claim to value justice while starving public defense

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju

sfbayview.com

Breaking: AB 1537 by Asm. Isaac Bryan, the No Side Jobs for ICE Act, has PASSED out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee! Thank you to Asm. Bryan @ib2real.bsky.social, to the committee members who voted “aye,” and all who supported! 1/

⭐ Join us Friday, 2/27 from noon-2 p.m. for a webinar event: San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju will talk with author and former public defender Emily Galvin Almanza about her new book, “The Price of Mercy.” ⚖️ ➡️ Register at tinyurl.com/PubDefAlmanza or use the QR code.

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy, and prosperous Lunar New Year. In the Chinese Year of the Horse, may we accelerate toward greater justice & humanity. #lunarnewyear #yearofthehorse

📣 NEW BILL INTRODUCED AB 1917, the “Respect Judicial Decisions Act”, upholds judicial discretion & enhances due process rights by requiring prosecutors to file a motion to add back charges that were previously dismissed by a judge at a preliminary hearing. Track updates: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

In the words of Vera’s Claudia Gonzalez, “Punishment is not prevention, and prison is not a path forward.” Diversion programs provide a non-punitive alternative to incarceration and addresses trauma, promotes healing, and helps break the cycle of incarceration. www.marinij.com/2026/01/28/o...

California Voice: Diversion a lifeline for those in school-to-prison pipeline

A proposed state law offers non-violent offenders the chance to change ‘their lives, support their families and pay restitution to those they’ve harmed.’

marinij.com

Did you know that the San Francisco “pretext stops” policy is showing early signs of success in reducing racial profiling during police traffic stops? It’s a great start, but there’s still a long way to go…

We @sfpublicdefender.sf.gov were honored to kick off #BlackHistoryMonth w/ Jeffery Robinson, exec dir. of the Who We Are Project. He gave an amazing training on trial storytelling, & spoke about 100 years of BHM—reminding us of our shared history & public defenders’ role fighting anti-Black racism.

📢 Join Our Community Budget Presentation! Thursday, 2/12/26, 11:00 AM In person or via Zoom Come learn about our goals, the vital work we do, & our budget. Public defenders are essential to protecting constitutional rights, ensuring fairness, & giving a voice to people who can’t afford an attorney.

Public defender offices are chronically underfunded across the country, eroding people's Constitutional right to effective counsel & due process. In this op-ed @sfpublicdefender.sf.gov Chief Atty Matt Gonzalez explains why our office has been forced to declare unavailable on a small # of new cases.

48 Hills@48hills.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Felony cases have increased 55% in the last few years—and now an SF judge has told an already-stretched-thin public defender's office to take on even more cases, putting clients at risk. "What would you do?" asks chief attorney Matt Gonzalez #oped

Honored to keynote the CA Coalition for Prosecutorial Integrity summit in SF put on by @itchy-cpi.bsky.social. As public defenders, we see how prosecutorial overcharging perpetuates state violence. We’re inspired by the NY DA accountability commission the Coalition has built.

Today we joined local leaders in SF to support Asm @ib2real.bsky.social's AB 1537, the No Side Jobs for ICE Act. Our coalition is proud to sponsor this important bill. www.courthousenews.com/california-b... 1/

California bill would bar local officers from taking second job with ICE

Supporters of the bill say that California, as a sanctuary state, shouldn't allow its officers to perform immigration enforcement duties.

courthousenews.com

From widespread reports of ICE kidnappings to the killing of Renée Good, we’ve seen the devastating harm this rogue agency inflicts. We’re standing w/SF Supe Mahmood to support AB 1537, a critical state bill to protect Californians by preventing local & state law enforcement from working for ICE.