Mano Raju leads the Office of the San Francisco Public Defender in its work to elevate the humanity of their clients, and to promote a reduction of crime by addressing its root causes.

 

A leader in legal advocacy, attorneys and staff members representing the office regularly conduct Bay Area-wide trainings. In addition, Mano Raju’s innovative programming as a Public Defender has made him a sought after lecturer for the California Public Defender Association, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, National Association of Public Defenders and the Black Public Defender’s Association. 

 

During his tenure as San Francisco Public Defender, Mano has spearheaded or further enhanced innovative programs, such as:

 

• MAGIC (Mobilization for Adolescent Growth in our Communities) provides educational, recreational, and health support, resources, and opportunities to thousands of youth and families in the Bayview and Fillmore/Western Addition.

• Be the Jury, a pilot program that removes economic barriers to service by compensating low-income jurors $100 per day of jury service. 

• Homecoming Project aimed at connecting homeowners with formerly-incarcerated individuals seeking housing in the Bay Area.

• College Pathway Project designed as a partnership between the public defender’s office and San Francisco State University’s Project Rebound and City College of San Francisco’s New Directions programs, to make it easier for current and former Public Defender clients to attend college.

• Young Defender Program, which offers paid internships for high school students to invest in youth empowerment rather than the criminalization of youth. 

• End the Cycle initiative that deploys boots-on-the-ground case managers to meet with clients after they are initially arrested so that they can access appropriate services and thereby enhance community health. 

• Freedom Project that challenges excessive sentences and wrongful convictions, reunites families, saves millions of state dollars, and maintains 0% recidivism rate.

• The nationally-recognized Integrity Unit that collects and makes accessible public records related to police officers to ensure fairness in trials and to help curb police  misconduct. 

 

Under Mano’s leadership and vision, the office also has grown existing award-winning programs:

 

• Immigration Defense Unit dedicated to providing legal representation to immigrants facing deportation, advising on immigration consequences of criminal charges, and working to protect non-citizen members of the community.  

• Tripled the capacity of the Clean Slate Program, which provides a simple and accessible way to “clean up” prior criminal records.  

• Grown the capacity of the Immigration Unit to include class action work that has led to the release of immigrants facing inhumane conditions in immigration detention during the COVID pandemic.

• Expanded the policy reach of our office to advocate for legislation that reduces incarceration and promotes community-based strategies to support marginalized communities. 

 

As Public Defender, Mano Raju values these innovative programs. He believes that it is important for his office to stand at the forefront of both trial advocacy, and social programs that go beyond the courtroom in order to advance our community’s health, and legislative advocacy on the local and state level. .

 

Mano Raju is humbled by the success of these programs and appreciates the community of supporters that make them happen. These supporters include current and former clients, family members, non-governmental organizations, community advocates, and the entire team of professionals at the public defender’s office.

 

Much of this work follows the trailblazing path set by former Public Defender Jeff Adachi—a legacy Mano proudly carries forward to this day.