Public Defender's Office is a critical part of the legal system, and if it's underfunded, the mayor's strategy becomes radically unfair and illegal.

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said Thursday he plans to continue to turn down some criminal cases even after a judge found him in contempt.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office has established the Homecoming Project in San Francisco to provide case management to help individuals find employment and stable housing.

San Francisco’s justice system faces mounting strain as public defenders and prosecutors struggle with soaring caseloads, staffing shortages and unfunded mandates. The problems are seen elsewhere in the state, with disagreement about the causes and solutions.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s office announced a new partnership Thursday with a reentry program that pairs those recently released from incarceration with hosts in individual homes, instead of the more common communal housing sites.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office has established the Homecoming Project in San Francisco to provide case management to help individuals find employment and stable housing.

In 2017, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office launched one of the nation’s only publicly funded teams dedicated to defending immigrants.

San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju’s decision to limit new case assignments is a necessary, ethically grounded response to unmanageable workloads that protects both clients’ constitutional rights and attorneys’ well-being, while spotlighting a broader national crisis in public defense.

Law students on helping individuals expunge their criminal records during a week-long pro bono service trip with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office for Alternative Spring Break.   

New program co-sponsored by San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to eliminate pre-textual traffic stops of people of color.

In the three years since his appointment, Raju has slowly guided the public defender’s office into a new era. He’s engaged in the issues of the day, but in a quieter fashion than his predecessor and with less of a top-down approach.