Why has the San Francisco Public Defender Stopped Taking New Cases One Day a Week? w/Mano Raju

May 23

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Mano Raju, the Elected Chief Public Defender in San Francisco. In the past couple of weeks, Mano made the difficult decision to stop accepting new case assignments one day a week. Thanks to the tough on crime policies of DA Brooke Jenkins and Prop 36, the workloads for San Francisco Public Defenders have reach unsustainable numbers. How did we get here, what comes next, and will this be a harbinger of things to come in California? All that and more on today’s episode.

Guest

Mano Raju, Chief Public Defender, San Francisco, California

Resources:

Coverage of the Office

https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/09/public-defender-fentanyl-san-francisco-lurie/

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/sf-public-defender-caseload-20329216.php

Contact Mano or the Office

manohar.raju@sfgov.org

https://sfpublicdefender.org/

https://www.facebook.com/sfpublicdefender

https://x.com/sfdefender

https://www.instagram.com/sfpublicdefender/