The Facts

Judge Harry Dorfman threatened to hold San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju and Chief Deputy Matt Gonzalez in contempt after the office refused to take on a new felony case. Raju and Gonzalez have argued that the office is overwhelmed and short staffed, and can’t take new cases.

Judge Dorfman said he believes the office has available attorneys and will order it to take new felony cases unless there’s a conflict.

The court has already considered releasing some pretrial defendants when people are stuck in jail without counsel due to the Public Defender’s refusal to take cases.

The Context

The constitutional baseline is clear: since Gideon v. Wainwright, states must provide counsel for defendants in serious criminal cases who can’t afford an attorney.

California requires competent representation, and a national study warns that excessive caseloads make effective defense impossible, leaving the Public Defender’s office choosing between refusing their constitutional duty or doing a bad job defending clients.

The GrowSF Take

San Francisco can’t run a justice system where cases stall, victims wait, and defendants sit in limbo. The law is clear - all defendants have the right to an attorney and must be provided one if they cannot afford one. The Public Defender is not above the law.

City Hall should demand better performance from the Public Defender, and it must fund adequate defense capacity. We need strong checks in place to ensure the PD office has enough funding to provide an attorney for every defendant, without exorbitant spending. And the court, the Public Defender, and City Hall should agree on workload thresholds—then enforce them—so we stop lurching from one courtroom crisis to the next.