The Facts

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman fined Public Defender Mano Raju $26,000 on March 24 after finding 26 instances in which his office refused felony appointments for indigent defendants, according to Jonah Owen Lamb at The Standard. Raju said he plans to appeal. The office has been declining some new cases one day a week since May 2025, arguing that attorneys are over capacity.

The Context

At a criminal arraignment, judges must advise defendants of their right to a lawyer and appoint one at no cost if they cannot afford counsel. GrowSF noted in a January standoff story that this dispute was already causing delays and leaving some defendants stuck in jail waiting for counsel.

San Francisco's Public Defender says it represents more than 20,000 clients a year; the office had 209.6 full-time employees and a $50.2 million budget in 2022-23. The city's adopted budget raised that to $54.0 million in 2024-25.

The GrowSF Take

The constitution is clear: everyone has the right to an attorney. Raju's woes about staffing do not override the rights of the accused, and it's proper for the judge to hold him in contempt. San Francisco cannot accept a system where defendants wait in custody, cases stall, and an elected department refuses appointments it is legally expected to handle. No doubt this will be a main point of contention in the next Public Defender election.