San Francisco public defender says caseload is too heavy, will scale back service

A spike in arrests in San Francisco has forced the public defender’s office to announce it won’t take on any new cases one to two days a week to give attorneys time they need to focus on existing caseloads.

“Right now we’re in a position where we just can’t take any more cases,” Public Defender Mano Raju said at a recent hearing. “If we keep on taking cases, we’re not going to be able to provide the representation that our clients deserve, and it’s going to have a negative impact on the just outcome in the case.”