A recent survey about public attitudes toward domestic violence shows most state residents recognize that the problem is serious, and often close to home.
Category: Law & Justice
Posted inImmigration, Law & Justice
In Chinatown, Immigration Raids No Longer Feel Like a Distant Threat
For months, Jose Ng visited Chinatown storefronts, handing out information on residents’ rights in interactions with federal agents if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection show up. Suddenly, the threat feels real.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Immigration, Law & Justice, Public Safety
SFPD Training for Responding to ICE Activity Is Sparse, Records Show
As federal agents detain more immigrants in San Francisco, and activists protest and sometimes intervene in arrests, records shed light on the limited training that local police receive to address at times volatile confrontations.
Posted inCity Hall, Law & Justice, Public Safety
Union Left in the Dark Over Possible SF Police Accountability Attorney Layoffs
As San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie signed a $15.9 billion budget Thursday, two attorneys tasked with investigating and reporting police misconduct still don’t know whether they will keep their jobs.
Cutting these positions raises concerns that the city is initiating a material reduction in police oversight while simultaneously increasing the San Francisco Police Department’s budget.
Posted inCommunity, Government & Politics, Immigration, Law & Justice, Social Justice
Protests Against ICE Continue for 2nd Day in San Francisco
In response to weekend demonstrations in Los Angeles following raids throughout L.A. County by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and President Trump ordering the deployment of 2,000 California National Guard troops against protesters there, Bay Area residents came together for a second day of protests largely focused on marching around San Francisco’s Mission District.
Posted inBay Area, Data Privacy, Economy & Business, Law & Justice
Patelco Credit Union Settles Class Action Cyberhack Suit for $7.25M
Nearly a year after a ransomware attack paralyzed Patelco Credit Union, a class action against the nonprofit financial cooperative has been settled for $7.25 million. More than 1 million accounts were affected by the breach.
Settlement terms include creating a $7.25 million fund to be shared by victims affected by the ransomware attack and system shutdown of Patelco that lasted for more than two weeks last summer.
Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness, Housing, Law & Justice
Eviction Rates in SF Soar as Legal Aid Faces Deep Funding Cuts
San Francisco is experiencing a surge in eviction court filings that has taken even the most seasoned eviction defense lawyers by surprise.
In February, 365 eviction lawsuits were filed — up 57% from a year earlier — and March had 303 filings, bringing the total for this year to 929.
At this pace, San Francisco is on track to seeing more than 3,700 eviction lawsuits this year, versus 2,923 cases filed in 2024, according to the Tenant Right to Counsel, which was established in 2018, when San Francisco passed the “No Eviction Without Representation Act,” requiring the city to fund legal representation for residents facing eviction.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Immigration, Law & Justice
Legal Battle for National Ruling Continues in Student Visa Case Despite Sudden Reinstatements
Just a day before a key hearing in which a United States District judge in Oakland could have decided the fates of hundreds of students nationwide whose visas had been terminated, students, attorneys and universities across the country began reporting unexpected reinstatements of their status — even for individuals who had not filed a lawsuit. […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Services
Visible Progress or Political Theater? Factions Disagree on How to Clean Up Street Conditions
In February, the San Francisco Police Department converted a Sixth Street parking lot in South of Market to what it called a triage center — a fenced-off area where police could connect people to social services or put them in a van bound for jail.
According to a city staff report, in the first month of the triage center’s operation, police made 350 arrests, three-quarters of them drug related. Triage personnel connected 275 people to shelter and 408 people to health care.
Advocates for people struggling with homelessness or substance use disorder say the city’s approach is unnecessarily punitive, but some business owners and community members say they approve of what the mayor and Police Department are doing.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Homelessness, Housing, Immigration, Law & Justice
‘They’ll All Be Homeless’
San Francisco should brace for a surge in homelessness.
That was the assessment of local housing advocates following a Department of Housing and Urban Development announcement that it would “take steps” to ensure no funding would be used to “support sanctuary policies of states or local governments that actively prevent federal authorities from deporting” undocumented residents.
On Friday, HUD Secretary Scott Turner issued a letter informing the department’s grantees and stakeholders of his plans to comply with an executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” signed by President Trump Feb. 19.
San Francisco adopted its sanctuary city policy in 1989. It prohibits city staff and police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless required to do so by federal or state law.