Manohar Raju
Manohar Raju is an American attorney who has served as Public Defender of San Francisco since 2019. Appointed by Mayor London Breed to replace the late Jeff Adachi, Raju previously served as Deputy Public Defender, and managed the office's Felony Division. Early life and education. Raju was born in Wilmington, Delaware to parents from Allinagaram, Tamil Nadu. His father, Palanichamy Pillai Raj, was an engineer, and his mother, Dhanam, worked in skincare. Raju was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Boston, Massachusetts. Raju attended Columbia University, where he received his undergraduate degree. While at Columbia, he was a  research assistant for Kendall Thomas, who Raju described as "one of the founding scholars of Critical Race Theory." He later attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his law degree and a master's degree in South Asian Studies. Career. Raju worked for seven years as a public defender in Contra Costa County before joining the San Francisco Public Defender's office in 2008. Raju was a founding member of Public Defenders for Racial Justice. Public Defender of San Francisco. Following Jeff Adachi's death in 2019, Raju was appointed Public Defender of San Francisco by Mayor London  Breed. Matt Gonzalez, who briefly served as acting Public Defender in Adachi's place, praised the appointment of Raju, stating "If I could have made the choice on my own, I would have chosen him." Raju was elected to a full term in office in the November 2019 without opposition. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Raju pushed for the release of pre-trial defendants deemed at a heightened risk from the virus from county jails. In 2021, Raju sued the San Francisco County Superior Court over the continued imprisonment of inmates past their trial deadlines. Personal life. Raju  is married to Asha Mehta, with whom he has one son. Regarding his position, Raju said he views "public defender work as falling within the tradition of broader freedom struggles that have always relied upon multiracial solidarities", and cited the activism of Bayard Rustin of Ram Manohar Lohia.