On October 12, 2011, the San Francisco Chronicle named Adachi one of the “3 S.F. Mayoral Candidates to Consider” and said, “Talk about courage. One of the most liberal politicians in the city started working because of the fundamental issue of pensions. He lost on his first attempt last year, but is back with a revised version after not supporting a compromise measure, even on the ballot. He was unfairly vilified by much of the city`s political establishment for daring to address the issue of pensions that others preferred to ignore. His campaign shows that he is more than a single-issue candidate. He has a clear understanding of a variety of issues ranging from homelessness policy to taxes. Its independence is unassailable. [26] He took 6th place out of 16 candidates. Tireless (adjective): A person who persists tirelessly. That word certainly applied to San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, whose tireless commitment to criminal justice reform and social change has had a lasting impact on so many people in San Francisco and beyond.
The public defender had just been elected for his fifth term when he died suddenly on Friday 22 February. Jeff embodied this fundamental principle: equal access to justice for all. Today, the San Francisco Public Defender`s Office is a customer-centric defense beacon for the entire country, and Jeff Aachi`s vision brought us here. Quite simply, he has developed an office that serves as a model of best practices to advocate for people in need. As a lawyer, Jeff Adachi was a visionary. He saw a world in which public defenders received the same respect and respect as any high-ranking private lawyer. He was aware that most public defenders across the country face impossible cases, little money and the difficult task of defending people accused of horrific crimes. But for Jeff, everyone`s right to criminal defense was the backbone of a democratic nation. Innocent people wrongly accused have particularly led him; He was the son of two Japanese-American parents who were interned during World War II, and this deep sense of injustice permeated everything he did. He worked at the Public Defender`s Office for 32 years, including 15 years as an elected public defender.
He ran an office that handles more than 20,000 cases a year and employs 95 lawyers and 80 auxiliaries, all of whom share his commitment to representing the poor and voiceless. He himself has handled more than 3,000 criminal cases and brought to justice more than 150 jury trials. As the gap between rich and poor widens every year in San Francisco, the need for high-quality legal representation for all remains critical. Jeff knew the correlation between class, race, and the criminal justice system, and he wasn`t afraid to highlight these issues. In San Francisco, there are many ways to do this. Although African Americans make up less than five percent of the city`s population, they make up more than 50 percent of the prison population. San Francisco also has a shameful record of police shooting at unarmed black men. Poverty was at the root of all the problems he tackled by advocating for mental health reform, addiction services and homeless work.
He didn`t just want to represent people in court. He wanted to fundamentally fix the faulty systems that so many of our customers have emerged from. That could have been Jeff`s mantra: what we do is important. Continue. In fact, he often repeated the phrase “We live to fight for another day” after a particularly difficult trial or struggle with the state legislature. Jeff resisted the idea that a public defense lawyer`s job was only to act as a lawyer for poor clients. He saw people holistically and created programs that would make life easier for our clients so they could get away from their experiences with the justice system. He was determined to remove the barriers that held people back once they were stuck in the web of detention. He developed the Clean Slate program, which helped several clients delete their records and move on to their lives. He lobbied the board of supervisors to eliminate the fines and onerous fees associated with their cases, which despite low or no income, despite low or no income. He campaigned for bail reform. He created our unity to defend immigrants.
He created our pre-trial release program. When he died, he was working to eliminate the costs associated with prison phone calls, and he had just drafted a bill to deal with the problem of inflated prosecutor fees. He never stopped. As a result, we all try a little harder, push ourselves a little harder, and most importantly, we believe in ourselves as much as Jeff believed in us. Jeff had a vision of a world where everyone gets a fair trial, where children in inner-city neighborhoods have the same opportunities as those in wealthy neighborhoods, where one person`s mistakes don`t set a permanent roadmap for the rest of their lives, and where police and authorities are held accountable. Jeff Adachi did his best to give his clients everything they needed to achieve the best possible results, both in the courtroom and in life. In the same way, his legacy left San Francisco and the nation with the same scaffolding. It is up to us to continue to work. Adachi began his career as an Assistant Public Defender in the San Francisco Public Defender`s Office, where he worked for thirty-two years. He eventually became the chief counsel of the office and held this position for fifteen years.
Adachi has tried more than a hundred jury trials and handled three thousand criminal cases during his career. [2] In 2011, Adachi again put an amendment to the ballot laws – “Proposition D” – that would require all workers to pay a base contribution rate for their pension costs, require higher-income employees to pay an additional amount based on their salary level, limit the maximum amount of pensions and eliminate abusive and unnecessary practices such as “pension peaks”. [17] In response to criticism of Proposal B, Adachi`s new plan exempted the lowest-paid workers from any increase in costs, used a progressive income scale to determine contributions, and did not require health care contributions. According to the City Controller, Proposal D would save San Francisco up to $142 million a year and $1.6 billion over the next decade. [3] Mayor Ed Lee proposed a competing plan – “Proposition C” – that would similarly require employees to contribute to their pensions at a higher level, but would also require contributions to cover health care costs. Proposal C is expected to save the city about $1.29 billion over the next decade. After submitting his papers, Adachi said, “I decided to run for mayor of San Francisco to restore the integrity and financial responsibility of the city.” He added: “It wasn`t until I really listened to what the candidates were saying in the recent debates on pension reform that I came to believe that either the candidates don`t understand it or they don`t want to get it, and I want to make sure there`s a voice talking about the tax realities of this city.” [20] Adachi added, “This debate must be about what is best for the city, not what is best for City Hall.” [21] Adachi had been the city`s elected public defender since 2002, overseeing the office that provides legal assistance to those who can`t afford it – but he believed his duty was more than the clients of his office.