Brendon Woods
@brendonwoodspd.bsky.social
First Black Chief Public Defender of Alameda County. Committed to clients, community and holistic defense. #EndMassIncarceration #CareNotCages #ClientsFirst
District Attorney Dan Dow, the President of the California District Attorneys Association, posted blatantly racist remarks about New York City's Mayor-Elect. CDAA has offered no condemnation and no apology. Their silence speaks volumes. www.latimes.com/california/s...
California D.A. retweets 9/11 attack images as he slams Mamdani
San Luis Obispo County Dist. Atty. Dan Dow retweeted a pair of inflammatory posts about New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Backlash followed.
www.latimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:50 AM
District Attorney Dan Dow, the President of the California District Attorneys Association, posted blatantly racist remarks about New York City's Mayor-Elect. CDAA has offered no condemnation and no apology. Their silence speaks volumes. www.latimes.com/california/s...
Every single constitutional right you thought you had, is now at risk. Every. Single. One. Now more than ever, we need advocates, community, politicians, public defenders, EVERYONE…to fight & protect the rights of Black & Brown people that are being targeted by this administration. #LFG #Defender
September 10, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Reposted by Brendon Woods
New in @capitolweekly.bsky.social - @katechatfield.bsky.social and @brendonwoodspd.bsky.social on getting ICE out of California courthouses:
capitolweekly.net/ice-raids-in...
capitolweekly.net/ice-raids-in...
ICE raids in our courts must stop now - Capitol Weekly
OPINION – Since January, ICE agents have arrested at least 22 people at California state courthouses in Fresno – with no regard for due process or dignity. These individuals were not fugitives. Some w...
capitolweekly.net
August 28, 2025 at 9:58 PM
New in @capitolweekly.bsky.social - @katechatfield.bsky.social and @brendonwoodspd.bsky.social on getting ICE out of California courthouses:
capitolweekly.net/ice-raids-in...
capitolweekly.net/ice-raids-in...
Reposted by Brendon Woods
ICE in courthouses interferes with justice, both for defendants and for victims.
Read the story: t.co/7556qY5Ewa
#KeepICEOutOfCourts #ProtectDueProcess #ImmigrantRights #DueProcess
@brendonwoodspd.bsky.social @npr.org
Read the story: t.co/7556qY5Ewa
#KeepICEOutOfCourts #ProtectDueProcess #ImmigrantRights #DueProcess
@brendonwoodspd.bsky.social @npr.org
August 19, 2025 at 11:24 PM
ICE in courthouses interferes with justice, both for defendants and for victims.
Read the story: t.co/7556qY5Ewa
#KeepICEOutOfCourts #ProtectDueProcess #ImmigrantRights #DueProcess
@brendonwoodspd.bsky.social @npr.org
Read the story: t.co/7556qY5Ewa
#KeepICEOutOfCourts #ProtectDueProcess #ImmigrantRights #DueProcess
@brendonwoodspd.bsky.social @npr.org
Reposted by Brendon Woods
Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods and Contra Costa County Public Defender Ellen McDonnell were two board members featured in an article by the Daily Journal covering yesterday’s rally for the expansion of the Racial Justice Act. Read more (paywall): www.dailyjournal.com/article/3871...
August 22, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods and Contra Costa County Public Defender Ellen McDonnell were two board members featured in an article by the Daily Journal covering yesterday’s rally for the expansion of the Racial Justice Act. Read more (paywall): www.dailyjournal.com/article/3871...
Reposted by Brendon Woods
This week's Member Spotlight is on Samantha Mead, Dep. Alternate Public Defender for the County of Los Angeles. “CPDA has been essential to my growth through its training + community. I’m committed to giving back by helping strengthen support, resources, and collaboration for defenders statewide.”
August 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
This week's Member Spotlight is on Samantha Mead, Dep. Alternate Public Defender for the County of Los Angeles. “CPDA has been essential to my growth through its training + community. I’m committed to giving back by helping strengthen support, resources, and collaboration for defenders statewide.”
Reposted by Brendon Woods
CPDA Exec. Dir. Kate Chatfield + Alameda County Public Defender + CPDA Board Member Brendon Woods discuss why ICE raids in state courts must end in an op-ed for Capitol Weekly: “These raids sabotage the integrity of our courts and undermine our democracy.” Read: capitolweekly.net/ice-raids-in...
August 27, 2025 at 9:44 PM
CPDA Exec. Dir. Kate Chatfield + Alameda County Public Defender + CPDA Board Member Brendon Woods discuss why ICE raids in state courts must end in an op-ed for Capitol Weekly: “These raids sabotage the integrity of our courts and undermine our democracy.” Read: capitolweekly.net/ice-raids-in...
Reposted by Brendon Woods
Alameda County DA is moving to send more kids to adult court-a major shift from past policy. @brendonwoodspd.bsky.social says kids deserve rehabilitation, not decades in adult prison. Judges will make the final call. Read more: shorturl.at/VNVsv #JuvenileJustice #YouthJustice #EndMassIncarceration
Alameda County DA may seek to prosecute 16-year-old as adult in fatal shooting of Oakland teen
Alameda County prosecutors have not yet publicly decided whether they’ll request to try the teen suspected of killing Derbing Jose Alvarado Gonzalez in adult court.
shorturl.at
August 20, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Alameda County DA is moving to send more kids to adult court-a major shift from past policy. @brendonwoodspd.bsky.social says kids deserve rehabilitation, not decades in adult prison. Judges will make the final call. Read more: shorturl.at/VNVsv #JuvenileJustice #YouthJustice #EndMassIncarceration
Honored to receive the Dorsey Award. Any award I receive is because of my amazing colleagues at the Alameda County Public Defender's Office & the clients we are fortunate enough to serve. Thank you @americanbar.org "ABA honors 2025 public service award recipients" www.abajournal.com/web/article/...
ABA honors 2025 public service award recipients
The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation's 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.
www.abajournal.com
July 16, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Honored to receive the Dorsey Award. Any award I receive is because of my amazing colleagues at the Alameda County Public Defender's Office & the clients we are fortunate enough to serve. Thank you @americanbar.org "ABA honors 2025 public service award recipients" www.abajournal.com/web/article/...
Thank you @ktvu2.bsky.social for having me on this morning to talk about our Annual Public Defender Community Block Party happening Saturday, May 31 from 12-4 at DeFremery Park in West Oakland. Food, 50 community partners, DJ Rack-12, kids fun zone, immigration know your rights and more! Come thru!
May 30, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Thank you @ktvu2.bsky.social for having me on this morning to talk about our Annual Public Defender Community Block Party happening Saturday, May 31 from 12-4 at DeFremery Park in West Oakland. Food, 50 community partners, DJ Rack-12, kids fun zone, immigration know your rights and more! Come thru!
A program paying California jurors $100 a day would end abruptly due to Newsom’s new budget. We spend $14 billion to incarcerate mostly Black and Brown people and we can't spend $27 million to make sure our juries are more diverse! www.newsfromthestates.com/article/prog...
A program paying California jurors $100 a day would end abruptly due to Newsom’s new budget
In summary California’s experiment with increasing pay for jury duty would come to an early end under the new budget Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking lawmakers to approve.
www.newsfromthestates.com
May 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM
A program paying California jurors $100 a day would end abruptly due to Newsom’s new budget. We spend $14 billion to incarcerate mostly Black and Brown people and we can't spend $27 million to make sure our juries are more diverse! www.newsfromthestates.com/article/prog...
We’re hiring three new full-time immigration defense attorneys to join our immigration unit as a direct response to the federal government’s attack on our community members. Join us in fighting detention, deportation, & separation! #NoHumanIsIlegal #DefendImmigrants
April 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
We’re hiring three new full-time immigration defense attorneys to join our immigration unit as a direct response to the federal government’s attack on our community members. Join us in fighting detention, deportation, & separation! #NoHumanIsIlegal #DefendImmigrants
Is this your "law and order" president? Can you imagine the outcry we would hear from the right if a democrat did this? But instead, all we get is silence....
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
US Justice Department cancels hundreds of grants for police, crime victims
The U.S. Justice Department has canceled hundreds of ongoing grants that funded everything from services for mental health care for police officers to support programs for victims of crime and sexual assault, according to internal records and four people familiar with the matter.
www.reuters.com
April 26, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Is this your "law and order" president? Can you imagine the outcry we would hear from the right if a democrat did this? But instead, all we get is silence....
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
How about we monitor this administration’s social media accounts for anti-blackness! And deport them. There will not be a single one left. www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g...
U.S. says it is now monitoring immigrants' social media for antisemitism
Effective immediately, the government says it will begin screening immigrant social media for activity that officials think indicates support for antisemitism.
www.npr.org
April 10, 2025 at 4:14 AM
How about we monitor this administration’s social media accounts for anti-blackness! And deport them. There will not be a single one left. www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g...
We will be staffing up to protect our immigrant community members from the attacks of this current administration. Thank you to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for providing much needed funding for Immigration Defense. #HereToStay #NoHumanIsIllegal www.kqed.org/news/1203400...
As Deportation Fears Rise, Alameda County Invests in Immigrant Legal Defense | KQED
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors allocated $1.3 million to the Alameda Public Defender’s immigration unit.
www.kqed.org
April 4, 2025 at 12:41 AM
We will be staffing up to protect our immigrant community members from the attacks of this current administration. Thank you to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for providing much needed funding for Immigration Defense. #HereToStay #NoHumanIsIllegal www.kqed.org/news/1203400...
Had a great time teaching LYRIC - Learn Your Rights In California - last week at Oakland High. It was one of our largest LYRICS ever. Over 120 students in attendance. Knowing your rights now is more important than ever. Thank you for having us. #KnowYourRights #LYRIC #Defender
March 6, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Had a great time teaching LYRIC - Learn Your Rights In California - last week at Oakland High. It was one of our largest LYRICS ever. Over 120 students in attendance. Knowing your rights now is more important than ever. Thank you for having us. #KnowYourRights #LYRIC #Defender
Thank you Alameda County Board of Supervisors & CAO! Special Thank You to Supervisor Marquez and Supervisor Bas, the Chairs of the Alameda County Together For All Ad-hoc Committee for making sure that the residents of Alameda County are protected during these times. #HereToStay #NoHumanIsIllegal
March 6, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Thank you Alameda County Board of Supervisors & CAO! Special Thank You to Supervisor Marquez and Supervisor Bas, the Chairs of the Alameda County Together For All Ad-hoc Committee for making sure that the residents of Alameda County are protected during these times. #HereToStay #NoHumanIsIllegal
New year, new shirt. No matter what this administration throws at us, we’re ready. We will fight for our clients. We will fight for your rights. We will fight to protect our immigrant community members. Paid by the government, to fight the government, we fight for you! #WeFightForYou #Defenders
January 27, 2025 at 2:40 AM
New year, new shirt. No matter what this administration throws at us, we’re ready. We will fight for our clients. We will fight for your rights. We will fight to protect our immigrant community members. Paid by the government, to fight the government, we fight for you! #WeFightForYou #Defenders
The state’s leaders are overlooking our legal system’s single most important means of preventing mass deportations: public defenders. This is a must read and we've been saying it for years #FundPublicDefense www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Opinion: What California's response to Trump's threatened mass deportations is missing
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers have overlooked the first and most important line of defense for vulnerable immigrants: public defenders.
www.latimes.com
January 23, 2025 at 6:50 PM
The state’s leaders are overlooking our legal system’s single most important means of preventing mass deportations: public defenders. This is a must read and we've been saying it for years #FundPublicDefense www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Another article about how terrible Prop 36 will be. Yes - we will be sending people to jails & prison for petty theft & drug possession. People will die - instead of getting the false promise of treatment offered by the proponents of Prop 36 #CareNotCages calmatters.org/justice/2024...
California’s jail population will rise thanks to Prop. 36. So will inmate deaths, advocates say
California jails saw historic numbers of in-custody deaths as inmate populations shrank. Now, they are expected to grow again as Proposition 36 takes effect.
calmatters.org
December 17, 2024 at 7:55 PM
Another article about how terrible Prop 36 will be. Yes - we will be sending people to jails & prison for petty theft & drug possession. People will die - instead of getting the false promise of treatment offered by the proponents of Prop 36 #CareNotCages calmatters.org/justice/2024...
For those that believed the lies told by prosecutors & law enforcement about Prop 36 – please read this article. Private Prison CEO’s are thrilled. Prop 36 will not provide treatment it will lead to more people being incarcerated & more being deported. www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Private prison CEOs are thrilled about Trump — and California’s Prop 36
Private prison executives are celebrating November’s election results, with one pointing to the passage of California's Proposition 36 as a possible boon.
www.sfchronicle.com
December 17, 2024 at 7:13 PM
For those that believed the lies told by prosecutors & law enforcement about Prop 36 – please read this article. Private Prison CEO’s are thrilled. Prop 36 will not provide treatment it will lead to more people being incarcerated & more being deported. www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Remember this article. Remember this when law enforcement & prosecutors say that Prop 36 and other harsh sentencing laws were responsible for turning this crisis around. Expanded treatment & intervention is what has worked not laws that send more people to prison www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/12/15/d...
After pandemic explosion, California drug overdose deaths are falling fast
Drug fatalities have been on a extended decline for the first time in at least a decade.
www.eastbaytimes.com
December 17, 2024 at 6:28 PM
Remember this article. Remember this when law enforcement & prosecutors say that Prop 36 and other harsh sentencing laws were responsible for turning this crisis around. Expanded treatment & intervention is what has worked not laws that send more people to prison www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/12/15/d...
Reposted by Brendon Woods
We need public defenders more than ever. We need people to defend our clients against the harms of the criminal punishment system. We need people to fight mass incarceration, to fight systemic racism, to fight for our communities. Join us! Apply by 12/9 acgov.org/hrs
December 5, 2024 at 5:54 PM
We need public defenders more than ever. We need people to defend our clients against the harms of the criminal punishment system. We need people to fight mass incarceration, to fight systemic racism, to fight for our communities. Join us! Apply by 12/9 acgov.org/hrs
We need public defenders more than ever. We need people to defend our clients against the harms of the criminal punishment system. We need people to fight mass incarceration, to fight systemic racism, to fight for our communities. Join us! Apply by 12/9 acgov.org/hrs
December 5, 2024 at 5:54 PM
We need public defenders more than ever. We need people to defend our clients against the harms of the criminal punishment system. We need people to fight mass incarceration, to fight systemic racism, to fight for our communities. Join us! Apply by 12/9 acgov.org/hrs
New platform, same message – if you really care about mass incarceration and addressing the harms caused by this broken criminal legal system then #FundPublicDefense #EndMassIncarceration #CareNotCages
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
Prosecutors have nearly $1 billion more than public defenders. That’s not a fair fight
With a nearly $1 billion funding disparity, it’s no wonder California’s prisons are overcrowded with low-income Black and brown people.
www.sfchronicle.com
December 2, 2024 at 9:35 PM
New platform, same message – if you really care about mass incarceration and addressing the harms caused by this broken criminal legal system then #FundPublicDefense #EndMassIncarceration #CareNotCages
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...