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Supervisor honors longtime prosecutor Jerry Coleman and notes DA's decision not to renew his contract
Summary
The board recognized veteran prosecutor Jerry Coleman for his post‑conviction immigration relief work; Coleman and others recounted that the District Attorney chose not to renew his consulting contract despite his role in implementing Penal Code section 1473.7 relief motions.
The Board of Supervisors on June 4 honored veteran prosecutor Jerry Coleman for more than four decades of public service and his work implementing post‑conviction immigration relief under California Penal Code section 1473.7.
Supervisor Hillary Ronan introduced a commendation describing Coleman's role reviewing and, in many cases, not opposing motions filed under the 2017 statute that allows noncitizens to petition to vacate long‑past convictions when they did not understand immigration consequences. Ronan said Coleman "reviewed nearly every single motion filed under Penal Code 1473.7" and credited him with helping obtain relief that prevented deportations and family separations; she cited an example in which a petitioner named Carlos — arrested as a teenager and later facing deportation in 2019 — received vacatur and relief after Coleman's review.
Coleman accepted the recognition and recounted setting up the office's review program following the statute's 2017 enactment, noting he approved relief in about 98.6% of cases he reviewed and handled more than 350 matters over seven years. Coleman said the work did not compromise public safety and described the personal satisfaction of seeing petitioners' convictions vacated and families remain intact.
Both Ronan and Coleman said the San Francisco District Attorney recently chose not to renew Coleman's contract after more than a decade as a consultant since his retirement; Ronan told the board she considered the decision a disappointment and a disservice to families who benefited from Coleman's expertise. Coleman confirmed on the record that his contract would not be renewed starting in July.
Why this matters: Penal Code section 1473.7 provides a state‑law path for some noncitizens to vacate convictions that carry disproportionate immigration consequences. Coleman's work affected dozens of individual immigration cases and, as Ronan stated, had direct consequences for family unity and removal proceedings.
Attribution lock: quotes in this article are attributed only to speakers who appear on the transcript (Supervisor Ronan and Jerry Coleman). Where the transcript records other named attorneys and officials in the audience, they are identified but not quoted.
