San Francisco law enforcement officials called a halt to a jailhouse prison law course that they say taught inmates how to thwart police investigations and avoid arrest. The classes are organized by the Sheriff's department's Prisoner Legal Services division, conducted by civil rights attorney Katya Komisaruk, and fulfill a mandate by the state's legal-access laws.

The class involved sections on how to avoid talking to police without an attorney being present, how to prevent police with search warrants from entering one's home, and how to avoid being manipulated by the "good cop, bad cop" interrogation style. Deputies said that in at least one class, inmates were advised to avoid stealing from larger department stores because they have better security. Role playing exercises depicted police officers as racist and inept. While Komisaruk did not dispute the sheriffs' description of her course, she said all of the information she taught was legally accurate and bore directly on the civil rights of those accused of crimes.

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