Public Defense – 90 Days and 3 Dimensions
Posted on 01 January 2010
It has now been 90 days since I started as Program Director/Lead Attorney for the Confederated Colville Tribes. The administrative core; managing budgets, refining, modifying and revising case management systems, and bolstering the infrastructure of equipment and systems is well under way.
New office computers have been ordered including orders for printers and in research I began before commencing the position I’ve located what I believe to be the best Public Defense Case Management system on the market, one which also manages to be the most affordable – defenderData from Justice Works.
I am moving toward acceptance of the slow, deliberate and territorial pace of other departments like a prisoner walking the green mile however. The past 90 days has seen our office with – depending on the staff person – between 14 and 34 days without email or internet access.New computers ordered weeks ago in anticipation of deploying defenderData have not been ordered by IT yet. And as a result of the delays there is now some doubt about whether we can upgrade all our machines to the Office 2007 standard because the i4i, Inc’s lawsuit against Microsoft has resulted in an injunction against Microsoft selling Word as of today January 1, 2010.
A SWOT analysis of our operations indicates some systems issues in that the Public Defenders, over time has picked up the slack for several other departments – 2010 will bring with it numerous and significant turf battles as we seek to redefine our appropriate role and return extra departmental functions to their owners.
A three dimensional paradigm for change.
First, within our office itself I must offer a special clarity of vision about not just our mission and purpose but about their graceful execution.
Second, with my colleagues in other departments and with other operant’s of the criminal justice system I must build consensus for positive reforms within the whole system.
Third, in public debate, I must advance a vision of crime prevention that rises above ideology.
Public defense is perhaps the least popular work in the profession. Practitioners are frequently confronted on their apparent devotion to defending people presumed guilty of everything from driving without a license to criminal homicide. In public debate these perceptions and opinions must be challenged, if not by public defenders nobody else will. In moving to a position in which change improvement can be accomplished, it is a condition precedent that I convince my community that the Prosecutor, Police and I are all fighting the same battle that public defenders are not pro-crime and no more willing to live next to a meth lab than anyone else but are a necessary check and balance which ensures the integrity of the system of law and order.
I’ll write more on these three dimensions in the future, some for obvious reasons must wait for the action to take place before the comments can be appropriately made.
Related posts:
- Adjusting from the Private Bar to Public Defense
- In the News.
- A new adventure begins
- Why is a public option a necessary component of meaningful health care reform?
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