IS LAPDA CLOSING UP SHOP?
IS A PUBLIC DEFENDERS ASSOCIATION PART OF THE FUTURE,
OR A THING OF THE PAST?
At The Table
Public Defenders are now "at the table", and Chief Defender Jean Faria is discussing establishment of a kind of advisory group of public defenders to help her gather information and review policy. At this point nothing is set in stone, but an interesting question comes up: if the PDs are going to be part of the structure of the system, do they need a Professional Association at all, or would it be sufficient to work with the staff at the State Level? After all, beyond CLE, the Association has been a vehicle for the professional public defenders to express their views, and needs, to the greater legal profession. Now that they're at the table, maybe the association can go away. Maybe it should go away, so the State can do what needs to be done.
Grass Roots
One unique factor in the Louisiana Public Defender system is the foundation of a grass roots constituency in each of the 41 (42 with the coming split in West Central Louisiana) Judicial Districts. Generally, the sweeping reform of a public defender system has neutered the political base by consolidating things into a state bureaucracy and making the locals part of a civil service type setup. The classic leftist views of a central leadership have generally prevailed, with disastrous results: without a political base, the State Bureau becomes a stepchild to the political process and faces constant cutbacks and under-resourcing. Some of these state wide programs have to stand on their training as the major accomplishment, but find that defenders last only two or three years in the system before moving on to be what some of our clients call "real lawyers".
Louisiana Defenders are present and former politicians. They include former law enforcement at the Parish Level, former Assistant District Attorneys and other activists in their community. Often the Judges and District Attorneys are also former Public Defenders, not to mention legislators who once were in the Public Defender Office. This amounts to a political strength that came to bear in the passage of Act 307 by overwhelming landslides in the Legislature, in a time when some still claim that "nobody supports indigent defense because its bad politics". Taken with the total defeat of previous proposals without this support, the case is made that the grass roots are a firm foundation for the Public Defender System.
One of the concerns at this point is what to do with this club, and the other Criminal Defense Association, LaCDL. Giving voice to the concerns we have as a profession is the main function of these two groups. Would it serve our clients to weaken and marginalize them?
Stronger Branches
There is some basis to suggest that it would be easier for the 307 Board and Staff if the Public Defenders Association were off the map. The State Staff can work with public defenders, formally and informally. There would be no real interference or dissent. The danger is that, having eliminated its political base and its foundation at the Districts, and being barred from lobbying by State Law, the 307 Board will go down the all too often road most traveled and end up struggling for legitimacy and political strength. That would hurt the clients in reduced funding, spotty performance and a lack of local concern.
Better to build stronger branches, to enhance both of the Criminal Defense organizations and thereby have a strong Criminal Bar which can provide the continuing foundation of progress. It will be messy and perhaps sometimes difficult, but nudging the professionals to the sidelines will not work. Louisiana has a great foundation for the profession of criminal defense, and one of the functions of the 307 Board must be to make that stronger, to enhance it and to thereby enrich the Criminal Justice System.
We hope that as the State Board gets better organized, due consideration will be given to the profession itself, and the need to support the independence of criminal lawyers, not just from Judges, but from any bureaucracy, so that there will always be a professional voice on issues of Criminal Justice. This means in large part continuing to give due deference to the Public Defenders Association, and working through it to enhance the foundation for our political strength by making the Association part of the process. One of the differences Louisiana needs to continue is that here, strong Bar Associations (which ultimately is what the LaPDA and LaCDL actually are) will be a part of a strong defense component to the Criminal Justice System.