Equal Before The Law

HOW CAN YOU REPRESENT THOSE PEOPLE? How can you be a public defender?" Jane (not her real name), a former nurse, asked me both questions. The daughter of a California police officer, she is young, pretty and white. Jane was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, stealing from a disabled patient. Taken aback, I stared at her: "But I am representing you!"

This "us/them" philosophy lies at the heart of such questions. There are some defendants, white and middle class, who do not see themselves as criminals. They believe it is "them"--the poor and minorities--who violate the law.

I represent those individuals that the Janes of society presume to be guilty. When I graduated from Stanford Law School, I chose to work as a public defender rather than as a corporate lawyer or prosecutor. This was hard for my family and friends to understand. Intellectually, they agreed that everyone should have a lawyer; they just didn't want me to be that person. "How could you represent a murderer? How could you sleep at night knowing that you let a dangerous person loose on the streets?" demanded my Aunt Heather at a family gathering.

As a beginning public defender, I litigate mostly misdemeanors. Their maximum jail sentence cannot exceed one year. My clients have been accused of such heinous crimes as possessing a spiny lobster out of season (a case that actually went to a jury trial), surfing in a swim zone and collecting trash without a permit (a homeless man was cited for taking cans from the garbage for recycling). Of course, I've also handled more serious offenses: rape, child molestation and vehicular manslaughter.

Once I get over my initial reaction to a case, it becomes like a chess game. I comb the police report looking for weaknesses, foraging out problems with the prosecution's case. It is a rational, analytic, creative process. None of this intellectual endeavor makes me forget the gravity of the situation when my client is accused of a terrible crime. I'm distressed at the idea of a rapist or child molester being released back on the street.

When I first started my job, I thought like a social worker. I justified representing those who were guilty because I believe I could help them. Although I couldn't reverse their wrongdoing, I felt I could enable them to avoid crime by getting them into drug rehabilitation or job-training programs.